Running News Daily

World champion Josh Kerr confident under pressure at World Indoors

On Thursday morning, Josh Kerr was calm and confident as he took questions from the media at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. The reigning 1,500m world champion is poised to tackle a new challenge at World Indoors: the men’s 3,000m event, all under the watchful eyes of a supportive home crowd. When asked about the pressure for Saturday’s race, Kerr brushed it off, saying that internally, nothing has changed.

Acknowledging the weight of expectation that comes with being a world champion, Kerr says he’s unfazed by external distractions. “I remain focused on myself and on preparing to compete at the highest level,” says Kerr. “My primary goal remains unchanged: to win gold at both the World Indoors and the Paris Olympics.”

The Scottish middle-distance runner made the strategic decision to opt out of the 1,500m event in Glasgow, entering the 3,000m instead—a distance he’s tackled only twice in his professional career. “Over the years, I’ve recognized the need to build strength, and I’ve seen considerable success in the 3K and two-mile races,” explained Kerr. “I believe I have untapped potential in the 3K.”

While venturing into longer-distance events, Kerr reiterated that his main focus for Paris is firmly on the men’s 1,500m. “I have no plans to venture into the 5,000m anytime soon… I might be the worst at it,” he laughed. “But it’s an area I’m working on improving.”

Constantly challenging himself to get better was something Kerr had to learn early on in his career. When he won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, he said he got carried away with thinking the hard work was done and that he could ride the wave. “I believe track and field is the most humbling sport in the world,” says Kerr. “I had to put my head down and set events to look forward to in order to help with my motivation during winter training.”

The possibility of winning world championship gold on home soil holds a lot of significance for Kerr. “World Indoors in Scotland is deeply meaningful to me,” he said. “Following the legacy of events like London 2012, I hope this championship inspires the next generation of Scottish athletes.”

As the main medal favourite for host country Team GB, Kerr is embracing the challenge. “Despite our smaller team size, I think every athlete in a GB singlet is a genuine medal contender,” Kerr says.

While Kerr’s rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be absent from World Indoors, Kerr declined to engage in any banter after Ingebrigtsen said he could beat Kerr’s two-mile world best “blindfolded.” When questioned about Ingebrigtsen’s recent remarks, he laughed and said “No comment.” With the men’s 3,000m at World Indoors stacked with talent—including American mile record holder Yared Nuguse and Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia—reaching the top of the podium for Kerr won’t come easy.

You can stream the 2024 World Indoor Championships from March 1 to 3 from Canada live on CBCSports and CBC, and the CBC Gem app. Canadian Running will be reporting live from Glasgow, reporting on the action and featuring interviews with athletes as everything unfolds. You can follow our coverage on Instagram or Twitter.

Lisbon offers 150K EUR bounty for new records

Bonus for new world records in the half marathon.

Scheduled for March 17, the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon remains one of the world’s leading and fastest long-distance races and this year it will once again reward fast times with an attractive cash prize.

Therefore, as an incentive for the elite, the race organisers Maratona Clube de Portugal today announced a bonus of 150,000 Euro (162,500 USD) for new world records in this year’s race.

Lisbon already holds the best men’s mark – 57:31 (Jacob Kiplimo, in 2021) – and now, as well as wanting to improve on that stratospheric record, it also wants to add the women’s record, which is currently held by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, with 1:02:52 in Valencia, the same year.

In addition to Kiplimo’s time, Lisbon has been the scene of other world and European records in the past, such as Zersenay Tadese’s world record in 2010 or Mo Farah’s continental record in 2015.

Carlos Moia, president of the Maratona Clube de Portugal (MCP) says: “This bonus of 150,000 EUR for a possible world record, both female and male, reflects our unwavering commitment to promoting talent and inspiring athletes to reach new heights of success and overcoming. We will continue our tradition of recognizing and rewarding excellence. Lisbon, with all its light and good energy, provides the perfect setting for moments of great achievement.”

Sunday’s races will be broadcast directly on RTP1 and RTP Internacional to more than 200 million potential viewers around the world.

Mateiko looks to run in London after RAK exploits

Fresh from winning the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon, Daniel Mateiko has set his focus at the London Marathon scheduled for April 21 in the United Kingdom.

Mateiko arrived in the country on Monday following his exploits in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday.

He won the race in a world-leading time of 58:45 minutes, beating John Korir to second in a PB of 58:50 and Isaiah Lasoi to this also in a personal best of 58:55. 

“It is time to focus on the London Marathon following good results at RAK,” said Mateiko, who failed to complete the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

“I developed some challenges and failed to complete the race . This time around, I pray that all will be good at the London race,” said Mateiko.

He said he hopes to make up for his failures at the 2023 Chicago in London.

He noted that in the last eight half marathons, he has managed to run a sub-59 and this is good for his marathon career.

“I think I am improving with every race. When I first competed in RAK in 2022, I finished in position 6. Last year I was second and won the title this year,” he said.

In other races over the weekend, Kenya’s Dorine Cherop won the Castellon Marathon in Spain. Jerop won the title in 2:29.39 ahead of Irene Jerobon (2:30.51) with Aderra Minalle coming third at 2:31.24.

In men, James Kiplagat was the best Kenyan in the race after finishing second in 2:15.14 behind the Ethiopian duo of Ghebregiabhier Welldmicael Kibrom (2:07.25) and Abraham Medhanie (2:15.32).

At the Napoli Half Marathon, Kenyans dominated the races in both men and women.

In the men's race, Brian  Kwemoi won the title in 59:26 ahead of  Antony Kimtai (59:45) and Bernard Kipkurui (59:47). 

Great Britain's Emile Caress (60:01 hrs), Kenyan Gideon Kiprotich Rop  (60:28) and Charles Wanjiru (61:49) followed in that order. 

Kenyan Shadrack Koech to battle Tsegu Wendemu in Italy

kenya’s Shadrack Koech will battle for the men’s top honors at the 49th edition of the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon set for Sunday (03) in Rome, Italy.

The 27 year-old comes to this race with a personal best of 1:01.12 that he got last year at the Trento Half Marathon, where he finished in second place.

Koech will partner with his compatriot Kimakal Kipsambu, who is making a return to the capital after pacing last year’s edition with a time of 1:01.37.

The two will have an uphill task of dislodging the 2019 All-African Games 10,000m champion and also the fastest man on paper with a time 59:42 that he got five years ago at Lisbon Half Marathon, where he took a silver medal, Tsegu Berehanu Wendemu of Ethiopia.

The three elite athletes will have their focus on the race course record of 58:02 that was set two years ago by the reigning World Road Running half marathon champion, Sabastian Sawe from Kenya.

LEADING TIME

21KM MEN

Tsegu Berehanu Wendemu (ETH) 58:42

Shadrack Koech                   (KEN) 1:01.12

Kimakal Kipsambu              (KEN) 1:01.37

Faith Chepkoech wins 10K Facsa Castello

After a dismal performance at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, Faith Chepkoech come back guns blazing as she bagged the women’s title at the 11th edition of the 10K Facsa Castellón on Sunday (25) in Castellon, Spain.

The 30 year-old who finished a distant 16th in her season opener in Valencia, fought off Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay who was primed for the pole position having come with the fastest time on paper of 30:20.

Chepkoech clocked a new personal best of 29:50 to take the honors and was followed by Tesfay who also got a new personal best of 29:54 with Diana Chepkorir who was making her debut over the distance closing the podium in 29:56.

Kenyans Loice Chemnung and Jesca Chelengat finished in fourth and fifth in respective time of 30:09 and 30:23.

The race course record of 29:14 set two years ago by Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yahualaw remains standing.

LEADING RESULTS

10KM WOMEN

Faith Chepkoech  (KEN) 29:50

Fotyen Tesfay       (ETH) 29:54

Diana Chepkorir   (KEN) 29:56

Loice Chemnung  (KEN) 30:09

Jesca Chelangat    (KEN) 30:23

Mateiko and Gebreselama with bright future after dominant RAK wins

There were breakout victories for hitherto little known Daniel Mateiko of Kenya and Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates early Saturday morning. And the imperious manner of their wins on a breezy, humid morning with a sea mist invading the latter stages suggests they both have a very bright future.

Yet the contrast in their race-winning tactics could hardly have been greater. Mateiko led from the gun, and only conceded the lead for brief periods, before outgunning his colleagues John Korir and Isaia Lasoi in the final kilometre, to win in a world leading 58min 45sec. Korir and Lasoi finished five and ten seconds behind respectively.

