Running News Daily

Tsehay Gemechu and Nibret Melak claimed a double win for Ethiopia at the Cinque Mulini, the second leg of the World Athletics Cross Country Permit series

Gemechu and Melak secure Ethiopian double at Cinque Mulini, it was Gemechu’s second high-profile victory in as many weeks, following her triumph last weekend at the Campaccio meeting.

The Cinque Mulini, meaning 'five mills' in Italian, boasts one of the most iconic cross-country courses in the world. Back in the 1930s, the course passed through five mills along the Olona river. The race has had to adapt over time and it is now held on a two-kilometre loop which passes through the Cozzi and Meraviglia water mills.

In 2019 the Cinque Mulini was awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque.

Gemechu, fellow Ethiopian Alemitu Tariku and Kenya’s Sheila Chelangat and Beatrice Chebet pulled away from Burundi’s Francine Niyomukunzi in the early stages and completed the first lap in 6:45.

Chebet, Gemechu and Chelangat stepped up the pace on the second lap, opening up an 11-second gap on Tariku. Chelangat was the next to drift back, leaving Chebet and Gemechu to battle it out on the final lap.

Chebet led for most of the final lap, but Gemechu launched her kick in the final straight to take a three-second win in 18:53.

“I feel good,” said Gemechu, the fourth-place finisher in the 5000m at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. “It was a great race for me. I am happy that I won my second consecutive race. I will now return to Ethiopia to prepare for my next race over 10,000m in Hengelo.”

Melak took the honours in the 10.2km men’s race in 28:57, holding off last year’s Cinque Mulini winner Leonard Bett Kipkemoi by one second and two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris by two seconds in a close sprint.

Bett led a nine-man lead group that included Melak, Edris, Uganda’s Samuel Kibet and Hosea Kiplangat, Italian marathon record-holder Eyob Faniel, Marouan Razine, Yohannes Chiappinelli and Oscar Chelimo.

The lead pack was whittled down to seven runners during the second lap as Bett took the initiative, going through the second lap mark in 12:14, closely followed by Melak, Kibet, Edris, Kiplangat, Chiappinelli and Chelimo.

The pace increased on the fourth lap when Melak, Bett, Kiplangat, Edris broke away from Kibet with the leading quartet going through 8km in 23:30.

In a dramatic final sprint, Melak edged ahead of Bett to win by one second in 28:57. Edris, who won the Cinque Mulini in 2013 and 2015, finished third in 28:59, sharing the same time as Chelimo.

It was Melak’s second consecutive podium finish in the Cross Country Permit series, following his runner-up spot at the Campaccio in San Giorgio su Legnano last week.

The 21-year-old has a 5000m PB of 13:07.27, set as an U20 athlete in 2018, but it’s cross country where he excels. Earlier this year he successfully defended his senior men’s title at the Jan Meda Cross Country, which doubles as the Ethiopian Championships.

“It was a very competitive race,” said Melak. “I expected that the battle for the win would be very close, as I ran against great athletes. Cross country is the perfect build-up to the track season.”

The most remarkable line-up has been announced for Istanbul Half Marathon

Organizers of the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon have announced the most remarkable line-up in the history of this World Athletics Elite Label road race, to be held on 4 April.

Having staged a successful edition under intense measures against Covid-19 in September last year, the event is now set to host a limited number of 4000 participants on its traditional date of the first Sunday of April.

The race will see the long-awaited clash of the reigning and former world record-holders over the distance. Kibiwott Kandie of Kenya, now the world’s fastest half-marathon runner, improved the time set by his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in Valencia in December, bringing down the world record to 57:32 from 58:01. Kamworor, who has three World Athletics Half Marathon Championships gold medals under his belt, will be back on the roads following his recovery from surgery after he was hit by a motorcycle in June last year.

The two Kenyans will be joined by two sub-59 minute runners in Amedework Walelegn of Ethiopia, the Istanbul Half Marathon record-holder who won in 59:50 in 2018, and Uganda's Stephen Kissa, who made his debut over the distance in February 2020 and finished the year with a time of 58:56. Kenya’s Leonard Barsoton, sixth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia last year, will also be one of the fastest athletes on the start line.

Home hopes in Istanbul will be led by Kaan Kigen Ozbilen, who holds the national record with 59:48. Aras Kaya, European cross country champion in 2019, will also be a strong contender in the event that incorporates the National Half Marathon Championships.

The women’s field is equally as strong. Kenya’s marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and the women-only half-marathon world record-holder Peres Jepchirchir, plus the second fastest female half-marathon runner of all time Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia, will head the line-up.

Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, the race record-holder and the reigning world marathon champion, will be a co-favorite in the race along with Joan Chelimo Melly.

The European women-only record-holder Melat Kejeta from Germany will also be on the start line on 4 April. The home crowd expects Kejeta’s record to be challenged by Yasemin Can.

Kamworor, Kandie, Kosgei and Yehualaw had been among the athletes set to race at the Ras Al Khamimah Half Marathon in February before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) will host its Tokyo Olympics track and field trials in the Dutch city of Hengelo in June

EAF President Derartu Tulu Thursday announced that besides the track and field trials being held in the eastern Netherlands city, Ethiopia will also hold trials to pick its Olympic marathon teams in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 2.

The Hengelo trials will run on June 6 and 7 and will feature events from the 800 to 10,000 meters at the Blankers-Koen Stadium which will be hosting FBK Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series.

Over 90 Olympic track probables, along with 20 coaches, have been in residential training in three different hotels across Addis Ababa from November 3 last year.

Golden Jubilee championships.

Before the Hengelo trials, these elite athletes will feature in the six-day, 50th Ethiopian national athletics championships to be held in Addis Ababa from April 6 to 11.

The Golden Jubilee national championships will have prize money and will be broadcast live as part of EAF's Olympics countdown.

There has been a tug-of-war between Ethiopia's athletics federation and the country's Olympic committee over preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Reports from Addis Ababa indicate that the athletes will now move into one hotel, starting today, "so that it's good for the team spirit."

Sources within Ethiopian athletics yesterday indicated that EAF is expected to take over all the preparations "because the Olympic committee has failed to honor its commitments for the last four months."

Zurich time trials

EAF's highly-respected President Tulu is Africa's first black female Olympic champion, winning gold in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Ethiopia were initially scheduled to hold their marathon trials on April 4 at home, but the arrangements were met with protests from the athletes, prompting the switch to Zurich where a 35-kilometer time trial is planned instead of a full, 42-kilometer race.

Kiplimo set to star at Campaccio cross country

Reigning world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda will be in the spotlight at the 64th edition of the Campaccio in San Giorgio su Legnano when the first leg of the World Athletics Cross Country Permit series takes place on Sunday (21).

The popular Northern Italian cross-country race was originally scheduled for its traditional 6 January date, but it was postponed until the end of March due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time in its long history, the Campaccio will be held in spring.

Kiplimo won the world half-marathon title in Gdynia in 58:49 last October and ran the second-fastest time in history over the 21.1km distance with 57:37 in Valencia last December. The 20-year-old also set PBs on the track last year, clocking 7:26.64 in the 3000m in Rome and 12:48.63 in the 5000m in Ostrava. In 2019 he won the world cross-country silver medal in Aarhus. In the build-up to the Campaccio, Kiplimo dominated the men’s race at the Italian Cross Country Club Championships in Campi Bisenzio near Florence in rainy conditions.

Kiplimo will race against his younger brother Oscar Chelimo, who won the BOclassic 5km World Athletics Label road race in Bolzano last December. In 2018 Chelimo finished seventh in the 5000m at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere and won the 3000m at the Olympic Youth Games in Buenos Aires. One year later, the 19-year-old won the world under-20 cross-country bronze medal in Aarhus and finished fifth in the 5000m at the African Games in Rabat. 

Another Ugandan runner in the line-up is 2017 and 2018 world mountain running silver medallist Joel Ayeko.

Last year’s surprise Campaccio winner Mogos Tuemay will return to San Giorgio su Legnano to defend his title. The Ethiopian runner set his 10,000m PB in Hengelo in 2019 with 27:23.49 and finished 18th at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in 2019.

The top Italian runner is Eyob Faniel, who broke Stefano Baldini’s national marathon record with 2:07:19 in Seville last year. Faniel improved Rachid Berradi’s long-standing Italian half-marathon record with 1:00:07 at the Tuscany Camp Half Marathon in Siena at the end of February. Faniel also won the 2019 BOclassic road race and equalled Daniele Meucci’s 10km national record with 28:08 at the San Silvestre Vallecana in Madrid last December.

“I have always used cross-country competitions as preparation for the marathon,” said Faniel. “I finished ninth in 2017 and 10th in 2018 in my previous two appearances at the Campaccio. This year I am in different form, as I trained for shorter distances to prepare for the half-marathon. The turning point in my career was my win at the Boclassic in Bolzano in 2019.”

Faniel will battle for top place among Italian runners against Iliass Aouani, who won the national individual cross country title in Campi Bisenzio last week. Aouani, who graduated in engineering at the Syracuse University in New York, finished fourth at the 2019 World University Games in Naples in the 10,000m and equalled the national indoor mile record with 4:00.07 last year in Boston. 

Other Italian runners to watch out for are Yohanes Chiappinelli, who won the European bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase in Berlin in 2018, plus 2017 European indoor 3000m finalist Yassin Bouih, 2019 world mountain running silver medallist Cesare Maestri and 2017 world mountain running gold medallist Francesco Puppi.

In the women’s race, Lilian Kasait Rengeruk from Kenya will be bidding to win the Campaccio title for the second time, three years after her triumph in 2018. Rengeruk won the world cross country bronze medal in 2017 and finished fifth in the 5000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha with her PB of 14:36.05. 

Rengeruk will take on Winfred Mutile Yavi, who finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase in Doha and won the past two editions of the Cinque Mulini Cross Country Permit race in San Vittore Olona in 2019 and 2020. Yavi clocked a world all-time best in the indoor 2000m steeplechase with 5:45.09 in Lievin last February. 

The line-up also features Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu, who finished sixth at the 2019 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Aarhus. 

Nadia Battocletti leads the Italian contingent. Battocletti won two consecutive European under-20 cross-country gold medals and the European under-20 silver medal in the 5000m in 2019. The daughter of former Italian cross-country star Giuliano Battocletti finished sixth in last year’s edition of the Campaccio. She won her first national senior cross-country title in Campi Bisenzio last weekend after being sidelined by an injury problem at the end of January.

The other top Italian runners are Ludovica Cavalli, who won the Italian under-23 titles in the 1500m and 5000m last year and in the 3000m indoors in 2021, plus 3000m steeplechase specialist Martina Merlo (PB 9:41.06).

“Despite the restrictions due to the global pandemic, we managed to put together a world-class field. We are proud to announce that the special guest will be fresh European 60m champion Marcell Jacobs, who will offer his support for all athletes,” said Campaccio Technical Director Marcello Magnani.

Claudio Pastori, President of the local Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese, said: “We are determined to organise the Campaccio race this year. It is important to give a message of hope to the younger generation in this difficult period.”

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo is set to star at Campaccio cross country the first leg of the World Athletics Cross Country Permit series takes place on Sunday

Reigning world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda will be in the spotlight at the 64th edition of the Campaccio in San Giorgio su Legnano when the first leg of the World Athletics Cross Country Permit series takes place on Sunday.

The popular Northern Italian cross-country race was originally scheduled for its traditional 6 January date, but it was postponed until the end of March due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time in its long history, the Campaccio will be held in spring.

Kiplimo won the world half-marathon title in Gdynia in 58:49 last October and ran the second-fastest time in history over the 21.1km distance with 57:37 in Valencia last December. The 20-year-old also set PBs on the track last year, clocking 7:26.64 in the 3000m in Rome and 12:48.63 in the 5000m in Ostrava. In 2019 he won the world cross-country silver medal in Aarhus. In the build-up to the Campaccio, Kiplimo dominated the men’s race at the Italian Cross Country Club Championships in Campi Bisenzio near Florence in rainy conditions.

Kiplimo will race against his younger brother Oscar Chelimo, who won the BOclassic 5km World Athletics Label road race in Bolzano last December. In 2018 Chelimo finished seventh in the 5000m at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere and won the 3000m at the Olympic Youth Games in Buenos Aires. One year later, the 19-year-old won the world under-20 cross-country bronze medal in Aarhus and finished fifth in the 5000m at the African Games in Rabat. 

Another Ugandan runner in the line-up is 2017 and 2018 world mountain running silver medallist Joel Ayeko.

Last year’s surprise Campaccio winner Mogos Tuemay will return to San Giorgio su Legnano to defend his title. The Ethiopian runner set his 10,000m PB in Hengelo in 2019 with 27:23.49 and finished 18th at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in 2019.

The top Italian runner is Eyob Faniel, who broke Stefano Baldini’s national marathon record with 2:07:19 in Seville last year. Faniel improved Rachid Berradi’s long-standing Italian half-marathon record with 1:00:07 at the Tuscany Camp Half Marathon in Siena at the end of February. Faniel also won the 2019 BOclassic road race and equalled Daniele Meucci’s 10km national record with 28:08 at the San Silvestre Vallecana in Madrid last December.

“I have always used cross-country competitions as preparation for the marathon,” said Faniel. “I finished ninth in 2017 and 10th in 2018 in my previous two appearances at the Campaccio. This year I am in different form, as I trained for shorter distances to prepare for the half-marathon. The turning point in my career was my win at the Boclassic in Bolzano in 2019.”

Faniel will battle for top place among Italian runners against Iliass Aouani, who won the national individual cross country title in Campi Bisenzio last week. Aouani, who graduated in engineering at the Syracuse University in New York, finished fourth at the 2019 World University Games in Naples in the 10,000m and equalled the national indoor mile record with 4:00.07 last year in Boston. 

Other Italian runners to watch out for are Yohanes Chiappinelli, who won the European bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase in Berlin in 2018, plus 2017 European indoor 3000m finalist Yassin Bouih, 2019 world mountain running silver medallist Cesare Maestri and 2017 world mountain running gold medallist Francesco Puppi.

Sara Hall, motivated by motherhood and marathons

For athletics fans, Sara Hall is probably best known for her stunning marathon performances of 2020: the finishing kick to end all finishing kicks in London, where after 26 miles of hard running in the miserably grey and cold rain, she unleashed a stunning sprint gear, and hurtled past world champion Ruth Chepngetich to finish second. It was so impressive it achieved the ultimate 2020 accolade of becoming a meme. Then, just a few months later, there was her brilliant performance at the Marathon Project in Arizona, clocking another PB of 2:20:32 for the win and to become the second fastest marathon runner in US history.