In contrast, Gebreselama contented herself to stay in the pack until she was ready to strike for home in the last five kilometres. Only former world record holder (64.31) and 2020 winner, colleague Ababel Yeshaneh could go with her, but that challenge didn’t last long. And such was Gebreselama’s attritional pace that by the time she crossed the line in 65.14, Yeshaneh was exactly half a minute in arrears. Jackline Sakilu of Tanzania was the surprise of the day, setting a national record of 66.05 in third place. What was no surprise was that the podium places were taken by athletes from three East African countries who share the same topography, the high altitude plateau of the Great Rift Valley.

Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany threatened to gatecrash that exclusive club up to the hallway point in a race, having come directly from her own training camp in Ethiopia. But, having headed the field up to 10k, which she passed in 31.09, which would have been a PB had she finished the race, she tailed off drastically and dropped out shortly afterwards, saying she did not feel well.

Olympic marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir had been one of the favourites to win, but in the bustle of the start, someone trod on her heel and she lost around 20sec putting her shoe back on. Surprisingly for someone with her long experience, instead of working her way gradually back to the group, she shot off and rejoined them before they had completed the first kilometre. She paid for that unnecessary effort in the closing stages, and could only finish seventh in 67.19.

Gebreselama was not entirely unknown prior to today; she finished second in the world cross country championships in Australia last year. ‘That was my best performance, but today is better than that, because I won,’ she said after the race. ‘I knew I was in good shape. I think I like cross country and road running equally, but now I must prepare for the track’. In a reversal of tradition, she is leaving here for a four-month stint in an altitude training camp in the USA, before she runs the Ethiopian trials with the intent on making the Olympic team at 10,000 metres.

Having been told that there was no pacemaker in the men’s race, we wondered why Mateiko, who led from the gun kept consulting his watch and checking over his shoulder at his pursuers. Maybe he was surprised they were still there for so long, right up to the final kilometre. But having done all work, he was rewarded with a more than worthy victory, then engagingly stated that that was his intent throughout the race. ‘After finishing second last year, I promised myself to win. But the conditions were difficult; it was windy and very humid.’

Mateiko hails from Mount Elgon on the Kenya-Uganda border, but now trains in Eldoret with twice Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge under the tutelage of former steeplechaser Patrick Sang. ‘Patrick told me I was in good shape, but to be strong-minded. And Eliud is giving me advice too. I would like to have his consistency. Now my dream is to run well in the London Marathon’. If his marathon debut is as impressive as his win here today, the London crowds in April will be in for a treat.

Results, Men:

1 Daniel Mateiko KEN 58:45

2 John Korir KEN 58:50

3 Isaia Lasoi KEN 58:55

4 Gerba Dibaba ETH 59:38

5 Benard Koech KEN 59:42

6 Birhanu Legese ETH 59:43

7 Tamirat Tola ETH 59:46

8 Amos Kibiwot KEN 59:51

9 Boki Diriba ETH 60:10

10 Alphonce Simbu TAN 60:28

Women:

1 Tsigie Gebreselama ETH 65:14

2 Ababel Yeshaneh ETH 65:44

3 Jackline Sakilu TAN 66:05

4 Margaret Chelimo KEN 66:31

5 Evaline Chirchir KEN 66:36

6 Catherine Amanang’ole KEN 66:49

7 Peres Jepchirchir KEN 67:19

8 Gete Alemayehu ETH 67:25

9 Megertu Alemu ETH 69:23

10 Ashete Bekere ETH 70:03

Kenenisa Bekele, Connor Mantz & Clayton Young To Headline 2024 United Airlines NYC Half

The New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced that the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half, taking place Sunday, March 17, will feature 11 Olympians, seven Paralympians, and several more professional athletes who have their eyes on the Paris 2024 Games this summer.

Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, fresh off finishing first and second, respectively, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, will headline the men’s open division at the United Airlines NYC Half, while two-time U.S. Olympian Hillary Bor will race 13.1 miles for the first time in his career and the world’s most-decorated distance runner, Kenenisa Bekele, will return to New York for his second NYRR event. The women’s open division will be chock-full of established contenders, including Olympians Des Linden, Jenny Simpson, Edna Kiplagat, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, and Malindi Elmore, in addition to World Championships marathon bronze medalist Fatima Gardadi.

These athletes will lead more than 25,000 runners during the United Airlines NYC Half, the world’s premier half marathon, organized by NYRR, which runs from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks, diverse neighborhoods, and sweeping views of the city along the way before finishing in Central Park.

Men’s Open Division

Mantz and Young, training partners from Provo, Utah, will line up together at the start in New York less than two months after finishing one-two at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando and qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games. Mantz was fifth in his first United Airlines NYC Half in 2022, and last year became the seventh-fastest American marathoner in history when running 2:07:47 to finish sixth at the Chicago Marathon. Young finished right behind him in seventh in 2:08:00 and will be making his United Airlines NYC Half debut.

“I think I have a lot of room to improve in the halfs,” Mantz said on the latest episode of NYRR Set the Pace, Feb. 22, 2024. “I want to get these halfs in so I can have more confidence heading into Paris. I ran [the United Airlines NYC Half] in 2022…which was probably one of the most special experiences and it was a huge learning [experience]. It was probably my first race where I was competing against a big international field…so it was a really good experience for me, and I think it’s one I want to repeat and take what I’ve learned in the last two years and use it.”

Ethiopia’s Bekele, a four-time Olympic medalist, 16-time world champion, and the third-fastest marathoner in history, will challenge the American duo, racing with NYRR for the second time after finishing sixth at the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon. He will be joined at the starting line by Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba, the reigning champion of the B.A.A. Boston Half Marathon who owns one of the top-10 half-marathon times in history.

Mateiko and Gebreselama win in Ras Al Khaimah

Daniel Mateiko and Tsigie Gebreselama were victorious at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Saturday (24).

Making his third appearance in Ras Al Khaimah, Mateiko lit up a foggy morning to storm home in a world-leading time of 58:45 and win by five seconds from his compatriot John Korir, while Isaia Lasoi completed a Kenyan top three, clocking 58:55.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s world cross country silver medallist Gebreselama improved her personal best by more than half a minute to win in 1:05:14, 30 seconds ahead of her compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, the 2020 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon champion and former world record-holder. Tanzania’s Jackline Sakilu was a surprise third, beating her personal best by more than three minutes with a national record of 1:06:05.

This year’s race was held exclusively for the first time on the fast and flat roads of Al Marjan Island and the elites took it in their stride, despite unusual weather conditions which saw visibility limited to around 50m at the finish line.

Mateiko was always to the fore and he made his winning move in the final kilometre, leaving Korir and Lasoi to chase him to the finish line.

A delighted Mateiko was relieved to finally get a win in Ras Al Khaimah after finishing sixth on his debut in 2022 and runner-up to Benard Koech last year. 

“I was the fastest man in the field and I promised myself I’d win here after finishing sixth and then second last year,” said the charismatic 25-year-old, who dedicated his win to Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record-holder who died in a road traffic accident earlier this month.

“The conditions were very difficult – it was windy, humid and a little foggy – so this is definitely the best win of my career so far.”

While Mateiko saw off a world-class field that included defending champion Koech, who finished fifth (59:42), and New York Marathon champion Tamirat Tola, who took seventh (59:46), in the women’s event the hugely talented Gebreselama underlined why she is considered one of her country’s finest prospects.

After passing 15km in 46:42, Gebreselama and Yeshaneh broke away from the lead women’s group before Gebreselama forged ahead for victory.

“I am so happy to have run a personal best today,” said the 23-year-old, who finished fourth in the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga in October.

“I was very worried about Peres (Jepchirchir) in this race so I was surprised when she dropped back. It’s a great win for me and, while it’s too early in my career to think about the Paris Olympics, my aim is to break the half marathon world record.”

Olympic marathon champion Jepchirchir, one of the pre-race favourites and a three-time half marathon world champion, suffered a setback early on in the race when a shoe slipped off, costing her at least 20 seconds. 

Malindi Elmore and Tristan Woodfine to run 2024 NYC Half

On Thursday, the New York Road Runners (NYRR) announced the field for the 2024 NYC Half on March 17, which will feature Canadian marathoners Malindi Elmore and Tristan Woodfine alongside 11 Olympians and one of the world’s most decorated distance runners, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

This will be Bekele’s first time at the NYC Half and only his second career road race in New York City. (He finished sixth at the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021.) Bekele is one of the most prolific runners of all time, having been at the top of the sport for more than two decades. His personal best of 2:01:41 from the 2019 Berlin Marathon still stands as the Ethiopian national record, and makes him the third-fastest marathoner in history.

Bekele will headline the men’s race alongside top U.S. marathoners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who are fresh off finishing first and second, respectively, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 3. Also joining the men’s field is Cobden, Ont.’s Woodfine, who is coming off an impressive 2:10:39 personal best and sixth-place finish at the 2024 Houston Marathon. The 30-year-old is currently training for the 2024 Boston Marathon, where he hopes to place in the top five to potentially secure a spot on the Canadian Olympic marathon team in Paris.

The women’s elite field will be full of established distance runners, including Olympians Des Linden, Jenny Simpson, Edna Kiplagat and Elmore, who was recently nominated to her third Olympic Games. Elmore secured her spot on the Canadian team last fall with a 2:23:30 clocking at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, the second-fastest Canadian women’s marathon time. Like Woodfine, Elmore is also training for the 2024 Boston Marathon, which she hopes will prepare her for the hilly marathon course at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is expected to be the hilliest Olympic marathon course to date.

The men’s and women’s elite field will lead more than 25,000 runners during the United Airlines NYC Half, the world’s premier half marathon, which runs from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks, diverse neighbourhoods and sweeping views of The Big Apple before finishing in the middle of Central Park.

Ednah Kiplagat confirms next race as she chases more history

Forty-four-year-old Edna Kiplagat has opened up on where she will compete next, giving the impression that she is not hanging her spikes anytime soon.

More than 25,000 runners have confirmed participation at the New York City Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday, March 17 from Brooklyn to Manhattan, finishing in Central Park.

One of the headliners in the women’s field is 44-year-old Kenyan runner Edna Kiplagat who will be using the race as part of her preparations for the Boston Marathon.

Kiplagat is one of the most successful long-distance runners and from her records, she is a two-time Boston Marathon champion and former London and New York City Marathon champion.

Kiplagat will be up against compatriots Gladys Chepkurui, the reigning Tokyo Half Marathon champion, and Cynthia Limo, a World Athletics Championships half-marathon medalist. The duo has the two fastest times in the women's open division.

Two-time US Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Desiree Linden will return as the top American finisher from last year's race, having recently finished 11th at the US Olympic Marathon Trials.

Olympic and World Championships medalist Emily Simpson will make her United Airlines NYC Half debut but she is no stranger to NYRR races as an eight-time winner of the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile.

Lindsay Flanagan and Annie Frisbie, both of whom finished in the top 10 at the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials, will also be ones to watch.

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, a four-time Olympic medalist, 16-time world champion, and the third-fastest marathoner in history, will challenge the Kenyan charge in the men’s race. He will be competing in the streets of New York for the second time after finishing sixth at the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon.

The Kenyan charge will be led by, Abel Kipchumba, the reigning champion of the B.A.A. Boston Half Marathon who owns one of the top 10 half-marathon times in history.

Morocco's Zouhair Talbi will return to the event after taking third in his United Airlines NYC Half debut last year, which he called "the race of his life."

Since then, he finished fifth at the Boston Marathon and broke the Houston Marathon course record in January.

Tanzanian Olympian and marathon record-holder Gabriel Geay, who was the runner-up at last year's Boston Marathon, will race the United Airlines NYC Half for the first time.

An American contender to watch will be Hillary Bor, a two-time U.S. Olympian and five-time national champion who will be making his half-marathon debut.

Kwemoi targets elusive Napoli Half Marathon title this weekend

Beijing Half Marathon champion Brian Kwemoi leads Kenyans in their quest for the Napoli Half Marathon title this Sunday.

The last time a Kenyan triumphed in Naples was in 2022 when Chepkirui Gladys clocked 1:08:09 to win the women's title.

Belet Kiplangat placed second (59:26) behind Italy's Crippa Yemaneberhan who clinched the title in 59:26.

In last year's edition, Edris Muktra (1:00:27) of Ethiopia and Mach Angelika (1:12:34) of Poland won the men's and women's titles.

Kwemoi, who secured the Beijing Half Marathon title in April 2023 with a course-record time of 59:37, will be joined by Vila de Santa Pola, Spain, half marathon champion Bernard Biwott.

Biwott also placed third in the Cardiff Half Marathon in October 2023, clocking 1:00:51.

Also in the mix is Moses Koech, the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics silver medalist in the 3,000m. He was also a 5,000m  silver medalist at the 2015 Barcelona Regional Championships in 13:15.56.

Koech placed second in the Loop Den Haag Half Marathon in the Netherlands in March 2023, with a time of 1:00:55. The trio will face stiff competition from Ethiopia's Mosinet Geremew who was the 2022 world marathon silver medallist.

Geremew is a silver medalist in the 2019 London Marathon, finishing behind two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge in 2:02:55.

On the women's side, 2021 Amsterdam Marathon champion Angela Tanui will lead the charge.

Tanui clocked 2:17:57 to win the title in the Netherlands. She will be joined by Nancy Jepleting, the Porto (Portugal) half marathon silver medalist.

The duo will face tough competition from Ethiopia's Anchinalu Dessie, a bronze medallist in the 2023 Milano Half Marathon, and Italy's Sofiia Yaremchuk, the 2021 Venezia Marathon champion.

RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON IS ON SATURDAY AND IT SHOUlD BE A FAST ONE

New regime, new course, but with Olympic and world champions and the usual array of speedsters, Saturday’s Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is virtually assured of the sort of fast times that have been a feature of the event throughout its 17 year history, including three women’s world records.

Pride of place both on the start list and at this morning’s press conference in one of the smaller emirates in the UAE were Olympic marathon and three time world half-marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, and keeping the balance in the long-term East African distance running rivalry, world marathon champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia heads the men’s entry. The wild card, hoping to gatecrash the party is Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany, who surprised the East Africans when she beat a dozen of them to win her debut half-marathon in Valencia in 2022.

Jepchirchir may neither be the fastest marathoner or half-marathoner among current women long distance runners, but she knows how to win races, an asset far more valuable than fast times. In the seven months between late August 2021 and mid-April 2022, she won the Olympic, New York and Boston Marathons, a rare collective achievement. In her comeback marathon following an injury, she finished third in last year’s London Marathon. And she has won 12 of her 16 half-marathons. She is loath to admit her plans yet, but this RAK ‘half’ is perfectly scheduled as a springboard, to going back to London in April, to upgrade that third place.

Tola was similarly annoyed that an injury preventing him successfully defending his 2022 world marathon title in Budapest last summer, but a speedy recovery saw him break the long-standing New York Marathon record with 2.04.58 three months later. He is one of the few elites to be making his debut in the RAK ‘half’ and the scale of his task may be judged by the fact that on paper there are 15 men faster than his best of 59.37 set seven years ago in Prague. But he suggested that is due for drastic revision. ‘I’d like to think I can do under 59 minutes if the race turns out to be fast,’ he said at the press conference. Fastest man in the field is Daniel Mateiko of Kenya with 58.26, but his colleague Benard(sic) Kibet has the advantage of having won last year in 58.45.

Klosterhalfen, ‘Koko’ to her pals may prove to be not only the wild card, but the joker in the pack in the women’s race. A world bronze medallist on the track and European 5000 metres champion, the German called a halt to her summer season last year when a foot injury caused her to reassess her career. She had changed her shoe sponsor, left her coach and long-term training venue in the USA already. She then switched again and has teamed up with Gary Lough, latter-day coach to Mo Farah and spouse of former world record holder Paula Radcliffe (here in RAK as a TV commentator). Klosterhalfen has also switched her altitude training venue to Addis Ababa, where she has just spent six weeks, coming directly to here. ‘Road running is still a bit of an adventure for me’, she said this morning. ‘I still want to run on the track, but I want to more road races’.

The roll-call of winners since the race began in 2007 is a ‘Who’s Who’ of distance running over the last two decades; beginning with Sammy Wanjiru and Berhane Adere in the inaugural race, via luminaries such as Patrick Makau, Geoffrey Mutai, Elvan Abeylegesse, Mary Keitany, Geoffrey Kamworor, Lelisa Desisa, Samson Kandie and Hellen Obiri. Add to that Jepchirchir herself who won in 2017 in a then world record of 65min 06sec.

The promoters of the successful marathon down the road in Dubai have been invited this year to give the RAK ‘half’ a makeover, and they began by introducing a 10k race for locals and altering the half-marathon course. ‘It’s faster and better than any route before here in Ras Al Khaimah; we’ve cut out some of the sharp turns,’ said race director Peter Connerton, ‘so we’re hoping for at least similar times and hopefully better. But with a couple of good races into the bargain’.