But if all this was an unexpected late career renaissance for Hall, and an astonishing turnaround after the heartbreak of a DNF in the Olympic marathon trials, her personal story might be even more extraordinary. In October 2015 she and her husband Ryan went to bed one night as a couple, and woke up part of a family of six. The couple had adopted four Ethiopian sisters: Hana (15), Mia (13), Jasmine (8) and Lily (5) and brought them back to their home in the US.

“It was kind of surreal,” says Hall. “I felt like I was acting in a sitcom, playing the part of a suburban mom. All of a sudden I was driving them to school in our big old family car.” Of course, in reality the process was actually far from sudden – the couple had long had associations with Ethiopia, with many friends in the country, and had always enjoyed training there. Even once they had made the decision to adopt in Ethiopia and met the girls, they took their time. “We spent a lot of time in Ethiopia training, and we would visit the girls during that time. So we'd built a lot of trust with them and really got to know them. I think that really helped everyone's adjustment, but it was a surreal time for sure.”

For their daughters, the culture shock of moving to the US must have been huge. “They didn’t know any English when we met,” agrees Hall. “I learned their language – Amharic – and we were teaching them English in the orphanage on our visits. But when we put them in school in the US we didn't know if that would even work because they'd never been to school before. My 15-year-old was starting eighth grade having never been to school for a day in her life. But she – they all – just immersed themselves in it and I think that really helped them.”

In fact, for those who like to ponder the effects of nature vs nature, Hall’s eldest daughter Hanna is quite the study. Now a freshman at Grand Canyon University in Arizona, she is a three-time state champion and clearly a prodigious talent. Her sister Mia has also recently started running more seriously, and the girls both now join Sara for runs. Yet when the Halls first met their daughters, none ran so much as a single step. The orphanage where they had lived for three years was their entire world, and though they were cared for, opportunities for sport were non-existent.

“They definitely knew of their country’s running heroes, though,” recalls Hall. “They had seen some races on TV and when we told Hana that we were both runners, she said: ‘Oh I want to be a runner!’ That was cool because otherwise I think I would have wondered if it was, you know, kids trying to get their parents approval by doing the things they love.”

Of course, with a pedigree like Hall’s – not to mention husband Ryan’s 59:43 US record-holding half-marathon and 2:04:58 marathon – the girls clearly have big running shoes to fill. And, as with many parents, finding the right line between pushing and easing off has been tricky for the Halls.

“I think I’m still figuring that out, and I like to talk to other people whose parents ran, about their experiences,” she says. “When you see a kid has a talent, you want to be able to communicate to them: ‘Look, if you want to be good at this, you could be’, but also kind of leave it up to them, too. I think distance running takes a lot of internal drive to be good at it, and I think for me, that always came from within. I’ve always felt like if they have that fire, I will fan that flame – but I want to see their own fire for it first.”

Her two youngest daughters have yet to find what fuels their own fires, and that is absolutely fine with Hall. “There’s lots of different reasons to do sports, like just for fun,” she says. “Jasmine, who is 13, did cross country for two seasons and was undefeated, but was very much just seeing it as fun and hasn’t run for the last couple of years. I started myself in basketball and soccer and I think that’s actually a better way to become a good runner anyway, to do those sports early on. There’s just not as much pressure with team sports, and you learn teamwork.

“Typically, the professional athlete, everything’s kind of revolving around you – you’re eating, and sleeping, and training, and everything outside of training is all about rest, minimising energy expenditure at all costs,” muses Hall. “But then you become a parent and that's out the window. You can't just go into energy conserve mode – you're constantly tuning in with them and like, and seeing what they're needing.” Little surprise, then, that when the couple initially adopted the girls, Hall expected it to signal the end of her top-flight career.

Instead, that, and the move up to the marathon distance, seems to have revitalised it. So, did her new family life actually prove a new source of fuel for that fire? She laughs: “I think I’ve been able to improve despite it, definitely not because of it! It’s been difficult. That’s why I share stuff, because I think on the outside it could look like it’s been really easy but it hasn’t, by any means.

“I never thought I would want to do this with kids, just be torn in different directions. Having talked to other families who had adopted older kids, they’d all had a really difficult road, really life-altering for the family. And I was willing for these kids, willing to walk that road with them, do what they needed to heal from the trauma they've been through. But it turned out that wasn't really the case with them, they have just handled everything really remarkably so far. So it allowed me to continue to do what I'm doing”.

And that, these days, is quite definitely 26.2 miles, as fast as she can. “I’ve just loved marathon training. I think I should have been doing this a long time ago,” says Hall. “I just found my body had a lot of room to grow my aerobic capacity. Each build-up I'm able to add in more and absorb it better and so even though I'm getting older, I feel like I'm kind of young as far as the marathon goes. Maybe starting the marathon later just allowed me to have more mileage in my tyres.”

These days, Hall also has to contend with nerves from her daughters’ races as well as her own. Fortunately, she says she doesn’t suffer too badly for them. “But I do get really excited,” she adds. “I’m sprinting around the course trying to cheer for them 20 times!” But it’s important to Hall that her daughters also learn how to fail – and see her do it, too. “I think it’s really powerful for them to see me do something that makes me come alive – and see me fail and pick myself back up again after the biggest failure of my career – and train through a pandemic and then have the best race of my career. That’s the kind of stuff you want to instil in your kids and they learn more through watching you than from what you say.”

The girls certainly have two incredible role models to watch at home. And while she may not be at the Olympics, Hall’s marathon journey is far from over, she confirms. “I think I have some unfinished business there,” she says, “and I'm really looking forward to having some World Marathon Majors back in their normal glory, with the whole field.”

And if she can kick like she did in London on a miserable day with an elite-only field and no spectators, then surely with fair conditions, and the cheers of the crowd behind her, a sub-2:20 and that US record is well within her grasp.

World records could be the order of the day at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon as Ethiopia star Yalemzerf Yehualaw confirms spot

World records could be the order of the day at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon with four-time Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Sir Mo Farah set to be joined by Ethiopian distance sensation and second fastest woman of all time Yalemzerf Yehualaw.

Elite race organiser James McIlroy - who himself reached the 800m semi-finals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics - has swooped to sign up Yehualaw for the August 29 showpiece and the athlete's agent has made clear that the opportunity to break the world record of 64 minutes 31 seconds on what is a very fast course is one of the main attractions drawing her there.

The 21-year-old boasts a PB of 64.46 and the Antrim Coast Half Marathon will be one of only four events she will contest this year and the first after the Tokyo Olympics.

Yehualaw's agent Daan van den Berg said: "Yalemzerf will only do two half marathons this year - Istanbul and the Antrim Coast Half - along with two 10,000m before the Olympic Games.

"The Antrim Coast coming three weeks after the Olympics is perfect timing, and we know if the Irish crowd get behind her she can break the world record as last year's race looked brilliant, with 35 out of 62 runners recording personal bests."

Yehualaw finished third at last year's World Championship after leading for most of the race before tripping on the finishing straight mat, and will be joined at the Larne event by Ethiopian team-mates Yitasyish Mekonnen and Tsehay Gemechu.

The African stars will be joined by early confirmed British internationals Jo Pavey, Sam Harrison, Tracy Barlow and Kirsty Longley.

The men's race will be one of the greatest half marathon fields ever assembled in the UK or Ireland. Race organisers have made no secret of attacking the 60-minute barrier and already have a strong international line-up, with four sub-60 runners already confirmed.

Making their first appearance ever in Ireland will be the African quartet of Tesfahun Akalnew (59.22), Victor Kiplangat (59.26), both from Uganda, Abrar Osman (59.47) of Eritrea and up and coming Kenyan Daniel Mateiko, all of whom will be attacking Sir Mo's course record 60.27 from last year.

It is hoped Sir Mo - coached by Larne-born Gary Lough, who is married to distance legend Paula Radcliffe - could be coming to Larne with Olympic gold number five tucked safely away after Tokyo.

Sir Mo Farah opened his 2021 racing season winning the inaugural Djibouti International Half-Marathon

Mo Farah opened his 2021 racing season Friday at the Djibouti International Half-Marathon, winning the race in a time of 1:03:06. This was his first competition since he ran the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on September 12, where he crossed the finish line in 60:27 for the win.

After spending the last seven weeks at a training camp in Ethiopia, this race was meant to be a test of fitness ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, where the four-time Olympic champion will be hunting for another gold medal.

The Djibouti Half-Marathon is a special race for the 37-year-old, because it’s a chance for him to run in the place where he spent his childhood before moving to Britain. In an interview with Athletics Weekly ahead of the race, Farah was not shy about his goal: he was there to win.

“It’s not just going to be a case of me turning up. It’s going to be tough and there are a lot of decent guys racing so I’ll just go out there and see what I can do,” he said. ““It’ll be good to get back in the right frame of mind in terms of racing again and to test myself.”

As Farah predicted, the race was tough, and he didn’t win it handily. His training partner Bashir Abdi finished only four seconds behind him in 1:03:10, and the top seven men all ran under 1:05.

With the Tokyo Olympic Games only four-and-a-half months away, Farah will now be turning his attention to the track as he prepares to defend his 10,000m Olympic title. With competitors like Joshua Cheptegei, who ran a 26:11.00 for 10K last October, challenging him for the win, this won’t be an easy feat, but Farah told AW that results like that get him “fired up.”

“It’s not just Cheptegei – there’s Jacob Kiplimo, Moh Ahmed – you’ve got so many guys coming through at the moment and I think it’s exciting for the sport to have all of these people at that level.”

While his result in Djibouti was a few minutes off his half-marathon personal best of 59:32 (set in 2015), Farah did exactly what he set out to do, which was to test his fitness and win the race. With that goal accomplished, it’s safe to say that Farah is progressing well toward the Olympics, and we look forward to seeing what he will do on the track this summer.

Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba is set to comeback and compete in the NN Mission Marathon Hamburg

Tirunesh Dibaba, one of the greatest female distance runners of all-time, will feature at the elite women’s field at the NN Mission Marathon in Hamburg on April 11. The announcement that Tirunesh is set to compete is hugely exciting news as the endurance-running legend boasts a virtually unsurpassed record in the sport.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, the Ethiopian became the first woman in history to claim the 5000m and 10,000m Olympic double, and four years later at the London Games she successfully retained her 10,000m crown. During an international career spanning 20 years, she has also won nine world titles and in more recent times has enjoyed an impressive marathon career.

Setting her marathon PB – which at the time was a national record – of 2:17:56 when second at the 2017 London Marathon, she has four top three placings at Marathon Majors – highlighted by victory in the 2017 Chicago Marathon.

Dibaba is delighted to come to the German city: “I’m looking forward to race in Hamburg. This is my first competition after giving birth to Allon last year. It’s an important race for me and I’m looking forward to finding out where I am in a race situation.”

The one-off marathon organised by Global Sports Communication, the NN Running Team and the Hamburg Marathon provides a much-needed opportunity for an Olympic qualification time. In these challenging times and with the road race calendar for the first half of 2021 decimated by the pandemic, Tirunesh and rest of the slate of top athletes will be seeking to secure selection to the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games.

Under the tagline ‘The fastest way to Tokyo’, the race will take place around a looped 10.5km city centre route. NN Group, the international financial services company, will be the title sponsor of this great event.

3 Key Reasons Why Records Keep Getting Broken in 2021

It’s not just the shoes. But they certainly help.

The times have been spectacular across the globe.

In Europe, four men broke the previous world half marathon record in December in Valencia, Spain. Earlier this month, Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 1500 meters on February 9, running 3:53.09 at a meet in Liévin, France.

Closer to home, Americans Sara Hall, Keira D’Amato, Martin Hehir, and Noah Droddy reshuffled the list of top 10 Americans in the marathon. 

On the track, Donavan Brazier, Bryce Hoppel, Elle Purrier, and Grant Holloway have set American or world records. 

High school and college athletes are in on the action, too. Hobbs Kessler set the high school indoor mile record with his 3:57.66, and Cooper Teare of the University of Oregon took almost 2 seconds off the collegiate mile record when he ran 3:50.39. Athing Mu at Texas A&M, who was thought to be an 800-meter runner, has been turning in world-class 400-meter splits and anchored her teammates to a collegiate record in the 4x400 meters. 

What’s going on with all these fast times? Yes, there is new shoe technology, but it goes well beyond that for these record-shattering runners.

Shoe technology that changed road racing is now changing track racing

Back in 2017, when Eliud Kipchoge attempted for the first time to break two hours in the marathon on a racetrack in Monza, Italy, he wore a new type of shoe from Nike, the Zoom Vaporfly Elite. The shoes promised a 4 percent efficiency benefit, through a combination of a new type of foam, which was lighter and more responsive than previous foams, and a stiff carbon fiber plate to stabilize the foam and move the foot as it pushes off the ground.

Nike’s innovative design has evolved since 2017 and has been emulated, with varying degrees of success, by other shoe brands, like Saucony and Adidas. Now the same technology—better foam with a stiff plate inside—has moved into track spikes, said Geoff Burns, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan who is researching biomechanics and sport performance.

“The absolute effect may be a little bit smaller,” he said. “But because of the controlled environment and frequency of racing on a track, it’s much more apparent.”

Burns said that although Nike’s competitors are closing the gap, he hesitates to say that they’ve caught up. He praises Adidas and Saucony road shoes, and Adidas and New Balance for track spikes. “But if I were getting on a starting line, for a marathon or a track race, I would be in the Nike shoes,” he said. 

Races are set up in near-perfect conditions

With the pandemic, the traditional lineup of road races and track meets has gone out the window, as race organizers have grappled with how to stage events safely. 

In their place, pro runners, needing to race, have turned to time trials. And many of these are set up according to exact specifications. 

Take The Ten, a track meet on February 20 in San Juan Capistrano, California. In two 10,000-meter track races, athletes—almost exclusively from the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Oregon—were paced to try to get the Olympic standard in the event, which is 27:28 for men and 31:25 for women. 

In the women’s race, Vanessa Fraser and Courtney Frerichs (the American record holder in the steeplechase), set a perfect pace, running 74- or 75-second laps. Fraser led for the first two miles, Frerichs took over and set the pace through four miles, 16 of the 25 laps. Her teammates could turn off their brains and follow behind. In the end, Elise Cranny won in 30:47 and five women hit the standard, four from Bowerman plus Eilish McColgan of Great Britain. The results of the men’s race were similar: Evan Jager and Sean McGorty paced, Marc Scott won in 27:10, and five runners achieved the Olympic standard. 

“We are fortunate to have [teammates] who can pace a race for three or four miles,” said Marielle Hall, a Bowerman runner who finished fifth in 31:21. “That doesn’t happen that often. We’re pretty lucky.” 

The Marathon Project, on December 20 in Chandler, Arizona, was similar in some ways. Organizers picked a perfectly flat U-shaped loop. Runners went up one side of a 2.1-mile stretch of road and back down the other. Pacers for the top men and women kept a steady pace through 18 miles. In the end, Martin Hehir ran 2:08:59, and Sara Hall ran 2:20:32. Hehir is now eighth on the list of fastest U.S. marathoners; Hall is second among women.

Athletes have benefited from long training blocks—and now they’re itching to race

In a typical season, many college runners race too frequently. They compete in three seasons—cross country, indoor and outdoor track. They might travel the country every other week, chasing top-level competition and in track, qualifying marks for nationals. 

But that’s not the case this year. Last March, just as the pandemic was spreading across the country, the NCAA canceled indoor nationals. (Many athletes were already at the meet.) The outdoor season was quickly called off, and the cross-country season, which was supposed to happen in the fall of 2020, was pushed to winter. 

The result? College runners have had long blocks of uninterrupted training time with little or no racing outside of team time trials. They’re eager to race again, and they’re reaping the benefits of the extended period of training. 

Pros, too, may have benefitted from less racing than usual. And many have the feeling that finally, now that racing is back in some form, it’s time to run fast, especially in the buildup to the Olympic Trials. “The pent-up demand to have races — that definitely has something to do with it,” said Mark Coogan, coach of Team New Balance Boston, who coached Elle Purrier to a 9:10.28 American record in the two mile on February 13.

In a sense, track athletes have been forced to train as marathoners do, with long blocks of dedicated training toward one event, Burns said. “I think there could be enormous gains to track and field performances by taking the same approach: Hunker down and focus.” 

Marielle Hall said that training and limited racing through the pandemic has been “all been just one giant experiment.” Bowerman workouts, designed by head coach Jerry Schumacher, are getting harder. Splits they aim for during interval workouts are faster. They do more reps. “Those kinds of things are constantly evolving, changing to fit people’s new fitness level,” she said. “It looks a lot more effortless than it is.” 

Beatrice Chepkoech sets sights on victory at World Indoor event in Torun

Fresh from breaking the world 5-kilometer road race record on Sunday in Monaco, world 3,000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech will be seeking to continue her rich vein of form at World Athletics Indoor Tour in Torun, Poland today.

This time round, Chepkoech will feature in the 3000m, where she will face Genzebe Dibaba, the world indoor record-holder and three-time world indoor champion at the distance.

Chepkoech has had a stellar year so far in the 3000, winning the opening World Athletics Indoor Tour  in Karlsruhe, then set an indoor PB of 8:34.21 over the  distance to place third in Lievin and setting a world 5km record of 14:43 in Monaco three days ago.

However, It is not going to be a  two-horse race though. Ethiopian teenager Lemlem Hailu, who stole the show in Lievin to win in a PB of 8:32.55, is also in the line-up as is her compatriot Fantu Worku.

World indoor 3,000m bronze medallist, Bethwell Birgen face off with world 5,000m silver medallist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia in the men's 1,500m event. Poland's Marcin Lewandowski is also in contention and the meeting record of 3:35.57 looks to be a realistic target for the field.

Collins Kipruto, won the event last year in 1:45.86, has been entered for the 800m, where he will line up against world indoor champion Adam Kszczot of Poland.

However,  Elliot Giles, who won in Karlsruhe and Lievin, starts favourite but will have to contend with European indoor silver medallist Jamie Webb and Swedish record-holder Andreas Kramer.

African bronze medallist Habitam Alemu will start as favourite for the women’s 800m, a scoring event in this year’s World Athletics Indoor Tour. Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo, Poland’s Joanna Jozwik and Ireland’s Nadia Power – all of whom hold their respective national indoor records – will ensure the race is a competitive one.

Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay sets new indoor world record in 1,500 meters

LIEVIN, France -- Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia set a new 1,500 meters indoor world record by finishing in 3 minutes 53.09 seconds on Tuesday at a meet in northern France.

A world bronze medalist, Tsegay followed the fast tempo set by the pacemaker and held on to prevail over double European indoor champion Laura Muir and her teammate Melissa Courtney-Bryant. Muir set a new British indoor record by running 3:59.58.

"I'm very happy to set a world indoor record," Tsegay said. "I have been training really hard and I set myself a target to break the world indoor record."

Tsegay took more than two seconds off the previous record set by Genzebe Dibaba in 2014.

Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay breaks world indoor 1500m record in Lievin with 3:53.09

On an evening of stunning middle-distance performances at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay produced the highlight by taking two seconds off the world indoor 1500m record*, winning at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in 3:53.09.

The world bronze medallist followed the swift early tempo as the pacemaker led the field through 400m (58.97) and exited just before 800m, which Tsegay passed in 2:05.94. With three laps to go, Tsegay had a four-second lead over double European indoor champion Laura Muir but she showed no signs of slowing down, passing through 1000m in 2:37.36.

The clock read 2:52.9 with two laps to go and Tsegay maintained her pace with another lap just outside 30 seconds. She dug in for the final circuit and crossed the line in 3:53.09, taking more than two seconds off the world indoor record set by compatriot Genzebe Dibaba in Karlsruhe in 2014.

Muir finished second in a British indoor record of 3:59.58 with teammate Melissa Courtney-Bryant taking third in 4:04.79.

“I’m very happy to set a world indoor record,” said Tsegay. “I have been training really hard and I set myself a target to break the world indoor record.”

Tsegay's record-breaking performance was book-ended by two other athletes who very nearly broke world records.

Ethiopian steeplechase specialist Getnet Wale won the men's 3000m in 7:24.98, the second-fastest indoor performance in history, while USA's Grant Holloway won the men's 60m hurdles in 7.32, just 0.02 shy of the world indoor record.

Wale, still only 20 years old, led an Ethiopian 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s 3000m as Daniel Komen’s long-standing world record of 7:24.90 was put under serious threat. The pace was fast and even as Vincent Keter led the field through the opening 1000m in 2:31.05 with the second kilometre covered in 2:30.

World 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega hit the front with three-and-a-half laps to go with fellow Ethiopians Wale and world steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma close behind. Wale took a turn at the front with two laps to go, then Girma kicked hard with 300 metres to go. Having seemingly misjudged his finish, Girma eased off the gas slightly with one lap remaining, allowing Wale and Barega to pass him.

2021 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has been moved to April 10

This year’s edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon earlier slated for February 13, has now been shifted till April 10, the organisers disclosed yesterday.

Last week, the Nilayo Sports Management Chief Executive Officer, Bukola Olopade, stated that the number of athletes taking part in the 2021 event was reduced from its usual 100,000 runners to 300 to stay within the regulatory procedure of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on why it was postponed, Olopade stated that even though Lagos State government, the sponsors and the organisers were fully ready, there was the need to move the event forward to April 10 due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Olopade added: “We are not going to increase the number from 300 runners even though a lot of foreign athletes want to use the silver label Access Bank Lagos City marathon to cement their qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.

“As we speak, this Lagos city marathon has been listed by World Athletics as qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics. Even the April 10 date is already on their website,” Olopade said, adding that the 300 tickets available for the 2021 edition would be distributed to athletes both from the country and those coming from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, United Kingdom, USA and other countries.

“The 2021 Lagos City Marathon would be exclusive for the 42km race. The 10km race and the wheelchair race won’t be part of this year’s edition. The health of the athletes and everyone, who will attend the event, is very important to us. The absence of the 10km race won’t take away the glamour of the event.”

“Lagos State has become a sports tourist attraction because of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. We are always happy to support and make sure that the marathon happens and get better every year. We are looking forward to the April 10 date to show to the world that Lagos is a destination place to visit,” Olopade stated.

Commonwealth 10,000m bronze medalist, Rodgers Kwemoi, will be seeking a win at the Ras Al Khaimah

Kwemoi, will be seeking a win at the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon to make up for the pain of missing out on victory at last Sunday's Discovery Kenya Cross Country Championships in Eldoret.

The former world junior 10,000m champion finished third behind winner Nicholas Kimeli and Africa Games' 5,000m champion Robert Kiprop.

“This is part of my speed and endurance build-up ahead of for RAK but I have to run well at the national championships cum trials first. My preparations have been good and that is why I had to run well in this race,” the Mount Elgon-born athlete said. 

However, it will be a tall order for Kwemoi in the United Arab Emirates as he will have to upstage a star-studded roster in the men's category including world Half Marathon record holder, Kibiwott Kandie, world half marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda and former world record holder Geoffrey Kamworor.

Others hoping to start off the year in style include former world half marathon silver medalist Bedan Karoki, RAK silver medalist Alexander Munyao, Stephen Kiprop and New York Marathon champion Shura Kitata of Ethiopia.  

Kwemoi will also be chasing an Olympics slot in 10,000m and is optimistic he can end the country's dry spell in the long distance race since the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games.

“I want to run 10,000 m as I focus on the Olympics. I want to bring the 10,000m Olympic gold after Kenya having the dry spell over the medal,” Kwemoi said.

Kibiwott Kandie has promised fireworks at next month's Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon when he comes up against former world record holder Geoffrey Kamworor and world champion Jacob Kiplimo

Kandie, who won the event last year in 58:58, said he is unperturbed by the threat posed by the two elite rivals. 

"I am not tense because I know I have been training hard despite the minor hiccups that I have experienced. Kamworor and Kiplimo will be tough nuts to crack but I am only focused on retaining this title because it will provide the right platform for me to push on for the rest of the year," Kandie said. 

In particular, Kandie is wary of the threat posed by Ugandan Kiplimo who he trounced at the Valencia Marathon in December on his way to setting a new world record of 57:32. 

Before that, Kiplimo had beaten Kandie to the finish line at the World Half Marathon Championship in Gdynia, Poland in October to claim the crown. 

"Of course I know  the thought of revenge has crossed his mind. I know he badly wants to win against me but I will try my best to stop that from happening. Kamworor's entry has further muddied the waters but all is well; it is such competitions that build you into a strong athlete," he said. 

Before docking in the United Arab Emirates for RAK Half Marathon, however, Kandie will first have to battle with fellow military athletes for top honours in this Friday's Kenya Defence Forces Cross Country Championships at the Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi. 

"The championships will be a test of my preparedness for the major international competitions because there is not much difference between the KDF Cross Country event and the international ones. The competition this Friday will be as tough as that of international events," he said. 

Kandie has also revealed he will resume intense training for the 10,000m race in which he plans to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. After the Olympics, he will be targeting one of the major marathons sometime in November. 

For Kamworor, the RAK Half Marathon represents a comeback opportunity having spent last year on the sidelines after a motorbike accident in June.  In 2019, he set a half marathon world record of 58:01 at the Copenhagen Half Marathon. 

The A-list for the men's race also includes Ethiopian Shura Kitata, who upstaged the odds to trounce world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge to the London Marathon title. 

It will be similarly battle royale in the women's division  as World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri faces off against world marathon record holder and compatriot Brigid Kosgei.  The RAK Half Marathon will be staged on February 19 after registration closes on January 31. 

5000m champion Hellen Obiri added to Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon line-up

Obiri, who won world titles at 5000m and cross country in 2019, will be making her half marathon debut. The Kenyan has limited road running experience, but her few outings to date have been promising; she clocked 29:59 for 10km on Madrid’s downhill course at the end of 2018.

World half marathon silver medallist Melat Kejeta of Germany and world marathon bronze medallist Helalia Johannes are the other recent top additions to the field, and they will face a formidable line-up of stars, as previously announced by the organisers.

World marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, who recently set a half marathon PB of 1:05:06, will make her Ras Al Khaimah debut. Peres Jepchirchir, who won the world half marathon title last October in a women-only world record of 1:05:16, will return to the scene of her 2017 triumph when she set a world record of 1:05:06.

The three fastest women in history – world record-holder Ababel Yeshaneh, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei – will also line up in Ras Al Khaimah.

Yeshaneh and Kosgei have clashed twice to date, both races resulting in world records. Their first duel came at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, which Kosgei won in a world record of 2:14:04 while Yeshaneh placed second in 2:20:51. Just four months later, Yeshaneh levelled the score by winning in Ras Al Khaimah in a world record of 1:04:31. Kosgei was runner-up in 1:04:49, the second-fastest time in history.

Yehualaw, meanwhile, finished third at the recent World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, just a few seconds behind Jepchirchir. Six weeks later, she won the New Delhi Half Marathon in 1:04:46, the second-fastest time in history.

USA’s Sara Hall, who placed second at this year’s London Marathon, and South Africa’s Gerda Steyn are also in the field.

Half marathon world record holder, Geoffrey Kamworor is back after injury lay-off

Geoffrey Kamworor, a former world half marathon champion and half marathon world record holder, has announced his return to after a one-year break.

The 28-year-old Kamworor, who last competed at the National Cross Country Championships on February 15 last year, has joined a rich field heading for the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon due on February 19 in the United Arab Emirates.

Kamworor, who has won the world half marathon title thrice in 2014, 2016 and 2018, has fully recovered from injuries sustained in a freak accident on June 25 last year in Eldoret.

Kamworor was hit from behind by a speeding motorcycle, sustaining injuries on his head and above the ankle and had to be operated on at St Luke's Hospital in Eldoret.

“It's time to race again!” said Kamworor on his Facebook page.

“After months of working hard to recover from my injury, I'm very excited to be on the starting line again in RAK to get my season going.”

The accident saw Kamworor, who won the RAK Half Marathon in 2013, fail to defend his world half marathon title on October 17 last year.

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo cashed in on Kamworor’s absence to win in a Championship Record (CR) time of 58:49.

Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie settled for silver also inside the CR time in 58:54 as Amedework Walelegn from Ethiopia went for bronze in 59:08.

Kamworor held the previous CR of 59:08 set when winning the 2014 race.

Kamworor has also had his half marathon world record being snapped by compatriot Kibiwott Kandie, who claimed the Valencia Half Marathon victory in 57:32 on December 6, becoming the first man to run a half marathon under 58 minutes. 

The field in RAK looks sumptuous with Kamworor joining Kandie, who is the defending champion, and Kiplimo, the world half marathon champion, and 2017 and 2018 RAK champion Bedan Karoki.

Just 300 runners will be allowed for 2021 Access Bank Lagos City marathon

To stay within the COVID-19 protocol globally, organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon have decided to reduce the number of participants from its usual 100,000 runners to 300 for the 2021 edition, billed for February 13.

The event had over 50,000 runners at the first edition and 73,000 in the second. The number had since increased to 100,000 runners, but the Chief Executive Officer of Nilayo Sports Management Company, Bukola Olopade, told The Guardian yesterday that the sixth edition holding on February 13 will only accommodate 300 runners.

But there seems to be lot of pleasure from foreign athletes, who want to use the silver label Access Bank Lagos City marathon to cement their qualification for other top long distance races across the globe.