ELITE CONTENDERS

MEN

Daniel MateikoKEN58:26

Kennedy KimutaiKEN58:28

Seifu TuraETH58:36

Amdework Walelegn ETH 58:40

Benard Kibet KoechKEN58:45

Alex Korio KEN 58:51

Birhanu Legese ETH 58:59

Haftu Teklu ETH 59:06

Tamirat TolaETH59:37

WOMEN

Ababel YeshanehETH64:31

Margaret KipkemboiKEN64:46

Peres JepchirchirKEN65:06

Catherine Amanang’ole KEN 65:39

Konstanze KlosterhalfenGER65:41

Tsigie Gebreselama ETH65:46

Evaline ChirchirKEN66:01

Vivian Kiplagat KEN 66:07

Yalemget YaregalETH66:27

Kenyan-born American runner seeking redemption at Tokyo Marathon after US Olympic trials heartbreak

Kenyan-born American runner Betsy Saina is seeking a comeback at the Tokyo Marathon after missing out on the US Olympic marathon trials.

Kenyan-born American runner Betsy Saina will seek redemption at the Tokyo Marathon after a heartbreaking run at the US Olympic Marathon trials.

Saina exuded confidence ahead of the Olympic trials in Orlando but unfortunately failed to finish the race after the hype surrounding her. She now heads to the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 3 where she hopes to bounce back to winning ways.

Follow the Pulse Sports Kenya WhatsApp Channel for more news.

Two days ahead of the marathon trials, Saina had opened up on how her son motivates her to do better and she was optimistic of representing the US at the Olympic Games.

In a post on her Instagram, she said: “My little man has taught me to be resilient and brave. Everything I do he is the priority before anything else comes.

On Saturday I will be running for him, He has changed my life in many ways, I am the happiest woman in the world.”

She has now put the setback behind her and is looking forward to bouncing back at the Tokyo Marathon where she will be up against some of the greatest marathoners.

Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru will be returning with the hope of bagging another title. During last year’s edition of the race, Wanjiru destroyed a strong field to claim the top prize, cutting the tape in 2:16:28. She enjoyed her 2023 season and will be looking to continue the hot streak to 2024.

Wanjiru also represented Kenya at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where she finished sixth in the marathon.

2023 London Marathon champion Sifan Hassan will also be in the mix, hoping to notch up her third marathon victory since her debut in London last year. The Dutch woman has proven what she can do both on the track and the full marathon.

Hassan made her full marathon debut at the London Marathon and won most dramatically. She clocked 2:18:33 to beat marathon experts including Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning Olympic marathon champion.

She extended her winning streak to the Chicago Marathon where she stunned defending champion Ruth Chepng’etich to second place.

Hassan will be eyeing the Olympic Games and the Toyo Marathon is a better place for her to build up for the event.

Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter has also been invited and she will be out to challenge the double Olympic champion and Wanjiru for the top prize. The Ethiopian charge will be led by Sutume Kebede and Tigist Abayechew who will be out to reclaim the title they lost to Kenya last year.

Magdalena Shauri of Tanzania will also be hoping to continue soaring high after her dominant exploits in Berlin last year where she finished third.

Mary Ngugi confirmed for Roma-Ostia Half Marathon

Ngugi, a Boston marathon silver medalist from 2021, headlines the women’s field with a personal best (PB) of 66:29 in the half marathon and 2:20:22 in the marathon.

As part of her preparations for the upcoming Boston Marathon, Mary Ngugi-Cooper will line up for this year’s Roma-Ostia Half Marathon in March.

The race will be held on March 3, 2024 in Italy.

Ngugi, a Boston marathon silver medalist from 2021, headlines the women’s field with a personal best (PB) of 66:29 in the half marathon and 2:20:22 in the marathon.

The 2022 Boston bronze medalist who placed fifth at the New York City marathon last year will compete against her compatriots Caroline Korir and Nelly Jeptoo, the young Ethiopian Wariyo Bekelech Teku (fifth in the recent Ethiopian Cross Country Championships and rising star), and compatriot Anna Dibaba, the younger sister of the well-established Tirunesh and Genzebe.

“I’m really excited to announce that in April I will be running @bostonmarathon. Boston holds a special place in my heart, not only for having two podium finishes in the last few years, but getting married there too! The streets are always amazing, crowds loud and I can’t wait to hit Heartbreak Hill once again with a ridiculously strong field of talented women,” Ngugi said while announcing her return to Boston.A welcome return for the Italian team is Rebecca Lonedo, who is in great shape with a recent PB of 70.13 in Seville.

As for the men’s elite list, Ethiopian Tsegu Berehanu Wendemu headlines the list with eyes firmly set on running under an hour as he holds a PB of 59:42.

Shadrack Koech, eager to compete on the fast Roman course after his 61.12 in Trento last October, and Kimakal Kipsambu, returning to the capital after pacing with a time of 61.37 in 2023 make up the top three list of elites.

Wins for Geleta and Gebru as records fall in Seville

Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta ran a world-leading course record of 2:03:27 to move into the top 20 on the men’s world marathon all-time list while his compatriot Azmera Gebru won the women’s race in 2:22:13 at the Zurich Maraton de Sevilla, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on Sunday (18).

Record breaking was the theme of the day, with eight national records set as athletes chased qualification times for the Olympic Games in Paris in August.

A total of 12 men dipped under 2:08 and 14 women went sub-2:25.

Three of those national records were achieved by the athletes who next followed Geleta over the finish line: runner-up Morhad Amdouni of France, who clocked 2:03:47; third-place finisher Gashau Ayale of Israel, who ran 2:04:53, and Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy, who finished fourth in 2:06:06.

Behind Gebru, the runner-up spot in the women’s race was secured by Josephine Chepkoech in a PB of 2:22:38, while her Kenyan compatriot Magdalyne Masai was third in 2:22:51.

The men’s race started fast and the leaders reached 10km in 29:02 before the front group of nine passed the half marathon mark in 1:01:49 – 42 seconds inside course record pace.

The pacemakers dropped out at around 25km and Geleta made a move. He was chased by a group of five athletes and by 30km Amdouni had closed the gap. They ran together through that checkpoint in 1:27:44.

Geleta pulled away from Amdouni over the final 5km and won by 20 seconds in 2:03:27.

Further back, national records were also set by Sweden’s Suldan Hassan in ninth (2:07:36), Chile’s Carlos Martin Diaz del Rio in 18th (2:08:04) and Macedonia’s Dario Ivanovski in 20th (2:08:26).

Gebru was part of a six-strong women’s group that passed halfway in 1:11:22. At the two-hour mark, the race was down to three.

Gebru was the only athlete who could stick with the pacemaker over the following kilometers and she reached the 40km mark in 2:15:02.

She continued on to win in 2:22:13, 25 seconds ahead of Chepkoech. Masai finished a further 13 seconds back.

The record-breakers in the women’s race were Meline Rollin, who placed seventh in a French record of 2:24:12, and Argentina’s Florencia Borelli, who was eighth in a South American record of 2:24:18.

Prior to the race, a 42-second silence was held in tribute to marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a road traffic accident last weekend.

Doha Marathon; Uganda’s Solomon Mutai won the elite men’s race and Kenyan long-distance runner Valary Jemeli Aiyabei in the women’s elite race

Solomon Mutai of Uganda emerged victorious in the top men's race of the 2024 Doha Marathon presented by Ooredoo on Friday morning. The bronze medalist from the 2015 Beijing Athletics World Championship finished the 42-kilometer event in two hours, twelve minutes, and forty-eight seconds. He finished ahead of Mesfin Negus of Ethiopia (2:13:12) and Awet Habte Ghebrezghiabher of Eritrea (2:13:00).

In the women's elite event, Kenyan long-distance runner Valary Jemeli Aiyabei triumphed. With a timing of 2:23:38, the seasoned marathoner—who has taken home gold in marathons at Barcelona, Belgrade, Valencia, Prague, Beijing, and Frankfurt—added Doha to her list of accomplishments.

Rediet Daniel Molla of Ethiopia placed third in 2:26:25, while her countryman Joan Kipyatich came in second in 2:23:45.

On that day, almost 13,000 competitors competed in a variety of races across varying distances. There were races in the full, half, 10 km, 5 km, and 1 km distances.

This year's tournament featured 25 participants from across the world and the Olympics.

The races began at 6.15 a.m. at the Hotel Park and ended at the starting point after taking a gorgeous course along the magnificent Corniche.

A total of QAR 500,000 in prize money was awarded to the victors of the Ooredoo Doha Marathon.