Olopade hinted yesterday that of the 300 tickets available for the 2021 edition, foreign runners from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, United Kingdom and the United States of America would get 240 slots, while the remaining tickets will go to selected Nigerian professional runners and clubs.

“A lot of foreign athletes are mounting pleasure on us for tickets to enable them take part in this year’s edition. They want to use Access Bank Lagos City marathon to qualify for some other major marathon races across the world, but we cannot go more than the 300 number,” Olopade said. “We have gotten the approval from both Lagos State Sports Commission and Ministry of Health, and we must do it in accordance with the COVID-19 Protocol globally.”

Olopade, a former sports commissioner in Ogun State disclosed that only five journalists would be allowed to cover this year’s edition, just as he hinted yesterday that the 2021 Lagos City Marathon would be exclusive for the 42km race. “The 10km race and the wheelchair race won’t be part of this year’s edition. The health of the athletes and everyone who will attend the event is very important to us. The absence of the 10km race won’t take away the glamour of the event.”

Olopade also disclosed yesterday that apart from reducing the number of runners, they have also cut down on the number of personalities to be invited for the ceremony. “We won’t have more then 60 guests at the finish point, and everyone must wear nose mask and stay some meters away from one another. He commended Lagos State Government, particularly the Executive Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepeku, for his support.

“Lagos State has become a sports tourist attraction because of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, so we are always happy to support and make sure that the Marathon happens and get better every year,” Olopade stated.

Two-month training in Ethiopian town of Sululta will enable Turkish athletes to qualify for Tokyo Olympics, say team leaders

Turkey's top-notch athletes have been training in one of Ethiopia’s high-altitude training sites, Sululta, with hopes to clinch the qualifying time required to compete in the marathon and 3,000 meters steeplechase in Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 2020 Summer Olympics Games, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are now scheduled from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, team leaders Bilal Arslan and Elvan Abeylegesse said Turkey has selected 12 athletes with the best time in the marathon and 3,000 meters steeplechase.

"For a marathon, we have ten athletes, of which six are female. Two women athletes are also training to compete in 3,000 meters steeplechase," said Arslan.

Abeylegesse said that the primary goal of the two-month training in Sululta was to prepare the athletes to compete in the championship at Trabzon, northeastern Turkey, which will take place in mid-February.

"These athletes will run to get the qualifying time required for the Tokyo Olympics in their respective fields," she said.

"We will be back to Ethiopia with those who qualified for Tokyo and do further preparation, maybe for five months," she added.

Located 12 kilometers (7 miles) north of the capital Addis Ababa at an elevation of 2,700 meters, Sululta is surrounded by mountains. It has been attracting internationally acclaimed athletes across the world.

"Sululta is an ideal place for training. Due to its high altitude, it helps athletes to gain endurance and stamina," said Arslan. "The town is plain and it provides a natural running track," he said.

Further, since dietary habits in Ethiopia are similar to that of Turkey, it helps athletes to adapt quickly.

"Everyone in the town wants to help, and the Ethiopian Athletics Federation and local officials are also assisting us," said the team leader.

According to Abeylegesse, the team has been working under a rigorous training regime over the past month and it will continue.

"We have been training with second-level young Ethiopian athletes, who helped us to learn more skills and discipline," she said.

"We are confident that we will achieve what we want," she added.

Busra Recep, a 24-year-old marathon specialist, said she was making progress in every aspect of long-distance running.

"I am doing my level best and hope to register the qualifying time for Tokyo Olympics and represent my country," she added.

Omer Alkan, a 29-year-old athlete engaged in the marathon race for the past 12 years, also hopes to hit the qualifying time, so he returned to Sululta for further training.

Abe Gashahun and Tsigie Gebreselama, winners of Great Ethiopian Run

On Sunday, the Great Ethiopian Run was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and thousands of runners showed up to compete in the 10K race. This marked the 20th running of the event, which was created by Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie.

The elite races, which featured 300 athletes, saw two close finishes, with Ethiopians Abe Gashahun and Tsigie Gebreselama taking the wins in the men’s and women’s races by one and two seconds, respectively.

In total, more than 12,000 runners participated in the race, which is reportedly the biggest African sporting event to take place since the start of the pandemic.

In 2018 Gebreselama finished in third at the Great Ethiopian Run. The year after, she upgraded to a second-place finish. On Sunday, at what was still billed as the 2020 race, she ran to the win, completing a three-year climb to the top of the podium. She crossed the line in 32:33, finishing two seconds ahead of Medihen Gebreselasie and 10 seconds in front of Gebeyanesh Ayele, both of whom are also Ethiopian. Gebreselama’s result is the fourth-fastest time in race history. 

In the men’s race, Gashahun took the win in 28:20, finishing just one second off the 15-year-old course record of 28:19. This is Gashahun’s second win at the Great Ethiopian Run, adding to his victory from 2016.

Gashahun’s fellow Ethiopians Milkesa Mengesha and Tadese Worku made him work hard for the win, and the trio battled for the top spot throughout most of the race. While Mengesha eventually faded to a 28:40 third-place finish, Worku stuck it out until the very end, falling just short of the win in 28:21. 

The run takes place at more than 2,300m above sea level, which accounts for slower results than elites would normally run. For context, 76 Ethiopian men have run faster than Gashahun’s 28:20 winning time and 118 Ethiopian women have better PBs than Gebreselama’s 32:33 result. 

COVID-19 guidelines  

While the Great Ethiopian Run hosted a shockingly large field of athletes, there were COVID-19 guidelines in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Firstly, the event was moved from its original November 2020 run date until Sunday to give organizers more time to prepare for a COVID-friendly race.

The next-biggest change was the reduction of the field size from the pre-pandemic cap of 50,000 runners down to 12,500. Masks were mandatory on race day (other than when on the course), all athletes had their temperatures checked before the run and the race featured a wave start to make social distancing easier during the 10K.

The call to hold the event with such a large field drew criticism from many people in the international running community, but Gebrselassie and his Great Ethiopian Run team ultimately moved forward with their event, reportedly working closely with local health experts and government officials. 

Three Kenyans, Solomon Boit, Evans Kipkemei and Kennedy Kimutai will battle ethiopians in Addis abba as race marks 20 years

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will Sunday host the 20th anniversary of Great Ethiopian Run - Africa’s largest mass participation sports event post-coronavirus lockdown - with founder Haile Gebrselassie confident the 10-kilometre road race will continue serving the greater good.

Speaking at a pre-race press conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Addis Ababa on Friday, Gebrselassie, a multiple world record holder in distance running, said the race will continue to make positive contribution beyond prize money.

Already, the distance running legend has built a school with proceeds from the annual race’s sponsorship with plans underway for the construction of another in partnership with the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The former world record holder in the marathon and 10,000 metres also paid tribute to the great rivalry between Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes saying it helped raise the bar in African athletics.

He singled out his career-long running nemesis Paul Tergat for his contribution to the sport.

“Without Tergat the sport wouldn’t be as exciting as it is… he’s my friend and I even feel as though he’s right here with us now,” Gebrselassie, also a successful businessman said.

Tergat had been invited for this weekend’s 20th anniversary race but couldn’t travel as he is attending to his brother and other relatives who were involved in a freak road accident in Baringo County recently.

“Haile Gebrselassie, the legend, my brother, my friend and my worthy competitor in our hey days on the track, in cross country and on the roads, stands out tall for bequeathing Africa with such an incredible mass race that celebrates 20 amazing years this weekend,” Tergat wrote in a message to the organizers.

“Haile stands out as a giant, and one great role model to mankind through the way he was a success in his long professional athletics career, and by the way he has been a tremendous success also in his business undertakings after retiring from athletics.”

The Great Ethiopian Run has been forced to adjust to Covid-19 protocols that include a reduced number of runners starting the race in three separate waves to avoid congestion and to allow for greater distancing.

Three Kenyans – Solomon Boit, Evans Kipkemei and Kennedy Kimutai – are among a trimmed field of 300 elite runners who will line up at the iconic Meskel Square for the race’s start on Sunday.

Ethiopian marathon ace Birhanu Legese sets sights on Olympic glory

While the staggering marathon feats of Eliud Kipchoge and to a lesser extent Kenenisa Bekele have quite righty earned the bulk of media attention in recent years, it would be a little churlish not to also acknowledge the feats of Ethiopian marathon ace Birhanu Legese.

Standing at 1.68m the diminutive Ethiopian, an NN Running Team team-mate of Kipchoge and Bekele, has claimed four successive marathon podiums which have included back-to-back successes in the Tokyo Marathon, a second place finish in the 2019 Berlin Marathon - to advance to third on the all-time marathon lists - and more recently a third place finish in the 2020 Valencia Marathon.

For sheer marathon consistency few can currently match the 26-year-old athlete, who according to his coach, Getaneh Tessema, has the potential to make history.

“There is no doubt Birhanu is a quality athlete,” explains Getaneh. “I see that every day in training. If everything goes perfectly, I know he can achieve the same results as Kenenisa and Kipchoge.”

Legese, the third eldest of seven siblings, enjoyed his breakthrough performance at the 2012 10km Great Ethiopian Run when placing second in 28:41 behind 2016 Olympic 5000m bronze medallist Hagos Gebrhiwet.

He continued to make steady progress for the next couple of seasons: in 2013 he clocked a slick 27:34 for 10km on the road in Taroudant and the following year posted a 5000m track PB of 13:08.88 in Shanghai.

Yet it was on the roads where Legese has most excelled and in 2015 he further hinted at his exciting potential by winning both the Berlin (59:45) and New Delhi (59:20) half marathons.

Notable marathon debut

The following couple of seasons he enjoyed intermittent success with victory in the 2016 RAK and 2017 New Delhi Half Marathons yet all too often he was hampered by ongoing shin splints issues, which prevented him from consistently producing his best.

In 2018 Legese made his eagerly awaited marathon debut in Dubai, running an outstanding time of 2:04:15 for sixth. Yet still he craved more.

“I was pleased with the time but not with the position,” he explains. 

Stomach issues hampered his efforts later that year at the Chicago Marathon when he wound up tenth in 2:08:41 – more than three-and-a-half minutes behind race winner Mo Farah.

“I was in a lot of pain but I kept on going because I thought the pain would go away,” he recalls. “I was disappointed with the performance but as soon as I returned to training my disappointment disappeared.”

Tokyo win ushers marathon breakthrough

Unlike many elite Ethiopian athletes, Legese has chosen not to live in Addis Ababa but just north of the capital city in the town of Sendafa, where he lives with his brother, Gezahegne, and training partner Tariku Kinfu.

Away from the pollution of the city and living closer to his regular training routes has cut down his commute time to and from training and aided his rest and recovery with the consequence that he enjoyed a smooth build up to the 2019 Tokyo Marathon. 

Competing in wet and windy conditions in the Japanese capital he made his winning move just before 35 kilometres, kicking clear of former world half marathon silver medallist Bedan Karoki.

Despite the inclement weather he crossed the line first in 2:04:48 to record the second fastest time in the history of the race and claim a victory, which was pivotal to his career development.

“Winning Tokyo gave me the chance to be invited to other big races and it was a big confidence boost,” he explains. “Financially, it was also a big change for me.”

Sub-2:03 in Berlin

Bolstered by his first Marathon Majors victory and enjoying a trouble-free build up for the 2019 Berlin Marathon, confidence was high he could produce a red hot performance on the course commonly regarded as the fastest in the world.

“I hoped to break the world record that day and that is why I broke clear of the field at 25-k,” explains Legese. “But a few kilometres later I had a problem with my hip, I was feeling pain and that caused me to slow.”

At 38 kilometres he was caught and passed by race winner Kenenisa Bekele, who went on to record victory in 2:01:41 – within two seconds of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record mark. Legese battled on bravely to the finish and was rewarded with a time of 2:02:48 to elevate himself to third on the all-time marathon lists.

Although, understandably, a little frustrated with the hip he was delighted with the time.

“The performance was wonderful,” said Tessema. “It was a good time and finishing position and a very good race from Birhanu. Maybe, he could have waited until 35-k to make his move. If he had then maybe the result might have been different, but that is all with the benefit of hindsight.”

Successful Tokyo defence

Further sheen was added to his growing reputation in the Covid-restricted elite-only 2020 Tokyo Marathon, where the Ethiopian became the first man in history to claim back-to-back wins in the race, recording 2:04:15 despite sustaining a hip injury after just one kilometre and being forced to manage the issue for the remaining 41. 

“Birhanu considered dropping out at 35-k but he has a strong mind and kept on running the race,” explains Tessema, his long-time coach.

Launching his winning move at 38.5km he went on to claim a memorable victory and a place in Tokyo Marathon history.

Shortly after his triumph, however, and with the world in the tightening grip of a global pandemic, restrictions in Legese’s homeland led to several weeks without training for the Ethiopian marathon star.

Optimistic of making the Ethiopian team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics he later learned of the Games’ postponement and rescheduling to 2021.

“It was hard that they had to reschedule the Olympic Games but on the other hand, there was no choice,” he explains. “Everybody’s health and safety was the most important thing.”

Kenyan Daniel Simiu and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw imposed their rhythm in the San Silvestre Vallecana event

Kenyan athlete Daniel Simiu and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw were proclaimed winners of the 56th edition of the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana on Thursday, after dominating their respective races with authority.

The athletic event with which Madrid says goodbye to the year 2020 surely missed the 'magic' of its usual route and seeing how the streets are flooded with runners for the popular test, and the spectators who approached the Ensache de Vallecas did not witness the usual spectacle of a San Silvestre marked by the wind and by the great dominance of its two winners.

In the men's event, from the beginning, the small group of candidates for victory was formed and to which the rest of the participants could hardly get close, with the Spanish-Moroccan veteran Ayad Lamdassen setting the pace from the beginning and with Ebenyo , the American Paul Chelimo, the Dutch Mike Foppen, the Burundian Thierry Ndikumwenayo and the Spanish Ouassim Ouaziz.

All eyes were focused on Chelimo, but it was Simiu who made the move that dictated the future of the event. The Kenyan was brave and changed pace on the third lap to open a gap that would already be impossible for his rivals.

Simiu, who had a personal best of 27:18 last September in Berlin, did not slacken and took advantage of his tactic. The African gradually opened the distance with the rest and was able to win comfortably with a record of 27:41.

On the other hand, in the women's race, there was a bit more emotion, mainly because the two indicated as favorites, the Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich and the young Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw Densa, fought a beautiful heads up.

However, Densa, who had already beaten Chepntegich in the New Delhi Half Marathon, was again stronger than her rival with an acceleration in the third lap against which the Kenyan could do nothing.