Konstanze Klosterhalfen is running the RAK Half Marathon

Konstanze Klosterhalfen is one of the few Europeans who have successfully challenged East African superiority in long distance running in recent years; but the German star will have a mass challenge from Kenyans and Ethiopians in her next venture, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on Saturday February 24.

The reigning European 5000 metres champion ‘Koko,’ to her fans, won bronze in the World Championships at that same distance in 2019, but her debut victory over a posse of leading East Africans in the Valencia Half Marathon in October 2022 signalled not only a step-up in prestige but also potential for success in the full marathon. And RAK in nine days’ time will be another stepping stone.

The RAK ‘half’ has been one of the fastest 21.1k races in the world since its inception 17 years ago in one of the smaller emirates in the UAE. The list of winners and record breakers reads like a ‘who’s who’ of distance running. Leading this year’s women’s field and a formidable opponent for Klosterhalfen is reigning Olympic marathon champion and three-time world ‘half’ winner, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, who set a then world record of 65:06 when she ran RAK in 2017. Burgeoning competition and the advent of super-shoes has resulted in that record now standing at 62.52, to Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.

Klosterhalfen’s debut win in Valencia came in 65:41; and with another former world record holder – Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia (64:31) in the RAK field, the German will not have an easy task, the more so since she took a break in the second half of last summer season, and has not raced for six months. She was understandably cautious this week when she said, ‘Overall I am happy with how my training has been going and I’m ready to test myself and see exactly where I am after a good training camp. I’m certainly looking forward to returning to racing, especially at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon as it is a race I’ve heard a lot about’.

Klosterhalfen spends a lot of time training at altitude in the USA, and in her quieter moments has walked the runway at Berlin Fashion Week, and also plays piano and flute; but running full tilt for just over an hour before breakfast will be the order of the morning a week on Saturday.

Chumba will go head to head against Gebreslase when the two clash at the Nagoya women’s marathon

Kenya-born Bahranian Eunice Chumba will go head to head against 2022 World champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia when the two clash at the Nagoya women’s marathon slated for March 10.

Nagoya women’s marathon is held annually in Japan and it is the largest women’s race in the world certified by the Guinness World Records.

It was launched on March 12, 2012 with an initial participation of 13,114. It has since grown to be recognized by World Athletics as a Platinum label race averaging 20,000 participants.

Chumba was a silver medalist in the 10,000m at the 2018 Asia Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she clocked 32:11.12.

Before that, she had also placed second in the same event in the 2015 Asia Championships held in Wuhan, China in 32:22.29. The 31-year-old further won the 2023 NN Rotterdam Marathon, Netherlands, clocking 2:20:31.

She followed it up with a bronze medal during the Shanghai Marathon, China, in November clocking 2:22:20.

Chumba has also won titles in the Abu Dhabi Marathon (2:20:41) in 2022 and the Copenhagen Half Marathon (1:06:11) in 2017.

In 2021 Gebreslase made her debut in the marathon with an overwhelming victory at the Berlin Marathon, Germany, clocking 2:20:09.

She followed it up with a bronze medal in the Tokyo marathon in 2022 (2:18:18) before winning the title at the 2022 World Athletics Championship (2:18:11)  in Eugene, USA.

 The 29-year-old also has a title in the Bahrain Half Marathon (1:05:36) and a silver medal in the Ras Al Khaimah marathon (1:05:51).

The two will be joined by the 2020 Napoli half marathon champion Violah Lagat and Kenyan-born Romanian Delvine Meringor.

Meringor won a title at the 2022 Los Angeles Marathon, USA, where she clocked 2:25:04.

The local contingent will be led by Ai Hosaoda who boosts a personal best of 2:21:42. She will be joined by 2016 Japanese champion in the 10,000m Suzuki Ayuko.

Irine Cheptai to make marathon debut at the 2024 Haspa Marathon

The 2017 World Cross-country champion Irine Cheptai will make her full marathon debut at the 38th edition of the Haspa Marathon in Hamburg.

Reigning Copenhagen Half Marathon champion Irine Cheptai will make her full marathon debut at the 38th edition of the Haspa Marathon on Sunday, April 28.

The 2017 World Cross-country champion has competed on all surfaces from the track to cross-country and she will finally make her debut in the 42km distance in April.

Cheptai finished second at the 2023 Valencia Half Marathon and third at the Annual Charity Run in Saudi Arabia.

The Commonwealth 10,000m silver medalist opened her season with an eighth-place finish at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja and she now gears up for the 42km distance where she hopes to impress. Other notable debutants at the event will be Nelly Jepchumba and Roselida Jepketer.

Meanwhile, Winfridah Moseti and Sharon Chelimo from Kenya headline the field. Moseti took second place at the 2023 Frankfurt Marathon with a time of 2:20:55, while Chelimo also put in a strong performance with a time of 2:22:07.

The Ethiopian charge will be led by Kidusan Alema while Canada’s Natasha Wodak (Canadian record holder with a personal best of 02:23:12) will also be in the mix seeking top honors. Margaret Wangari from Kenya with a time of 2:23:52 also seeks to spoil the party.

Portuguese runner Jessica Augusto (02:24:25) will also be at the start again, having won the marathon back in 2017.

“We are excited to see what awaits us at the 38th Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Hamburg has proven to be a springboard for great runners in the past, as we saw for example with Eliud Kipchoge, who once made his debut in Hamburg. So it remains exciting to see which new talents will prove themselves on the track this year,” race organizers said.

Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase will run in world’s largest women’s marathon

The Nagoya Women’s Marathon announced today the world’s top women athletes who will compete in the 13th edition of the race to be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

The leading names in the field are Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia, world champion in Oregon in 2022 with a personal best of 2:18:11 and Silver Medallist in Budapest in 2023, and Eunice Chebichii Chumba of Bahrain, Asian Games Champion of 2023 in Hangzhou, who has a personal best of 2:20:02.

The competitor list also includes many outstanding international athletes such as Delvine Relin Meringor of Romania, Violah Cheptoo of Kenya, Giovanna Epis of Italy, Eloise Wellings of Australia, Camille French of New Zealand, and others representing China and Puerto Rico.

The local athletes who will face them from Japan are Ai Hosoda, the third-place finisher in the Marathon Grand Championship, Japan’s domestic qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics, who set a personal best of 2:21:42 in the 2022 London Marathon, the 2020 Tokyo Olympians Ayuko Suzuki in the marathon and Yuka Ando in the 10,000m, and 2023 Budapest World Championship competitor Rika Kaseda, all of whom have personal best records under 2:22 and will be vying for the final spot in Japan’s marathon team for the Paris Olympics.

Anyone who beats the Japanese record of 2:18:59 – just set this January for the first time in 19 years – will qualify for Paris.

The pacemakers driving the high-speed race include Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, who has a personal best of 2:17:29.

The Nagoya Women’s Marathon is not only one of the world’s fastest elite competitions as a World Athletics Platinum Label road race, but it is also known as the world’s largest women’s marathon and a unique festival to celebrate women runners. All finishers will receive an event-exclusive Tiffany & Co. pendant as a token of their achievement.

The 2024 race will take place in Nagoya, Japan, on March 10 with 20,000 runners, while a virtual race is currently held from February 10 through March 31, which can be participated in anywhere in the world via a running app.

Masai, Gebru to battle it out at Sevilla Marathon on Sunday

Vienna Marathon champion Magdalene Masai will battle Azmera Gebru at the Sevilla Marathon on Sunday even as the organizers promise to honor Kelvin Kiptum.

The organizers will observe a 42-second silence in respect to Kiptum, the world marathon record holder who died on Sunday in a road accident alongside his coach, Rwandese Gervais Hakizimana.

“Before the start of the marathon on Sunday, we will pay tribute to Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder, and his coach, who died in a traffic accident. We will observe 42 seconds of silence, as many as kilometers of the race, in his memory,” the organizers said in a statement.

Masai won the Vienna Marathon in April last year in 2:24:12.

She also won the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in Canada (2:22:16) and was second at the Hasper Marathon in Hamburg, Germany, in 2:26:02.

The 31-year-old is also a 2015 World Challenge gold medallist in 3,000m steeplechase from Dakar, Senegal, where she clocked 9:31.55.

Joining her will be 2018 Paris Half Marathon champion Antonina Kwambai. She clinched the Paris title in 1:08:07.

Gebru, from Ethiopia, won silver during the 2011 World U-20 Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain, clocking 18:54.

She is also an African U-20 champion in the 3,000m from the 2011 Africa Junior Championships in Gaborone, Botswana, clocking 9:11.84.