The Ethiopian went solo and won with a time of 31:17, ostensibly improving her personal distance record (31:55) and condemning Chepntengich, who reached more than half a minute, again to second place in the vallecana race. The podium was completed by the French Alessia Zarbo, one place ahead of the best Spanish, Carolina Robles.

World marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich hopes to end a coronavirus ravaged season lining up for the San Silvestre Vallecana

World marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich hopes to end a coronavirus ravaged season on a high on the last day of the year when she lines up for the San Silvestre Vallecana 10-kilometer road Thursday night.

Chepng’etich will be up against Ethiopia’s World Half Marathon bronze medalist Yalemzerf Yehualaw among other invited athletes.

The two last met in October during the New Delhi Half Marathon where Yalemzerf bagged victory in one hour, four minutes and 46 seconds with Chepng’etich second in 1:05.06 and Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh third in 1:05.21.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way races are organized and today’s race in the Spanish city is no exception.

Elite athletes are the only ones who will compete with this years’ race on a 2.5-kilometer loop “bubble” at Ensanche de Vallecas, as one way of protecting the athletes with the possibility of mingling with the public.

Olympic dream

The women’s race will start at 8.30pm Kenyan time with the men’s race going off one hour later with Chepng’etich seeking to wrestle the title currently held by Ethiopia after Hellen Bekele Tola won the race last year.

“It has been a difficult year for athletes but I’m happy because this is my third race and I will be running my own race. I have prepared well and I will be expecting a good competition eyeing a place in the podium,” said Chepng’etich.

“It’s my dream to compete in the Olympic Games and I have to start preparing early. I’m just using these races for speed work as we wait for next year which we hope things will ease off.”

In Italy, five Kenyan women will line up for Boclassic 10-kilometre road race with a different course expected to be used due to Covid-19 restrictions. World 5,000 metres silver medalist Margaret Chelimo leads compatriots who include Janet Kisa, Norah Tanui, Dorcas Tuitoek and Gloria Kite in the city of Bolozano.

Paul Chelimo, is set to compete for the title at San Silvestre Vallecana

Paul Chelimo, the Olympic runner-up in Rio of the 5,000 meters can become the first athlete 'made in the USA' to win the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana.

Chelimo also has the challenge of beating the American record for 10K -27: 48 , the same as Toni Abadía's in Spain - shared by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow . If he arrives in good shape, in a season in which he has hardly run a cross after the outbreak of the pandemic, he should be in a position to do so.

Among his great rivals we can mention the Israeli of Ethiopian origin Maru Teferi , triple national record holder of his adopted country in the distances 10K, half marathon and marathon, and the Kenyan Daniel Simiu Ebenyo , athlete with little pedigree but who arrives endorsed by the 27 : 18 who signed at the 10K Invitational in Berlin at the end of September.

Burundian Thierry Ndikumwenayo , ninth in the Cross World Championship in 2019 and an old acquaintance of cross-country events in national territory, arrives with 28:18 as the best 10K mark and closes the list of candidates for victory, always with the permission of the great Spanish figures.

Much national brilliance

Speaking of Spaniards, the national media, as usual, will not miss the appointment. Kevin López, Jesús Gómez and Ignacio Fontes arrive endorsed by their great season in the 1,500 and promise to fight.

The Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana is also fertile ground for surprises. From León comes Jorge Blanco , who arrives at the classic on December 31 with a mark achieved in the 10K in Alcobendas, 27:51, second behind Fernando Carro in that race.

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos , will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce , current runner-up of the discipline in the Madrid nationals.

This dream cast is completed by Absessamad Oukhelfen , current champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in the open air; Jesús Ramos , ninth in the last Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana and with a mark of 27:56 in 10K en route; the two-time Spanish half-marathon champion Houssame Benabbou and the national 3,000-meter indoor champion, Mohamed Katir .

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Daniel Simiu poised to strike in Madrid

The 56th edition of the San Silvestre Vallecana will be held, as is tradition, on New Year’s Eve in Madrid, but this year there have been some significant changes to the World Athletics Gold Label road race.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers have been forced to design a new circuit and so the race won’t start alongside Real Madrid’s famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium, nor will it finish in the stadium of another Spanish first division football club, Rayo Vallecano. Instead, competitors will have to cover four laps of a flat 2.5km circuit, meaning – unlike previous years when the race was held on a slightly downhill course – performances will be record-eligible.

The mass race, which often attracts about 40,000 runners, has been cancelled and only the elite contests will be held with separate starts for men and women.

The showdown between Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich in the women’s race promises to be one of the highlights of the evening.

Yehualaw is in the form of her life. After taking bronze at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, the 21-year-old Ethiopian stormed to a 1:04:46 victory over the same distance in New Delhi in late November, beating Chepngetich in the process. Yehualaw now sits second on the world all-time list behind compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, while Chepngetich, the world marathon champion, emerged from New Delhi with a lifetime best of 1:05:06.

Yehualaw’s fastest clocking in a standalone 10km race is 31:55, recorded more than a year ago at altitude in Addis Ababa. It’s worth noting, however, that she recorded 30:49 and 30:43 for the two 10km sections in New Delhi.

Chepngetich, meanwhile, has an official PB of 31:12 and she recorded 30:57 on Madrid’s downhill course last year. She, too, passed through the first 10km in New Delhi in 30:49.

Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw, a 32:55 performer over 10km, is expected to battle with top Spaniards Lucía Rodríguez and Irene Sánchez-Escribano in the hunt for a place on the podium.

The men’s race features Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo. Having finished fourth and second at the World Athletics Cross Country Permit meetings in Elgoibar and Seville respectively in January, the 30-year-old US distance runner will compete in Spain for the third time this year.

His most recent outing was a cross-country race in November in Terre Haute where he finished second. His last completed race before that was the 3000m at the US Indoor Championships, which he won. Chelimo’s main aim in Madrid will be to break the US 10km record of 27:48, co-held by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow. The continental record of 27:41, held by Mexico’s Arturo Barrios, could also be within his sights.

Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo appears to be the most in-form athlete heading into the race. The 25-year-old set a big 10km PB of 27:18 in Berlin in September to move to fourth on this season’s list.

Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, who finished ninth at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus, is also one to watch. He has recently enjoyed a one-month training stint in Tenerife in the company of Italian 3000m and 5000m record-holder Yemaneberhan Crippa.

Many of the top Spaniards will be in Madrid, headed by Ouassim Oumaiz, Toni Abadía, Javier Guerra, Fernando Carro, Ayad Lamdassem and Yago Rojo. Oumaiz improved to 13:13.14 over 5000m this summer, Abadía holds the national 10km record at 27:48, Guerra is fresh from a 1:01:21 PB at the Valencia Half Marathon, European steeplechase silver medallist Carro clocked 27:46 last month at a downhill event in Alcobendas, 39-year-old Lamdassem is the newly-minted Spanish marathon record-holder with a 2:06:35 clocking in Valencia, and Rojo is a newcomer to the elite, having run under 2:10 on his marathon debut earlier this month.

Foreign runners take gold at Taipei Marathon

Paul K. Lonyangata won NT$1.8 million ($63,880US) for his first-place finish and record-breaking achievement

Kenyan runner Paul K. Lonyangata won the 2020 Taipei Marathon men's division on Sunday (Dec. 20) with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 18 seconds; while the female champion, Ethiopian Askale M. Wegi, came in at 2 hours, 28 minutes and 31 seconds, according to a China Times report.

Lonyangata was awarded prize money of NT$1.8 million (US$62,000) for his first-place finish and record-breaking achievement.

The Kenyan champion said this was not the first time to win a road race, but it was the highest prize money he had ever received from a single race. He added that his prize money would help many people in his hometown who have contracted COVID-19, as well as fund schools.

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said during an address before the start of the race that about 37,000 runners had registered for the event, but only 28,000 runners were selected by drawing lots, in order to maintain the quality of the event, CNA reported. In the future, 28,000 will become the limit for the number of people participating in the running event, the mayor said.

In order to obtain an IAAF Platinum Label for the event, which has been held every year since 1986, the city government invited 12 elite international athletes to participate in the event, the mayor said. He added that during the quarantine period, they were provided with running machines in their rooms so they could keep training.

The mayor went on to say the Taipei Marathon is likely the only large-scale city marathon to take place this year without a hitch, due to the pandemic, per CNA.

Fresh from winning Valencia Marathon with a course record, Evans Chebet is looking towards the Olympic Games

Chebet, who edged out experience marathoners like Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono for the title, said his focus has now shifted to the Olympic Games.

“Running at the Olympic Games will be good achievement for me. It has been a long journey and making the marathon team will be a dream come true for me,” he added.

The Elgeyo Marakwet-based runner returned home after winning Valencia 42km race in a personal best time of of 2:03:00 ahead of compatriot Cherono (2:03:04) and Ethiopian Birhanu Legese (2:04:53), who completed the podium. 

“It will be good if the team is named early to ensure we start our preparations on time. If I can make the team, I assure Kenyans that I will  return with a medal,” added Chebet, who competed alongside world marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto.

“I look forward to competing for my country at the Olympics Games after a good break and my prayer is that Athletics Kenya names the team early," said a jubilant Chebet. He said his biggest worry in Valencia was Legese but he is happy he shook him off.

Amos Kipruto, who has dominated in many marathons across the world, was named alongside Eliud Kipchoge and Lawrence Cherono in the Olympic Games marathon team.

“I managed to run my personal best because that was my target and I still believe I will be joining Team Kenya to the Tokyo show. The team that ran in Valencia was the best and we hope the federation will take note,” said Kipruto.

In 2019, Kandie 42:39 edged Kiplimo (43:00) in the San Silvestre Road Race in Brazil. Other entrants in men's category include Alexander Mutiso Munyao, Ethiopian Mosinet Geremew, Japan-based Bedan Karoki and Stephen Kiprop, winner of the 2019 edition. 

Geremew won the Dubai Marathon in 2018 and came second in the London Marathon in 2019 with a time of 2.02.55, clocking the 4th fastest time ever in that distance.

Meanwhile, Mutiso recently placed 4th in Valencia in 57.59 and was runner-up in the men’s 2020 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in 59:16.

In the women's category, World Half Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will battle against World marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei and 2019 World marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich.

Jepchirchir has fond memories of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, where she set her personal best time of 1:05.06 in 2017 on her way to victory.  Chepngetich recently clocked a remarkable time of 1.05.06 at the New Delhi Half Marathon.

At the 20th Dubai Marathon in 2019, she won in a course record breaking time of 2.17.08, securing the world’s 4th best marathon time ever. Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh will also be in contention.

World Half Marathon record holder Kandie Kibiwott and world defending champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda will face off at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February next year

Kandie and  Kiplimo to renew rivalry in Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon.

The two are fast becoming rivals in the 21km race having faced off several times this year. 

In their latest meet-up on December 6, the Kenyan emerged top after clocking a world record 57:32 to finish ahead of Kiplimo at the Valencia Marathon. 

Kandie's win was revenge for his loss at the hands of the Ugandan at October's World Half marathon Championships in Gydnia, Poland where the latter crossed the finish line in in 58:49 — five seconds ahead of Kandie. 

In 2019, Kandie 42:39 edged Kiplimo (43:00) in the San Silvestre Road Race in Brazil. Other entrants in men's category include Alexander Mutiso Munyao, Ethiopian Mosinet Geremew, Japan-based Bedan Karoki and Stephen Kiprop, winner of the 2019 edition. 

Geremew won the Dubai Marathon in 2018 and came second in the London Marathon in 2019 with a time of 2.02.55, clocking the 4th fastest time ever in that distance.

 Meanwhile, Mutiso recently placed 4th in Valencia in 57.59 and was runner-up in the men’s 2020 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in 59:16.

In the women's category, World Half Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will battle against World marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei and 2019 World marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich.

Jepchirchir has fond memories of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, where she set her personal best time of 1:05.06 in 2017 on her way to victory.  Chepngetich recently clocked a remarkable time of 1.05.06 at the New Delhi Half Marathon.

At the 20th Dubai Marathon in 2019, she won in a course record breaking time of 2.17.08, securing the world’s 4th best marathon time ever. Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh will also be in contention.

Haile Gebrselassie prepares for the 20th edition of the Great Ethiopian Run will go ahead next month with many COVID-19 precautions in place

Two-time Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie announced on Tuesday that he and the Great Ethiopian Run (GER) organizers plan on going ahead with their race in a month’s time on January 10.

This will be the 20th edition of the 10K race in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, an event that Gebrselassie founded in 2000 after he won his second Olympic 10,000m gold medal at the Sydney Games. Gebrselassie says he and his organizing team are expecting 12,500 participants to toe the line at the January race, and they have a number of COVID-19 precautions in place to make the event as safe as possible for everyone involved. 

The GER was originally scheduled for November, but organizers decided to postpone the event for a couple of months. As explained on the event website, the GER team has used this extra time to consult with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to create COVID-19 guidelines that will be enforced on race day. The biggest change for the upcoming run is the race capacity, which has been reduced to about a quarter of its normal size. The expected field of 12,500 is close to 30,000 fewer runners than the GER saw in 2019. This is by no means a small field, especially during a pandemic, but it is substantially smaller than organizers have seen in years past.

The week before the run, all participants will receive their race shirts along with masks, which will be mandatory on race day. Only when on the race course will athletes be permitted to remove their masks. On the day, all participants will undergo temperature checks, and organizers have asked anyone who feels unwell or is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to skip the race. A wave start will be implemented, with groups leaving in 15-minute intervals, and runners will have to carry their own water on the course, as there will be no hydration stations on the route. Finally, an “exit flow operation” will be organized to avoid crowds at the finish line.

While Gebrselassie’s announcement was welcome news to some, many people have been critical of the call to hold the race while COVID-19 persists around the world. This has been a popular topic of debate in recent months, as more and more races have made comebacks or announced plans to return to racing during the pandemic. 

World champions Ruth Chepngetich and Peres Jepchirchir added to Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon line-up

The fields for the Ras Al Khamimah Half Marathon continue to go from strength to strength with world champions Peres Jepchirchir and Ruth Chepngetich being added to the line-up for the World Athletics Gold Label road race on 19 February 2021.

World marathon champion Chepngetich, who recently set a half marathon PB of 1:05:06, will be making her Ras Al Khaimah debut. Jepchirchir, who won the world half marathon title in October in a women-only world record of 1:05:16, will return to the scene of her 2017 triumph when she set a world record of 1:05:06.

But the Kenyan will be up against the three fastest women in history when she lines up in Ras Al Khaimah. World record-holder Ababel Yeshaneh, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei will also be returning to the United Arab Emirates in February.

Yeshaneh and Kosgei have clashed twice to date, both races resulting in world records. Their first duel came at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, which Kosgei won in a world record of 2:14:04 while Yeshaneh placed second in 2:20:51. Just four months later, Yeshaneh levelled the score by winning in Ras Al Khaimah in a world record of 1:04:31. Kosgei was runner-up in 1:04:49, the second-fastest time in history.

Yehualaw, meanwhile, finished third at the recent World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, just a few seconds behind Jepchirchir. Six weeks later, she won the New Delhi Half Marathon in 1:04:46, the second-fastest time in history.

USA’s Sara Hall, who placed second at this year’s London Marathon, finishing between Kosgei and Chepngetich, is also in the field.

Three former winners – including the joint course record-holders – have been added to the men’s line-up. 2019 champion Stephen Kiprop and two-time winner Bedan Karoki, who jointly hold the course record at 58:42, will return to Ras Al Khaimah alongside 2015 winner Mosinet Geremew.

They will take on the previously announced defending champion Kibiwott Kandie, who recently set a world half marathon record of 57:32 in Valencia, and world half marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda. Kiplimo reduced his PB to 57:37 in Valencia earlier this month, making him the second-fastest man in history for the distance.

Alexander Mutiso, who ran 57:59 in Valencia to move to fourth on the world all-time list, will also be in action in Ras Al Khaimah.

Switzerland’s Julien Wanders and Norway’s Sondre Nordstadt Moen complete the line-up.

Japan's former Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi has donated her winning bib at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to the World Athletics Heritage Collection

Naoko Takahashi, the first woman to run a marathon in under two hours 20 minutes, has become the latest athletics star to generously donate a competition item from their career to the World Athletics Heritage Collection.

Takahashi clocked an Olympic marathon record of 2:23:14 on 24 September 2000 to win at the Sydney Olympic Games. It was the first Olympic victory at the marathon by a Japanese woman and her Games record was not broken until 2012.

Takahashi moved to the front of the race at the 20-kilometre point along with her compatriot Ari Ichihashi and Romania’s Lidia Simon. Ichihashi dropped off the pace five kilometres later, leaving Takahashi and Simon to battle for the title. The two ran together until 35 kilometres when Takahashi broke away, quickly establishing a 30-metre lead. She extended it over the next five kilometres and although Simon narrowed it slightly over the waning two kilometres, Takahashi, wearing bib number 2338, went on to a comfortable victory.

It is that bib which she has very kindly donated today.

“I am happy to see my Sydney bib join the Heritage collection,” said Takahashi. “I would like the bib’s donation to help increase interest in the marathon, and the challenge and beauty of distance running. It might also help motivate more people to take up running for fitness and fun, or perhaps even competitively, picturing themselves in my shoes.”

Daughter Of The Wind

There was no underestimating Takahashi’s national popularity and fame after her Olympic triumph. She was the subject of a comic strip entitled "Kazekko," or "Daughter of the Wind". Launched in May 2001, the strip told Takahashi’s life story and at its height attracted 700,000 readers weekly.

Takahashi’s career was inspired by the legend of Ethiopia’s two-time Olympic marathon champion Abebe Bikila. As she developed as a runner, Takahashi was also impressed by the running of Japan’s Yuko Arimori, who raced to Olympic silver in 1992 and bronze in 1996.

Yet it was only when her training partner Hiromi Suzuki won the 1997 world title in the marathon that Takahashi, who had debuted with a seventh place finish in 2:31:32 in Osaka in January of that year, truly believed that her future lay in the marathon.

Audience Of 55 Million

Takahashi, who was coached by the late Yoshio Koide who last year was posthumously awarded the World Athletics Plaque, won the first of her two Berlin Marathon titles in September 2001 with a landmark 2:19:46 performance, a world best and the first time in history that a woman had broken 2:20 for the distance.

Estimates vary but it is believed that 55 million Japanese, nearly half of the country’s population, watched Takahashi’s Berlin race on television.

“I am really happy about the (Berlin TV audience),” Takahashi told The Japan Times in 2003. “It’s an honour that people still remember me, and you can tell that people’s awareness of the sport is big.”

“There are so many different sports these days and the level of viewership is a tribute to the people who came before me and built the marathon up and made it as popular as it is now. Being a part of that is amazing and I am grateful.” 

World records ratified: Gidey's 5000m and Cheptegei's 10,000m

The monumental performances of Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, to break two of the sport’s most revered world records within one glorious hour, have been officially ratified.

Gidey’s 5000m mark of 14:06.62 and Cheptegei's 10,000m performance of 26:11.00 were both set at the aptly named NN Valencia World Record Day on 7 October.

Gidey went first, producing a stunning run that clipped more than four seconds from the previous record set by Tirunesh Dibaba 12 years earlier. A few minutes after the 22-year-old crossed the line, Cheptegei took his turn, churning out 25 laps of the track in an average of less than 63 seconds apiece to better Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old benchmark by more than six seconds. The records for those two events had never been broken on the same day.

The two-race meeting was held at the Spanish city’s intimate Turia Stadium before a crowd limited to less than 150 due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

That scene was in stark contrast to those in Oslo, on 6 June 2008, when Dibaba took command of the world 5000m record with a 14:11.15 run and three years earlier, in Brussels on 26 August 2005, when Bekele clocked 26:17.53 to clip 2.57 seconds from his own year-old mark. The roar of capacity crowds at the events, both fixtures of the Golden League series, were crucial in those record assaults. In Brussels, the pulsating beat provided by an African expat drum orchestra added to the thunder produced by the crowd of 47,000 that packed the King Baudouin Stadium.

That was absent in Valencia, but it didn’t seem to matter to either Gidey or Cheptegei whose phenomenal form and singular focus landed both in the record books. For Cheptegei, whose performance came 54 days after he broke the world 5000m record in Monaco, where attendance was also restricted, the circumstances of the setting wasn’t anything new.

“I wanted to show the sports lovers of the world that the track is exciting," said the 24-year-old, who became the 10th man to hold the 5000m and 10,000m world record concurrently.

Pace setters brought Cheptegei through the first half in 13:07.73, before the Ugandan forged on alone over the final 12 laps. He slowed slightly over the sixth kilometre but then picked up the pace in the seventh to steadily build a gap on Bekele's legendary mark before sealing it with a 60-second final lap.

Alluding to the coronavirus pandemic, Cheptegei added, "In this difficult situation, I hope things like this can still give us joy and some hope for tomorrow."

Gidey, a cross country standout with two world U20 titles to her credit and a bronze medal finish at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, last year, arrived in Valencia with just one race on her CV this season, a solid 14:26.57 run in Monaco, but reportedly in form suggesting that she could run significantly faster. 

Unlike Cheptegei, who made no secret about his planned assault on the record, Gidey opted for a more understated approach in the lead-in to the meeting, choosing to play down pre-race talk of her attack on Dibaba's mark. But her ambitions became evident when she passed the 3000-metre point nearly seven seconds ahead of world record pace. She closed the deal with back-to-back 67-second laps before crossing the finish.

“I have been dreaming about this (setting a world record) for six years,” said Gidey, who hadn't won a 5000m race since 2016. "I am very happy now."

Ex-800m world champion Marina Arzamasova handed four-year doping ban

Former 800 meters world champion Marina Arzamasova has been banned for four years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after failing an anti-doping test.

An out-of-competition sample provided by the Belarusian on July 29 2019 was found to contain LGD-4033.

Also known as ligandrol, it is ordinarily used to treat conditions such as muscle wasting and osteoporosis and is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as it stimulates muscle growth.

Arzamasova's B sample also tested positive for LGD-4033.

The athlete, who had been provisionally suspended since August 2019, requested a hearing in front of a three-person AIU Disciplinary Panel, which was held remotely last month.

Arzamasova blamed contaminated supplements for the presence of LGD-4033, but this rejected by the panel, which found the 32-year-old "failed to establish that her ADRV [anti-doping rule violation] was not intentional".

As a result, there was no need to deliberate over Arzamasova's degree of fault or negligence, so a four-year ban was applied.

Arzamasova won the 800m world title in Beijing in 2015, posting a personal best of 1min 57.54sec.

The Belarusian also won the European title in Zürich in 2014.

At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Arzamasova paced seventh in the 800m final in 1:59.10, and at London 2012 she failed to go beyond the heats.

Arzamasova may not compete again until July 29 2023.

All of her results between July 29 and August 22 in 2019 have been disqualified.

The ruling can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Belarus is one of seven countries considered by the AIU to represent the highest doping risk, along with Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine.

Per the AIU database, Arzamasova is now among nine track and field athletes from Belarus currently banned for doping.

Derartu Tulu has been nominated to be permanent President of Ethiopian Athletics Federation

Derartu Tulu, the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal, has been officially nominated as the permanent President of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF).

The 1992 Olympic 10,000 metres champion has been serving as Interim President since November 2018.

Tulu stepped in when double Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie stood down two-years into a four-year term

Gebrselassie announced his resignation, citing "irreconcilable differences", a day after a group of athletes protested in Sululta, south of the capital Addis Ababa, over a lack of facilities and services from the Federation.

Like Gebrselassie, the 48-year-old Tulu is a two-time Olympic 10,000m champion.

Her first victory in Barcelona entered Olympic legend when she beat Elena Meyer in an iconic race at South Africa's first Games appearance since the end of apartheid.

Then, eight years later in Sydney, Tulu won her second title before returning at Athens 2004 to win a bronze medal.

During a glittering career, Tulu also won the gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton and the silver at Gothenburg in 1995.

She also won the London and Tokyo Marathons in 2001 and the New York City Marathon in 2009.

Tulu, who has been nominated by the Oromia regional state, will face opposition from Tefera Mull in the election on Sunday (December 14).

He has been nominated by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region.

Another of Ethiopia's Olympic gold medalist from Sydney 2000, the marathon winner Gezahegn Abera, has been nominated for the EAF Executive Board.

Belayeneh Kindie, the chief executive of the BK Business Group, one of the largest commodity trading companies in Ethiopia, has also been put forward for the Executive Committee.

Kibiwott Kandie smashes half marathon world record, a Kenyan double in Valencia marathon

All top four finishers in the half marathon managed to beat the previous mark of 58:01 set by Geoffrey Kamworor last year. Evans Chebet and Peres Jepchirchir win the men and women's marathon in course records.

Kibiwott Kandie led Jacob Kiplimo home in world record time to win the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday in a reverse of the World Championship resultfrom October.

Kandie, Kiplimo, Rhonex Kipruto, and Alexander Mutiso all finished the race in under 58 minutes, bettering the existing record of 58:01 set by Geoffrey Kamworor in Copenhagen in September 2019.

Kenya's Kandie finished in 57:32, taking more than a minute off his previous personal record of 58:37. Ugandan Kiplimo and Kandie's compatriot Mutiso also lowered their own personal bests by similar margins, while it was Kipruto's debut over the distance.

The new record is subject to World Athletics' usual ratification processes.

It is the fourth time Kandie has run sub-59 minutes this year, having also done so at the Ras Al Khaimah, Prague, and Gdynia half marathons.

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia won the women's race in a course record one hour, five minutes 18 seconds, missing the women's world record in a mixed race (1:04.31) currently held by Ababel Yeshaneh who set it in RAK earlier this year.

It was Dibaba's first race in 16 months, since last August, and her debut over the half marathon distance.

Kenyan double in the marathon

Kenya’s Evans Chebet sprinted past compatriot Lawrence Cherono in the home stretch to win the Valencia marathon in a course record of 2:03:00.

The men’s race was a close one with Chebet and Cherono going head to head in the final kilometre after dropping Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, the 2019 Tokyo marathon champion.

This was the first big marathon win for the 32-year-old Chebet that moves him to sixth in the men’s marathon all-time list.

Chebet’s victory also ensured that a Kenyan topped the podium again for the 18th time in the last 40 editions of the Valencia Marathon.

“I am happy because I have run my personal best here," said Chebet after the race.

"I know this course very well. I am happy because it’s my first major win and in a course record,” said the Kenyan who finished 28th at the Rio 2016 marathon, delighted and hopeful that his top finish could impress Athletics Kenya selectors for the Tokyo Olympics.

Evans Chebet of Kenya won the Men’s Marathon in Valencia with a course Record.

The reigning Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Cherono who had a slight stumble in the last bend clocked 2:03:04 for second, in his third big marathon in the last 18 months.

Legese finished third in 2:03:16, in the race that saw eight of the top 10 finishers record personal bests.

Cherono, 32, was named by Athletics Kenya in Kenya’s provisional Tokyo Olympics marathon team alongside the Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and World Championships marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto.

Double Olympian Ayad Lamdassem set a Spanish men's marathon record of 2:06:35 that qualifies him for the Games in Tokyo.

Just seven weeks after winning the World Half Marathon title in a world record, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the women’s race in 2:17:16, also a course record.

“It’s unbelievable,“ said Jepchirchir, a double world half marathon gold medallist.

It was the perfect ending of the season for Jepchirchir who holds the world record for the women-only of 1:05:16 from her winning run in Poland on 17 October.

In Gdynia she improved her own 21km world mark from the previous month set in Prague, and is now the fifth fastest women marathoner.

Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya wins the Women’s Marathon in Valencia with a Course Record.

It was another 1-2 finish for Kenya as Joyciline Jepkosgei clocked 2:18:40 for second ahead of third placed Namibian record holder Helalia Johannes, the 2019 World Championships bronze medallist. Johannes crossed the line in 2:19:52.  

Ethiopia's 5,000m world record holder Letesenbet Gidey will miss Sunday's Valencia half-marathon due to the conflict in her home region of Tigray

On her last visit to Valencia she set the new mark of 14 min 06.62 sec in a specially arranged 5km race featuring flashing lights on the track perimeter to guide the athletes' pace.

And on Sunday the Spanish city is hosting a marathon and half-marathon as part of the Tokyo Olympics qualifying process.

Elite athlete coordinator Marc Roig explained that the situation in Tigray had made Gidey's journey too complicated "with a war that prevents her from leaving".

The United Nations said Friday that fighting continued "in many parts" of Ethiopia's Tigray, complicating efforts to deliver humanitarian aid despite a deal granting the UN access to territory under federal control.

The conflict has claimed thousands of lives, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, and tens of thousands of refugees have streamed across the border into Sudan.

2020 Valencia Marathon boasts deepest field ever and the race is going to be extremely entertaining

The Valencia Marathon is set to be run on Sunday, and the men’s and women’s fields won’t just be the strongest of the year, but quite possibly the strongest ever. LetsRun.com looked at the race start lists and compared them to past major marathons, and they all pale in comparison to the Valencia lineups, which are absolutely stacked.

After missing much of the season, so many of the world’s top runners were looking for a fast race to enter before the end of 2020, and while the Valencia Marathon isn’t listed as a world major, it’s certainly got the star power of one this year. 