The duo will face stern competition from Spanish champion Meritxell Soler, the Cursa dels Nassos (Barcelona) 10km champion (32:37).

Leading the elite men’s race is defending champion Gadisa Shumie of Ethiopia who won last year’s edition in 2:04:59.

He will be up against 2019 Gran Canaria Marathon champion Julius Kiprono, 2023 Hannover Marathon bronze medallist Fredrick Kibii, Collins Kemboi and 2023 Zurich Marathon San Sebastian champion Benson Tunyo.

Jepkosgei and Kandie triumph in Barcelona

Former world record-holders Kibiwott Kandie and Joyciline Jepkosgei secured a Kenyan double at the Edreams Mitja Zurich Marato Barcelona, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (11).

Held in pleasant weather conditions (10C and no wind) Jepkosgei took eight seconds off the course record by clocking 1:04:29 to move to sixth on the world all-time list. Kandie, the second-fastest man in history for the distance, triumphed with a 59:22 clocking after being challenged by his compatriot RoncerKonga for much of the race.

After the withdrawal of 2019 world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, the women’s event became a duel between Jepkosgei and Ethiopia’s SenberiTeferi. That duo, along with Kenya’s Gladys Chepkirui, followed the pacemaker through the opening five kilometers in a brisk 15:19.

Jepkosgei and Teferi then broke away and reached the 10km checkpoint in 30:19, 21 seconds ahead of Chepkirui. Further back, Britain’s Jessica Warner-Judd was in fourth position, passing through 10km in 31:32 and well on schedule to improve her lifetime best.

Jepkosgei and Teferi continued their relentless rhythm throughout the second half of the race, clocking 45:34 for 15km, almost a full minute ahead of Chepkurui (46:30) with the Briton a further minute adrift.

The key moment came during the 18th kilometre when 2015 world 5000m silver medallistTeferi could no longer keep with Jepkosgei’s 3:03/km cadence and gradually lost ground. By 20km (1:01:02), Jepkosgei had a solid 14-second lead on her rival and was on pace to break the course record of 1:04:37, set last year.

The 2018 world half marathon silver medalist crossed the line in a course record of 1:04:29, also improving her lifetime best – set when finishing second here last year – by 17 seconds. Teferi finished second but was rewarded with a big PB of 1:04:40 to move to 10th on the world all-time list.

Chepkurui completed a classy podium in 1:06:34 and Warner-Judd was fourth in a PB of 1:07:07.

“I finished second here last year, so I was determined to win today,” said Jepkosgei, whose winning time is also a world-leading mark. “The course record and PB are bonuses.”

The men’s contest kicked off at a moderate 2:53/km cadence with all the main favorites in close attendance in the guise of Kandie, his compatriots Hillary Kipkoech, Emmanuel Moi Maru, RoncerKonga, Mathew Kimeli and Ethiopians DinkalemAyele and ChindessaDebeleGudeta. Swedish debutant AndreasAlmgren, four weeks after his national 10km record of 27:20 in Valencia, was also in the pack.

After an opening 5km of 14:22, the second section was covered in a quicker 13:49 but the large lead group still remained intact. Once the pacemaker had finished his job, it was the relatively unheralded Konga who broke away from the pack while three-time Valencia Half Marathon winner Kandie decided to remain in the chasing group.

Konga had built an 11-second advantage over his pursuers by the 15km checkpoint (42:02), but Kandie, Kipkoech, Ayele, Maru, Kimeli and Almgren all had Konga in their sights.

Kandie, who lowered his marathon PB to 2:04:48 in Valencia two months ago, made a move with two kilometers to go and soon managed to catch Konga. The duo ran together for just over half a kilometer before Kandie found another gear to pull away and secure victory in 59:22.

Former track specialist Almgren overtook Konga and Ayele in the closing stages to finish just one second behind Kandie in a national record of 59:23, making him the second-fastest European of all time.

Konga managed to hold on to third place in 59:28, two seconds ahead of Ayele.

“When Konga broke away, I preferred to stay quiet and relaxed,” said Kandie, who has been training in Xiamen for most of January. “I was confident of winning in the end and it finally happened.”

Josh Kerr breaks Mo Farah's indoor two-mile record at Millrose Games Feb 11

Great Britain's Josh Kerr broke Mo Farah's world two-mile indoor record as he won at the Millrose Games in New York.

World 1500m gold medallist Kerr ran eight minutes 0.67 seconds to beat Farah's mark of 8:03.40 from 2015.

"It was always going to be really tough, small margins," Kerr, 26, said.

Kerr's fellow Scot Laura Muir set a new British indoor record as she won the women's two-mile race after Ethiopia's Medina Eisa was disqualified.

Eisa was first home in New York but cut in too early on the opening lap.

Muir, 30, was promoted from second to first after finishing in nine minutes and 4.84 seconds.

The Olympic 1500m silver medallist, who won the Wanamaker Mile at last year's Millrose Games, will look to win the world indoor title in Glasgow next month.

In the men's two-mile race, Kerr charged at the finish to defeat Grant Fisher, who set an American national record of 8:03.62.

Farah set the previous world indoor best at Birmingham nine years ago.

"I had to roll with the punches at the start of my career - pretty good but not world class," said Kerr. 

"And then to be world class and now world champion... I'm having fun with it, creating big goals to get myself out the door and prove I'm not all talk."

World record holder Christian Coleman going for third victory at Millrose Games

World record holder Christian Coleman will be aiming for his third straight victory at the Millrose Games after bagging wins in 2022 and 2023.

World record-holder Christian Coleman will be seeking his third straight 60m victory at the Millrose Games, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Sunday, February 11.

Coleman will be opening his season at the event after a mixed 2023 season where he lost some races and emerged victorious in others.

He completed his season at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League final meeting where he stunned triple World Champion Noah Lyles.

At the Millrose Games, he will be up against Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse, who has not run the 60m at Millrose since 2016.

Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, who set a PB of 6.45 in his first-ever indoor 60m race last weekend in Boston, should also prove to be a nightmare for the American.

Meanwhile, Tia Jones turned heads in Boston last week when she sped to victory in the 60m hurdles, clocking 7.72 – just 0.04 shy of the world indoor record.

At the Millrose Games, Jones will take on the likes of two-time world champion Danielle Williams, two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali, defending Millrose champion Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas, and NCAA champion Ackera Nugent of Jamaica.

Sprint sensation Julien Alfred is opening her season after an incredible 2023 campaign. The Saint Lucian star, who was undefeated last year in the 60m and 100m until placing fifth in the 100m at the World Championships in Budapest, will line up against Jamaicans Shashalee Forbes and Briana Williams and US contenders Tamara Clark and English Gardner.

In the men’s 60m hurdles, 2022 world silver medallist Trey Cunningham of the US, who is second on the world list, will take on a strong slate that includes 2023 world bronze medallist Daniel Roberts.

On her part, Alicia Monson broke the North American record in the 3000m last year at Millrose and is on a mission to win her third straight title on this track – with a record perhaps in a different event.

The two-mile distance is one more lap than 3000m and her ultimate goal is the continental record of 9:10.28. Monson will be in fast company with Olympic 1500m silver medalist Laura Muir of Great Britain, US mile record-holder Nikki Hiltz, and world U20 5000m champion Medina Eisa of Ethiopia.

World indoor silver medalist Elle St Pierre will vie for her third title in the women’s Wanamaker Mile with the race being a rematch between herself, and Jessica Hull of Australia, who won their showdown in the 3000m last week with an Oceanian indoor record.

Olympic 800m bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers, who contested the 400m last week in Boston, returns to her specialty at Millrose and will face Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin.

Noah Kibet and Bryce Hoppel, the world indoor silver and bronze medalists respectively, will clash in the men’s 800m.

Joyciline Jepkosgei eyes Barcelona Half Marathon title

Joyciline Jepkosgei will seek to go one step further and win the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday after finishing second last year.

Barcelona returns to the Spanish city where she clocked 01:04:46 behind winner Irine Kimais (01:04:37) while Catherine Reline (01:05:39) and Gladys Chepkurui (01:05:46) finished third and fourth.

Jepkosgei warmed up for the event with a second-place finish during Saturday's Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour, timing 33:10 in the senior women's 10km race at Lobo Village, Eldoret.  Immaculate Anyango won the race in 32:55.

Jepkosgei was using the Lobo event for speed training. “I will be competing at the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday and I wanted to use the cross country as part of my training ahead of the Spanish race,” said Jepkosgei.

In November 2019, Jepkosgei won the New York City Marathon in her official debut, clocking 2:22:38, the second fastest time on the course for women.

The 30-year-old further won the 2021 London Marathon in 2:17:43 making her the seventh fastest female marathoner in history.

She placed seventh at the 2022 Boston Marathon before finishing second at the London Marathon (2:18:07) behind Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:17:26).  She finished second at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships.

At the 2017 Prague Half Marathon, she broke four world records — 30:05 over 10k, 45:37 over 15k, 61:25 in 20k and won the race in a record 1:04:52.

Joining her in the elite women's race will be two-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich.

The 29-year-old first won the Chicago Marathon in 2021 before defending it the following year in 2:14:18, a personal best by almost three minutes and just 14 seconds outside of compatriot Brigid Kosgei's then world record of 2:14.04.

Also in the mix is 2023 Bangsaen21 Half Marathon champion Gladys Chepkurui.

Leading the men's elite race is Valencia Half Marathon champion Kibiwott Kandie.

Kandie set a new half marathon world record with a time of 57:32 in the 2020 Valencia Half marathon, obliterating the previous record set by Geoffrey Kamworor by almost half a minute.

He won the race two more times — 2022 and 2023.

Kandie set a course record of 59:32 at the Istanbul Half Marathon in 2021.

He will be joined by Bahrain Half Marathon champion Philemon Kiplimo, Mathew Kimeli nd Hillary Kipkoech.

Patrick Makau believes current generation of athletes can run under 2 hours

Former world marathon record holder Patrick Makau believes the current generation of athletes in the country will soon run under two hours in the marathon.

The 38-year-old is also notable for his half marathon performances, having won several prominent competitions in Europe in sub-1-hour performances.

Some of the races include the Berlin Half Marathon in 2007, where he clocked 58:56 hours.

Marathons had changed a lot due to technology and were far better than the marathons they ran during his time.

“As I see it, the marathons have changed a lot because it is not like the olden times. We used to view sub-two hours as something unattainable but now with the current crop of athletes like the current world record holder Kevin Kiptum and two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, this looks like a possibility,” he noted.

The signs of an athlete running a marathon in under two hours are already evident if Kipchoge and Kiptum's recent performances are anything to go by.

In an unofficial race in Vienna, Austria in 2019, Kipchoge became the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59.40 during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

Regarded as one of the greatest marathoners of all time, Kipchoge was the world record holder in the marathon then with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin. His mark was later broken by Kiptum at the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023, when he clocked 2:00:35.

The 24-year-old Kiptum is currently the only person in history to run the marathon in under two hours and one minute in a record-eligible race.

Kiptum has won all three of the major marathons he has entered between December 2022 and October 2023 with three of his times among the six fastest in history. Makau revealed that hard work and endurance were the key for him to break the world record in 2011.

“I used to go to train in Iten and Machakos and to the polishing in Ngong. This is because speed work and build-up are two different programs,” Makau noted.

Makau encouraged athletes to find a training routine that would enable them to run a sub-two-hour marathon shortly.

“What Kiptum, Kipchoge and the other athletes can do now is to find the pace that will be able to help them run a sub-two-hour marathon shortly,” he added.

The duo currently occupy the top two positions in the world marathon ranking. Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele (2:01.41), Sisay Lemma (2:01.48 hrs), Birhanu Legese (2:02.48 hrs) and Mosinet Geremew  (2:02.55 hrs) follow in that order.

The former world record holder, who currently trains the Kenya Police team and other athletes, also cited technology, especially in running shoes as a reason behind the fastest times being witnessed.

“During our time, there was not as much technology as we were accustomed to normal shoes. In today’s era,  running shoe technology plays a key role in determining the pace in a  particular race,” he said.

Innovations in Running Shoe Technology mean shoes are now lighter, more dynamic, and more resilient, thanks to advancements in foams, rubbers, construction, textiles, and other essential components.

Kipchoge's performances during the INEOS 1:59 challenge opened the world's eyes to the condensed foam, carbon-plated super shoes which Nike claimed could increase running efficiency and in particular the amount of oxygen consumed per minute by by 4 percent. 

Makau is optimistic the young athletes under his wings will also go further and make not only him but also the country proud. He said he is looking forward to the national trials in April to see if they get selected.

“We have intensified training in both Machakos and Kitui camps and I am hopeful. I am waiting for the trials in April to see if they will be able to represent Kenya at the Paris 2020 Olympic Games,” he said.

He also tipped Kenya to once again dominate the marathon at the Olympic Games slated for July 26 to August 11.

“I am sure Kipchoge, Kiptum, Peres Jepchirchir and Ruth Chepng'etich will represent the country well in the marathon at the Olympics,” he asserted. 

Faith Kipyegon donates history-making spikes to the Museum of World Athletics

Double world record holder Faith Kipyegon has donated her history-making bright pink running spikes to the Museum of World Athletics.

Three-time World 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon has donated the spikes that she competed in at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary to the Museum of World Athletics.

The reigning World 5000m champion wore those bright pink running spikes while making history during last year’s global bonanza.

Kipyegon has now graciously chosen to donate to MOWA in recognition of the historic double accomplished by the Kenyan phenomenon with her formidable finish in the gripping 12-and-a-half lap final.

Kipyegon was in a class of her own during last year’s event, bagging both the 1500m and 5000m titles. In the 1500m final in Budapest, she controlled the race all the way, gradually winding up the pace before kicking hard at the bell and opening up a wide gap with 200m remaining.

She crossed the line in 3:54.87, comfortably clear of the young Ethiopian Diribe Welteji, who took second in 3:55.69. The fast-finishing Sifan Hassan claimed bronze in 3:56.00.

As would be the case in the 5000m, Kipyegon with the smooth, perfectly balanced high temp running style secured a historic achievement with her 1500m success.

No woman had ever completed a hat-trick of World Championships titles at the distance. Algeria’s Hassiba Boulmerka, Tatyana Tomashova of Russia, and Bahraini Maryam Jamal all won twice at the distance.

Kipyegon's first 1500m title came in London back in 2017 and her second in Oregon in 2022. In between, in Doha in 2019, on the comeback trail after the birth of her daughter, Alyn, she took the silver medal behind Hassan.

She now has focus on the Olympic Games where she intends to make history one more time by bagging her third Olympic title.

“That’s the big fish. If I win three times, back-to-back Olympic titles at 1500m, it will be a motivation to the next generation. And it will be a big motivation for me to try to achieve it. It would be a big legacy to leave behind. It would be something else,” she said as per World Athletics.

Ethiopian Tamirat Tola heads stellar field for RAK Half Marathon

Former world marathon champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia has confirmed his participation in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 24. The area is where he emerged as a world-class road runner when winning the neighbouring Dubai Marathon in 2017.

Chicago Marathon winner Seifu Tura and former women’s half marathon world record holder, Ababel Yeshaneh, will also be joining their compatriot in RAK. The entry for the 17th edition of the event is expected to read like a who’s who of international distance running as a wealth of elite athletes seek to take advantage of the benign Gulf conditions in the countdown for the spring marathons and the Paris Olympics.

Having won Olympic bronze on the track at Rio 2016, Tola established himself as one of the leading road runners of his generation when he won Dubai 2017, and followed that up with silver at the World Championships in London later that year. Tola won world marathon gold in Eugene in 2022, but in the interim, he won the Amsterdam Marathon in 2021 and then topped that with victory in the New York City Marathon three months ago. He also finished third in the Tokyo and London Marathons in 2022. The 33-year-old’s fastest half marathon was a winning performance in 59:37 in Prague in 2017. His close family also keeps him on his toes; his wife Dera Dida won the Dubai Marathon 2023, and his younger brother Abdisa took the corresponding men’s title.

It’s a measure of the fast course in RAK that his compatriot Tura has run over a minute faster than Tola, but his 58:36 in 2022 was only good for fourth. But a victory and second place in the Chicago Marathon has bolstered his credentials.

Their colleague Ababel Yeshaneh returns to the scene of one of her greatest victories, having set a world record of 64:31 in winning on the spectacular course around Al Marjan Island in the 2020 race. That time remains her personal best at the distance, although at the marathon distance, she also has two runner-up finishes to her name in Chicago 2019 and Boston 2022, as well as a third-place finish at the New York Marathon 2021.

The three Ethiopians will join elite fields that already include men’s defending champion Benard Kibet of Kenya (58:45) and his colleague, reigning Olympic Marathon Champion and three-time World Half Marathon Champion Peres Jepchirchir, who set her best half marathon in winning RAK 2017 in a then world record of 65:06.

Defending champion Bernard Koech returns to Hamburg

Defending champion and course record holder Bernard Koech will return for the 38th edition of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg on 28th April. The 36 year-old Kenyan, who improved the course best to 2:04:09 last year, will face very strong opponents in Germany’s major spring marathon.