The men’s field 

The men’s lineup is headlined by Ethiopians Birhanu Legese, whose PB of 2:02:48 is the third-fastest marathon time in history, and Kinde Atanaw, who has a PB of 2:03:51. They’re the only two men in the Valencia field to have run under 2:04, but they’re followed by seven runners with sub-2:05 results to their names, including former Boston Marathon champions Lawrence Cherono (2:04:06) of Kenya and Lelisa Desisa (2:04:45) of Ethiopia.

In total, there are nine men under 2:05 racing in Valencia, beating out the fields from the London Marathon in 2015 and 2019, two years that saw eight sub-2:05 runners. 

Another five men have run under 2:06 before, nine more own sub-2:07 PBs and two have bests under 2:08. This brings the total of sub-2:08 runners in the field to a whopping 25, which beats the 2019 Boston Marathon‘s previous best of 15. In addition to these 25 sub-2:08 runners, another 26 men have PBs under the Olympic standard of 2:11:30. This field is so deep, and there will be exciting racing from the lead pack, where the top runners will fight for the win, all the way back to the 2:11 pack as Olympic hopefuls give everything they have to reach standard. 

The women’s field 

The women’s side is also super deep, and like the men’s field, the women are led by a pair of Ethiopians in Ruti Aga and Birhane Dibaba. With PBs separated by just one second, Aga (2:18:34) and Dibaba (2:18:35) sit at 12th- and 13th-best of all time, respectively. They’re the lone women under 2:19, but several runners aren’t far behind with sub-2:20 and sub-2:21 PBs, including American Jordan Hasay (whose PB of 2:20:57 is the second-fastest in U.S. history). These eight women under 2:21 match the 2019 London Marathon field that saw a similarly quick top echelon of runners.

In total, there are 19 women set to race in Valencia who own sub-2:25 PBs, which is better than the previous best of 12 (Tokyo Marathon in 2019 and 2020, Boston Marathon in 2019). There are also six women outside of that 2:25 range who have run under the Olympic standard of 2:29:30, although they’re quite spread out. While runners in the men’s race will have plenty of people to work with no matter where they rank, that might not be the case for the women, some of whom might have to commit to running much faster than their PBs (such as the 2:26 runners looking to hang onto the sub-2:25 group) to avoid running solo. 

More details about the Delhi Half Marathon Record performances

t was a great morning for the 2020 World Half Marathon bronze medallists as Ethiopians Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Amedework Walelegn both picked up $37,000 wins ($27k for 1st, $10k for event records) in event record time today at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.

The headline performance came in the women’s race where Yehualaw, the 21-year old who just missed out on winning in Delhi by 1 second last year in 66:01, ran an unofficial 64:46, the second-fastest women’s half marathon in history on a records-eligible course.

The 5 Fastest Women’s Half Marathons Ever1 64:28* Brigid Kosgei KEN 2019 Great North Run 08.09.20192 64:31 Ababel Yeshaneh ETH 2020 RAK Half 21.02.20203 64:46 Yalemzerf Yehualaw ETH  2020 Delhi Half 28.11.20194 64:49 Brigid Kosgei KEN 2020 RAK Half 21.02.20205 64:51 Joyciline Jepkosgei KEN 2017 Valencia 22.10.2017*Not records eligible

In the men’s race, the Walelegn, also 21, won a three-way sprint finish in an unofficial 58:52 as two-time defending champion Andamlak Belihu of Ethiopia and Stephen Kissa of Uganda also broke 59:00 to finish second and third respectively. The order of finish today was the same as it was at World Half last month as in Poland Walelegn was third, Belihu was 5th and Kissa 19th. 2017 and 2019 world 5000 champion ran Muktar Edris of Ethiopia also ran very well today in his debut as he was in fourth in 59:04 .

The course this year was different than in years past due to Covid-19 but the event record coming in was 59:06 for the men and 66:00 for the women.

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw produced a stunning run over in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon  2020, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, to clock the second fastest  women’s time ever over the distance when she crossed the line in the  Indian capital in 64:46. 

The 21-yearold, who had to settle for third at the World Athletics Half  Marathon Championships last month when she slipped around 80 metres  from the line, bounced back with aplomb to take the $27,000 first prize and  an additional $10,000 as an event record bonus. 

In the men’s race, the event record – with the course having been  changed significantly from previous years – also fell when Amdework Walelegn outsprinted his Ethiopian compatriot and two-time defending  champion Andamlak Belihu to win in 58:53, the latter coming home in  58:54 and just missing out on an unprecedented third title. 

A blistering pace from the gun was set in the women’s race by the  Kenyan male pacemaker Alex Kibarus and several of the elite field were  quickly dropped. 

Six women – three Kenyans: Irene Cheptai, 2019 world marathon  champion Ruth Chepngetich and marathon world record holder Brigid  Kosgei; and three Ethiopians: two-time defending champion and event record holder Teshay Gemechu, world record holder Ababel Yeshaneh and Yalemzerf Yehualaw – followed Kibarus through 5km in 15:27. 

World marathon record holder and recent London Marathon winner  Kosgei was forced to drop out midway through the eighth kilometre, holding her leg as she limped to the side of the road. 

A kilometre later, Gemechu also started to suffer and lost contact with the  leaders although she hung on to eventually finish fifth.

Chepngetich, Cheptai, Yehualaw and Yeshaneh went through 10km  together in 30:49 as a thrilling race started to take shape. 

Cheptai was the next to fall away, becoming detached in the 12th kilometre with the remaining trio going through 15km in 46:15. 

With just three kilometres to go, and within the space of a few hundred  metres, first Chepngetich and then Yeshaneh found themselves unable to  stay with the pace. 

However, Yehualaw continued to follow Kibarus, and once he dropped  out with two kilometres to go it was just a question of how much she would  take off Gemechu’s 2019 course record of 66:00. 

In the end, she improved the mark by more than a minute, aided by a  strong run over the final quarter of the race. 

Yehualaw won in 64:46 but Chepngetich also ran the race of her life to  finish in a personal best of 65:06 and move up to equal-sixth on the world  all-time list.  

“My training since the world championships told me that maybe I could  break the course record as I ran 65:19 there, but this was more than I  expected, and I hoped for a win here after just losing by a second a year  ago,” said Yehualaw. 

“My plan was to push hard with two kilometres to go and that helped my  fast time, and it was also very nice weather,” she added, with early  morning temperatures in Delhi around 12-14 degrees Celsius. 

In the men’s race, three pacemakers took field through 3km in 8:22 and  then 5km in 13:57 – well under 59-minute pace – with Belihu always to the  fore. 

The main pacemaker, Uganda’s Abel Sikowo, continued to forge ahead  and passed 8km 22:17 and then 10km in 27:50, with eight men still directly  in the wake of Sikowo who was doing an admirable job in keeping the  tempo high and sub-59 times definitely in sight. 

Just after 12km Sikowo dropped out and Belihu, along with Kenya’s  Leonard Barsoton, dictated matters at the front for the next two kilometres  although, as he was later to admit, this decision might have cost the  defending champion dearly in the later stages of the race. 

Eight men were still in contention at 15km, which was passed in 42:00. By  18km the leading group had slimmed just slightly to six men: the Ethiopian  quartet of Belihu, Walelegn, 2017 and 2019 world 5000m champion Muktar  Edris who was making his competitive debut over the distance, Tesfahun  Akalnew, Barsoton and Uganda’s Stephen Kissa. 

Akalnew started to falter shortly afterwards and with two kilometres to go,  Edris and Barsoton also started to drop off the back of the group as their  challenge for a place on the podium began to evaporate. 

Belihu, Walelegn and Kissa passed the 20km checkpoint in 55:59, and just  a hundred or so metres later, Walelegn threw down the gauntlet. 

However, Kissa was still full of running and darted between the two  Ethiopians with 500m to go and held the lead for the next 300 metres  before Walelegn found another gear and passed the Ugandan on his  right as he sprinted for the line. 

Walelegn finished in 58:53, the third fastest time of the year and an event record by 13 seconds as well as a personal best by 15 seconds. Belihu was  just one second in arrears and Kissa two seconds further back, both men also setting personal bests. 

“I had a few bad patches but in the final kilometre I felt strong. I was  second in Delhi in 2018 and this is a much faster course which has less  sharp turns,” commented Walelegn, reflected on the new circuit which  incorporated two six-kilometre loops. 

“I have to be happy as I ran a personal best. After the pacemaker  dropped out I pushed the pace but I think this might have left me with a  bit less energy when we sprinted in the last kilometre,” reflected Belihu,  who just fell short in his bid to be the first three-time winner in Delhi. 

In fourth place Edris ran 59:04, the second fastest debut over the distance  ever, while Avinash Sable smashed the Indian record by more than three  minutes when he ran 60:30 in tenth place.

Walelegn breaks course Record Time for 2020 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.

Ethiopian  Amedework Walelegn is the new  course record holder of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in men's race with time of 58:53.

Ethiopian Amedework Walelegn dethroned his campatriot 2018 and 2019 winner Andamlak Belihu in a nail-bitting finish to win the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon men's race in a course record time of 58:53. Andamlak who was second settled for silver medal with a time of 58:54 while Stephen Kisa of Uganda Pocket bronze in 58:56.

Walelegn who is 21-years- old broke 2014 course record set by his compatriot Guye Adola in 2014.

In women category Yalemzert Yahualaw beat reigning Marathon Champion Ruth Chepngetich by winning in a time of 64:46 while Ruth followed a distance in 65:06. Abadal Yeshaneh of Ethiopia was third with time of 65:21.

The course was different from the normal course because of covid-19 pandemic protocol. The runners had to cover around 4.5 km starting at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and then ran on two loops of about 6 km , before getting to the finish line outside the stadium by the same route. The route was sprayed with chemicals to minimise the effect of the annual toxic smog that blankets the megacity in winter due to traffic and industrial pollution crop subble, burning and cold temperature.

Defending champion Gemechu eyes hat-trick of course records at Delhi Half Marathon

Two-time defending champion Ethiopia''s Tsehay Gemechu on Thursday said she is aiming to break the course record for the third time in the women''s race of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Gemechu made a huge impact on her ADHM debut in 2018, setting a women''s course record of 66:50. She then went on to better her own record by 50 seconds when she ran a stunning personal best of 66 minutes last year.

"This year again I''m going to try for the course record. After corona I have done a lot of training and I am in shape to go even faster than last year," Gemechu said at the pre-race press conference.

Her compatriot, men''s defending champion Andamlak Belihu, who will be aiming for an unprecedented third successive victory like Gemechu, also expressed his desire to break the course record.

The 22-year-old is coming off a fifth place finish in the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships and said he is in good shape despite the coronavirus pandemic stalling training earlier this year.

"I came fifth in the World Half Marathon Championships and after that I trained for a month to five weeks and my training improved. So, I''m expecting to go for the race record like last year. I''m in similar or maybe even better shape," Belihu said.

"Last year, I was just four seconds outside the course record (59:06 set by Ethiopia''s Guye Adola in 2014) and I think I can find the difference," the two-time champion added.

The 16th edition of the ADHM will see one of the best fields of international elite athletes with an unprecedented 13 men, having run under the world class bench mark of one hour, and seven women clocking sub-67 minutes results.

This year''s ADHM has two women''s world record holders in Kenya''s Brigid Kosgei (marathon record) and Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh (half marathon record) and an enticing battle between the two is on the cards.

"I am coming here looking to show what I can do after finishing fifth at the World Half," Yeshaneh said.

"I fell there (about three kilometres from the finish) and was very frustrated, finishing in tears, because I know I was in shape to win but you just have to pick yourself up and carry on. I have brought the shape I had in Poland to Delhi."

On the other hand, Kosgei stunned the world when she broke the long-standing women''s world marathon record by more than a minute at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, clocking 2:14:04, with Yeshaneh a distant second on that occasion although she still ran a superb personal best of 2:20:51.

However, Yeshaneh prevailed with a world record 64:31 at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February this year with Kosgei (64:49) finishing second. More recently, Kosgei won the London Marathon on October 4 with a timing of 2:18:58.

"After London, I took 10 days off, but I have since had six weeks very good preparation for this race. I have a good record in half marathons, but I am not going to make predictions about this race as it is a very tough field," commented Kosgei.

Defending champions Belihu and Gemechu believe that course records could fall at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020

The topic of discussion at the traditional pre-race press conference for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Thursday was whether the course records could be broken at this year’s World Athletics Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (29). The response was resoundingly positive from everyone.

"I have been training very well, and I was disappointed with my fifth place at the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland last month, so I am in shape and very motivated to run well here," commented the two-time men’s defending champion Andamlak Belihu, from Ethiopia.

"Last year, I was just four seconds outside the course record (59:06 set by Ethiopia’s Guye Adola in 2014) and I think I can find the difference." On Sunday, Belihu will be bidding for an unprecedented third successive title in the Indian capital but the course he will cover is radically different to the one he won on in 2018 and 2019.

To comply with prevailing health-related related measures, the runners will cover around 4.5 kilometres, starting at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and then embark on two loops of approximately six kilometres, before returning to the finish outside the stadium by the same route.

"However, with smoother corners, less undulations and with the elite runners not having to contend with mass-race participants, I believe this is a faster course than previous years," said race director Hugh Jones.

Belihu’s compatriot Tsehay Gemechu, who revised the women’s course record when winning in both 2018 and 2019 - it currently stands at 66:00 - concurred with the comments about course records being in danger.

"I am in shape to go even faster than last year," said Gemechu. However, the defending champion will face an even stronger set of rivals on Sunday than the two outstanding fields she defeated in the past two years.

On the start line will be Gemechu’s fellow Ethiopian and world half marathon record holder Ababel Yeshaneh.

"I am coming here looking to show what I can do after finishing fifth at the World Half. I fell there (about three kilometres from the finish) and was very frustrated, finishing in tears, because I know I was in shape to win but you just have to pick yourself up and carry on. I have brought the shape I had in Poland to Delhi," said Yeshaneh

This year’s Airtel Delhi Half Marathon can boast of not one but two world record holders in the women’s race.

Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei stunned the world when she broke the long-standing women’s world marathon record by more than a minute at 2019 Chicago Marathon, clocking 2:14:04, with Yeshaneh a distant second on that occasion although she still ran a superb personal best of 2:20:51.

However, at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February this year Yeshaneh prevailed in a world record 64:31 with Kosgei second in 64:49. More recently, Kosgei won the London Marathon on 4 October in 2:18:58. "After London, I took 10 days off, but I have since had six weeks very good preparation for this race. I have a good record in half marathons, but I am not going to make predictions about this race as it is a very tough field. Some of the ladies may be better prepared as they competed at the World Half Marathon Championships last month," commented Kosgei.

Indian Steeplechase runner Avinash Sable wants to challenge the best at Delhi half-marathon

India’s 3,000-meter steeplechase record holder and Olympic hopeful Avinash Sable, starved of track races ahead of the Tokyo Games due to the pandemic, will run the weekend’s Airtel Delhi half marathon to keep his competitive juices flowing.

“My goal is to stay with the leading pack of elite runners and give a good timing,” Sable said from his base in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

His coach Amrish Kumar said the target was to clock 60 minutes for the 21.0975 km race. “He has been doing really well in training. In the lockdown period too he has been training consistently. He can go all out,” Kumar said.

If Sable achieves his ambitious target, he will better the national best—1:03:46 by Kalidas Nirave. The Indian best in the Airtel race is 1:03:54. Sable has not run under 64 minutes.

Sable often used to run road races in winter months when there are no track races, but has never attempted to race with the elite group led by Kenyans and Ethiopians due to the scorching pace they set. The elite winner usually runs under 60 minutes.

The surge in coronavirus cases across the globe has disrupted the athletics calendar as well. Sable said Sunday’s race will be a good platform to test his nerves. “I’m hungry to run hard and fast,” he added.

“The season has been frustrating. There was no competition because of the pandemic. I have done good endurance training. So I thought this will be a good platform to test myself against international athletes at home.

“I don’t run in marathons now—the last was in 2017. Both steeplechase and half marathons are tests of endurance. I was doing high-altitude training in Ooty in July and shifted to Bengaluru in August under Amrish sir,” Sable said.

Last year, the Maharashtra runner’s heroic efforts at the Doha world championships earned him a ticket to the Olympics. He lowered the national record twice in steeplechase, clocking a best of 8min, 21.37 secs (Olympics qualification mark: 8 min, 22 secs) in the final, finishing 13th out of 16 competitors.

“In steeplechase, I have worked on my speed, strength and hurdle technique. I know we will not get many competitions before Olympics. I have to work harder to improve,” said Sable.

Ababel Yeshaneh, Brigid Kosgei, Kibiwott Kandie and Jacob Kiplimo will renew rivalry at Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

The fastest half-marathon in the world has attracted the best half-marathon runners on the planet again.

The 15th edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 19 will see reigning champions Kibiwott Kandie and Ababel Yeshaneh defending their titles while world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo and world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei will try to wrestle their titles off them.

The event, which is often known simply as ‘the RAK Half’ and which takes place on a super-fast course in the northernmost emirate of the United Arab Emirates in three months’ time, will see mouth-watering clashes in separate men’s and women’s races. More entries are expected to be announced in coming weeks but so far they include:

» Kibiwott Kandie – fastest man in the world over 13.1 miles in 2020 with 58:38 from Prague in September and winner in Ras Al Khamah in February with 58:58. The Kenyan (below) was also runner-up in the World Half Marathon Championships in 58:54, making him the first man to run sub-59min three times in one year.

» Jacob Kiplimo – the Ugandan took the world-marathon title ahead of Kandie in Gdynia last month following a track season that saw him run 7:26.64 for 3000m and 12:48.63 for 5000m. Only 20, he also took world cross-country champs silver behind Joshua Cheptegei in Aarhus last year.

» Ababel Yeshaneh – set a women’s world half-marathon record of 64:31 to win the Ras Al Khaimah race in February. At the World Half in Gdynia she was fifth but the Ethiopian fell in the closing stages. Over the marathon she was runner-up to Kosgei in Chicago last year with 2:20:51.

» Brigid Kosgei – world record-holder for the marathon with 2:14:04 from Chicago in 2019 and winner of the last two London Marathons, whereas over 13.1 miles the Kenyan (below) was 18 seconds behind Yeshaneh in Ras Al Khaimah this year in the second-fastest time in history.

The race is often dominated by east African distance runners but Sara Hall of the United States is one of the early entries, too, and will be sure to attract interest from US fans after her battling runner-up performance at the London Marathon in October.

“This is the fastest half-marathon course in the world and we want it to maintain its fame,” says Ras Al Khaimah Half race director Andrea Trabuio.

With the coronavirus pandemic causing problems around the world, Trabuio says the elite races and non-elite events will be run separately on February 19 in order to maintain social distancing. With the non-elite event there will be seven waves with about 400 runners in each wave with temperature checks at the start and masks being worn for the first few hundred meters.

Finalists for Female Athlete of the Year 2020

With just 11 days to go until the World Athletics Awards 2020, the names of the five finalists for the Female World Athlete of the Year 2020 have been confirmed.

In spite of the many challenges presented by the global Covid-19 pandemic this year, the five athletes, who represent five countries and four area associations, have excelled, producing brilliant performances across a range of athletics disciplines in 2020.

The finalists are (in alphabetical order):

Letesenbet Gidey, Ethiopia- set a world record of 14:06.62 over 5000m- was second in the 5000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco

Sifan Hassan, Netherlands- set a world record of 18,930m in the one hour run- set a European record of 29:36.67 over 10,000m, the fourth fastest performance in history

Peres Jepchirchir, Kenya- won the world half marathon title- twice broke the world half marathon record for a women-only race (1:05:34 and 1:05:16)

Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela- undefeated in four triple jump competitions indoors and outdoors- broke the world indoor triple jump record with 15.43m

Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaica- undefeated in seven 100m races- ran world-leading 10.85 over 100m

The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live at the World Athletics Awards 2020 to be staged as a virtual event on Saturday 5 December and streamed live on the World Athletics YouTube channel, its Facebook page and via Twitter.

Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu eyeing course record at 2020 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

This year has been tough for all of us, especially athletes since we have not been able to train at our optimum level due to the circumstances.

However, it's always exciting to come back to the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and I have trained to the fullest in the last one month for the race.

The World Half Marathon Championships in October was really difficult for me. With the training areas closed for a considerable amount of time, it was hard for me to get the desired result.

But my fitness levels are really good and I am feeling confident. The feeling about myself is brilliant at the moment and I am coming not just to win, but to aim for the course record timing as well.

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is the most prestigious half marathon for a reason. The course is exquisite and India is a beautiful country with a rich culture much like Ethiopia.

I am really looking forward to a cracking race and I am very confident about improving my timing this year.

All the athletes in the race are going to bring out their A-game and that's what will make the contest all the more exciting.

It's going to be a bit different this time though, as the people of Delhi will not be able to cheer us on. However, safety ensured for everyone involved in the event is important.

Extremely grateful to know all teams involved have worked hard to detail out various Covid-secure protocols and better running conditions have been given topmost priority.

World record holders Brigid Kosgei and Ababel Yeshaneh are set to clash at Delhi Half Marathon

World record holders Brigid Kosgei and Ababel Yeshaneh have been added to the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon women's field, making the 16th edition of this World Athletics Gold Label race on 29 November the strongest in the history of event - and one of the strongest half marathon contests in the world in 2020.

At the Chicago Marathon in October 2019, Kenya’s Kosgei stunned the world when she broke the long-standing women’s world marathon record by more than a minute, clocking 2:14:04. Yeshaneh was a distant second on that occasion but nevertheless still ran a superb personal best of 2:20:51.

However, the tables were turned at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February this year when a head-to-head contest in the final stages of the race saw Ethiopia’s Yeshaneh prevail in a world record 1:04:31 with Kosgei second in 1:04:49.

In their most recent outings last month, the 26-year-old Kosgei won the rescheduled London Marathon in 2:18:58 while the 29-year-old Yeshaneh had to contend with misfortune and fell at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, with just over three kilometres remaining, which took her out of medal contention although she recovered quickly to finish fifth.

A trio of Ethiopian runners have already been announced that will provide stiff competition for Kosgei and Yeshaneh as well as a host of other world class athletes.

Women's course record holder Tsehay Gemechu is seeking an unprecedented third successive victory. In 2019, Gemechu improved her own course record from 12 months earlier by no less than 50 seconds when she stopped the clocking 1:06:00.

Yeshaneh and Gemechu's compatriots on the start line in in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium include Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Netsanet Gudeta.

Yehualaw finished second in the ADHM 2019, just one second behind Gemechu, and third at the 2020 World Championships last month in a personal best of 1:05:19 while Gudeta finished eighth in Poland but was the 2018 world half marathon champion.

Both the men's and women's races have first prize cheques of US$27,000, part of a total prize money purse (combined men and women) of US$233,270.

Strict safety measures in place

This year's race will be unlike any previous edition with only an estimated 60 elite international and Indian runners in action on the Delhi roads, with the traditional start and finish still in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The event will follow the highest level of safety standards, with bio-secure zones to ensure a COVID-free race for the runners. All mandatory protocols in line with the advisories issued by the Government of India have been established for the event crew, vendors and suppliers, elite athletes, media and all guests.

Africa cross country silver medalist Leonard Barsoton is now eyeing New Delhi Half Marathon

Fresh from competing at the World Half Marathon in Gdynia, Poland, former Africa cross country silver medalist Leonard Barsoton is now eyeing honors in New Delhi Half Marathon.

In an interview, Barsoton said his mission in New Delhi will not only be to win the title but also to improve on his 59:09 personal best.

“I am working towards this and I am sure come the New delhi event, I will be ready,” said Barsoton.

The New Delhi race will be his third this year after finishing sixth at the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon and winning Kolkata 25km road race, where he lowered Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele’s

“This will be my first race after World Half Marathon and I know I am capable of pulling it off,” he noted.

Barsoton, who is also the Africa Games 10,000m silver medalist, bragged that he is an all weather runner hence he is not worried of the harsh climatic conditions in New Delhi.

Barsoton will enjoy the company of fellow Kenyans  Josphat Boit (59:19) and Edwin Kiptoo (59:26).

Others in the race are Abraham Cheroben (Bahrain) and Ethiopia’s Guye Adola, Amdework Walelegn, Andamlak Belihu and Solomon Berihu.

2020 Delhi Half Marathon (Nov 29th) Is Loaded As Usual – 12 sub-60 men and 9 sub-70 women will compete

Race promoters Procam International are happy to announce that defending champions Andamlak Belihu and Tsehay Gemecu will return to the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon for the 16th edition of this prestigious World Athletics Gold Label Road Race on Sunday 29 November.

The Ethiopian pair will both be aiming for an unprecedented third successive victory in the Indian capital.

“I have been training well in (the Ethiopia capital) AddisAbaba for the last couple of months and I am very thankful to have the opportunity to race in Delhi, a city I always enjoy returning to and racing in,” commentedBelihu, who will turn 22 just over a week before race day.

“This has been a difficult year, for everyone around the world, not just professional athletes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and I have been training alone much more than that I am normally used to but my fifth place at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Poland last month has assured me that I am in good shape and I am confident I can put up a good defence of my title,” he added.

Belihu’s compatriot Guye Adola still holds the ADHM course record with 59:06 that the latter clocked in 2014 but Belihu has gone very close in the last two years with 59:18 and a personal best 59:10 in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

He will be aiming to finally go into new territory on the streets of Delhi, perhaps even going under 59 minutes, and confirm his place as the most successful runner in ADHM history after having also placed second in his race debut in 2017.

An unprecedented 13 men in the ADHM 2020 elite field have run under the world class benchmark of one hour, and five of them have actually run faster than Belihu in their careers including Adola who returns to Delhi for the first time since his record run six years ago.

The fastest man in the field is Bahrain’s 2018 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships silver medallist Abraham Cheroben, who holds the Asian record for the distance with 58:40.

Two other men to watch will be the Ethiopian pair of Amdework Walelegn, who was second in Delhi last year and also took the bronze medal at 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships last month, and 2017 and 2019 world 5000m champion Muktar Edris, who will be making his half marathon debut.

Last year, Tsehay Gemechu improved her own women’s course record from 2018 by no less 50 seconds when she ran a stunning personal best of 66:00

Ideally, Gemechu would like to go even faster this year but, like so many runners around the world, her training and racing this year have been hugely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 is a disaster which has affected everyone’s life all over the globe and, definitely, it has affected my training, not least in the early stages of the pandemic when we were all fearful of infection. Later, my coach and I decided to take care of ourselves, taking into account all the advice from the World Health Organisation, and I started my own individual training programme with my main goal of coming back to Delhi, although since September I have had some races on the track,”reflected Gemechu, who will turn 22 in December.

“Like all the athletes who will be coming to Delhi, I’d like to express my thanks to the race promoters Procam International who have committed their time and effort and invested their money in making sure this race goes ahead while we all respect the appropriate health measures,” sheadded.

Gemechu will have a host of outstanding rivals in this year’s race, arguably the strongest women’s field ever seen in the history of the ADHM with seven women having run under 67 minutes.

Among them are two of her compatriots, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Netsanet Gudeta.

The in-form Yehualaw finished second in the ADHM 2019, just one second behind Gemechu, and showed she’s a rising star of women’s distance running by finishing third at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships last month in a personal best of 65:19. Gudeta, the 2018 world half marathon champion. was eighth in Poland but helped Ethiopia to team gold.

Both the men’s and women’s races have a first prize cheques of US$27,000 with a total prize money purse (combined men and women) of US$233,270.

The ADHM 2020 will be unlike any previous edition with an estimated 60 elite international and Indian runners in action on the Delhi roads, with the traditional start and finish still in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The event will follow the highest level of safety and hygiene standards with bio-secure zones to ensure a COVID-19 free race.

Non-elite runners of all abilities will have the chance to participate virtually from any location, running at any time between 25-29 November via the ADHM App. Details of how to download and use this app can found on the ADHM 2020 website airteldelhihalfmarathon.procam.in

Procam International Pvt. Ltd. A-262, 1st Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024. India, Tel. +91112433 5984/85/86 Fax +911141634836

Elite fields for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020 (with personal bests)

Men

Andamlak Belihu (ETH) 59:10

Abraham Cheroben (BRN) 58:40

Guye Adola (ETH) 59:06

Amdework Walelegn (ETH) 59:08

Leonard Barsoton (KEN) 59:09

Solomon Berihu (ETH) 59:17

Josphat Boit (KEN) 59:19

Edwin Kiptoo (KEN) 59:26

Stephen Mokoka (RSA) 59:36

Abrar Osman (ERI) 59:47

Aron Kifle (ERI) 59:51

Dawit Wolde (ETH) 59:58

Women

Tsehay Gemechu (ETH) 66:00

Yalemzerf Yehualaw (ETH) 65:19

Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 65:30

Netsanet Gudeta (ETH) 65:45

Evaline Chirchir (KEN) 66:01

Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 66:56

Irene Cheptai (KEN) 67:39

Mimi Belete (BRN) 68:16

Failuna Matanga (TAN) 69:36

Nazret Weldu (ERI) 70:51

Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) debut

Hawi Feysa (ETH) debut

Eva Cherono (KEN) debut