Samwel Mailu of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Abdisa Tola, who both produced breakthrough performances in 2023, will challenge the defending champion. In Martin Musau there will be another former winner of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg returning to the race: The Ugandan was the winner in 2021.

“After two course records in a row we can look forward to another high quality men’s race. Bernard Koech, Samwel Mailu and Abdisa Tola are all capable of running world-class times on the fast course. We are happy that these three have chosen Hamburg for their spring marathon,“ said  chief organiser Frank Thaleiser, who expects a total of around 12,000 marathon runners on 28th April. Online registration for the race is still possible at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de

“I am looking forward to returning to Hamburg. Last year’s victory was a perfect comeback performance for me, because I had problems for some time and there were the Corona lockdowns as well,“ said Bernard Koech, who tied his two year-old personal best of 2:04:09 last year in Hamburg. However, after achieving his biggest career victory in that race the Kenyan was unlucky when he ran the Amsterdam Marathon in autumn. An injury forced him to drop out of the race. Looking ahead to his Hamburg return Bernard Koech said: “Although I broke the course record last year I believe that I can still run faster in Hamburg.“

A fast pace should suit Samwel Mailu, who wants to improve his personal best. The Kenyan newcomer, who is already 31 years old, stormed to a sensational course record of 2:05:08 despite warm weather conditions at the Vienna Marathon last spring. Later that year he produced another exceptional performance. Added to the Kenyan team at very short notice Samwel Mailu took the bronze medal at the World Half Marathon Championships in Riga, Latvia. “I chose Hamburg for my spring marathon because of the fast course. Hopefully I can improve my current 2:05personal best to 2:04,“ said Samwel Mailu.

23 year-old Ethiopian Abdisa Tola will be another top contender on 28th April. The younger brother of Tamirat Tola, the World Marathon Champion from 2021 and current New York Marathon winner, ran a stunning marathon debut a year ago: Abdisa Tola won the competitive Dubai Marathon in 2:05:42.

Besides Bernard Koech there will be another runner in the elite field who has already won the Haspa Marathon Hamburg: Martin Musau of Uganda took the race with 2:10:15 in 2021, when the fields were much reduced due to the pandemic. It was last year in Hamburg, when Musau improved to a fine 2:08:45 and finished in seventh position.

Rhasidat Adeleke and Talitha Diggs head to Millrose Games

The past two women’s NCAA 400m champions, Rhasidat Adeleke and Talitha Diggs, will line up for a 300m clash at the Millrose Games in New York on February 11.

Racing them at this season’s penultimate World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting will be Jamaica’s Leah Anderson and Candice McLeod.

Adeleke has already made a strong start to 2024 as she ran 7.15 for 60m and 22.49 for 200m to improve her own Irish indoor records in Albuquerque on 20 January.

The 21-year-old, who finished fourth in the world 400m final last year in Budapest, has raced 300m once before, in 2022 when she ran a national record of 36.87.

In New York she’ll go up against the athlete who preceded her as NCAA 400m champion, Diggs.

USA’s Diggs is set to make her season debut at this weekend’s World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston, where she will also race the 300m.

New York offers a rematch as her PB of 36.37 was set when winning ahead of Adeleke in Clemson in 2022.

Anderson finished third in last year’s Millrose Games 300m in 36.68, while Olympic and world 4x400m medallist McLeod is set to race the distance for the first time.

Joining the already announced Alicia Monson in the two-mile race in New York will be North American mile record-holder Nikki Hiltz, who won the US 1500m title last year and started 2024 by running 2:34.09 for 1000m.

They will race against a field featuring USA’s Emily Infeld and Courtney Wayment, Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, and Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa and Melknat Wudu.

In the high jump, the previously announced Yaroslava Mahuchikh will compete against 2016 world indoor champion Vashti Cunningham, NCAA champion Charity Griffith and Asian Games champion Safina Sadullayeva.

Magdalyne Masai eyeing a great start to her season at Sevilla Marathon

Magdalyne Masai has been confirmed for the Sevilla Marathon where she hopes to start her season on a good note.

The 2023 Vienna City Marathon champion Magdalyne Masai has been confirmed for the Sevilla Marathon scheduled for Sunday February 18.

Masai will be opening her season at the event with the hope of stunning her opponents and continuing her hot streak from last season.

Last season, the Kenyan was on fire, winning the Vienna Marathon and also finishing third at the Roma Ostia Half Marathon. However, she stumbled at the Frankfurt Marathon where she finished ninth but she will be out to prove her marathon prowess once again.

She will be up against Namibian long-distance runner Helalia Johannes, who is aged 43 but still has it in her legs to run well.

The Namibian only competed once last season, at the Daegu International Marathon that saw her finish 10th and she will seek to start her season on a good note this year.

Azmera Gebru, an Ethiopian runner, has also been confirmed for the event and she will be out to give Masai a run for her money.

Gebru returns to competitive running after a mixed two years and she has her fingers crossed to run well this season.

Last year, she was in action at the Zurich Marathon in Barcelona which saw her finish sixth while in 2022, she was confirmed for the Prague Marathon where she failed to finish the race.

The race organizers of the event are still announcing the elite athletes of the event which will promise fireworks owing to the women who have already been announced.

Kibiwott Kandie and Ruth Chepngetich will lead strong fields to the Barcelona Half Marathon

Kibiwott Kandie and Ruth Chepngetich will lead strong fields to the Barcelona Half Marathon with the aim of shattering the course records.

The race organizers of the 34th Barcelona Half Marathon have expressed their thrill ahead of the event set for Sunday February 11 with more than 28,000 confirming participation in the largest half marathon in Spain and the second largest in Europe.

The organizers have also expressed interest in achieving new course records in both the men’s and women’s races. The men’s course record currently stands at 58:53 while the women’s is 1:04:37.

They will be banking on the 23 international elite athletes who will be competing for the top prize. In the men's field, Kibiwott Kandie stands out.

The three-time Valencia Half Marathon champion and former world record holder over the distance will be aspiring for a podium finish.

Also seeking for top honors will be Prague Half Marathon winner Philemon Kiplimo, Mathew Kimeli (58:43), and Hillary Kipkoech (59:22).

Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay will also be in the mix with the hope of having a great build-up ahead of his return to the Boston Marathon.

In the women’s race, the rival to beat will be two-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich. She is the 2019 World Marathon champion and also holds the fourth fastest time over the distance.

Her main opponent will be her compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei, runner-up in the world half marathon in 2018 and who already ran the Mitja de Barcelona achieving a personal best of 1:04:46.

The formidable duo will be joined by the Ethiopian Senbere Teferi and another Kenyan, Gladys Chepkurui, both with achieving under one hour and six minutes.

Vincent Kipkemboi returns to torment Eliud Kipchoge at Tokyo Marathon

Vincent Kipkemboi, the man who gave Eliud Kipchoge a run for his money at the 2023 Berlin Marathon will be out to torment him once more at the Tokyo Marathon.

The Tokyo Marathon race organizers have announced the full elite fields and former world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge will surely not have a smooth sailing at the event.

Kipchoge’s closest challenger Vincent Kipkemboi, has been invited to compete at the event and he will surely be out to torment Kipchoge.

At the 2023 Berlin marathon, the four-time London Marathon was spotted looking back during the race and the commentators noted that it was the first time in a long time that Kipchoge was spotted looking worried.

Kipkemboi was just making his debut and with the type of race he executed for a second-place finish, he will surely be out to give Kipchoge a nightmare.

Another athlete to watch will be Timothy Kiplagat, an able marathoner who has cemented his place in the world of road running.

The 2022 Chicago Marathon champion, Benson Kipruto, will also be out to challenge Kipchoge’s charges after proving his prowess at last year’s Boston Marathon where he finished third. In that race, Kipchoge finished sixth and noted that he had a problem with his left leg.

The international challenge will come from Uganda’s Victor Kiplagat who will be keen to make a name for himself at the event. Ethiopia’s Tsehay Getachew will also be in the mix, looking to challenge Kipchoge and the Kenyan charge.

Hailemaryam Kiros has also confirmed participation in the event and he will also be looking to fly the Ethiopian flag high.

Meanwhile, Kipchoge will be building up for the Paris Olympic Games in Paris, France where he intends to be the first man to win the marathon title three times in a row.

Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru pitted against Sifan Hassan at Tokyo Marathon

Rosemary Wanjiru will return to the Tokyo Marathon to defend her title and she will have her work cut out since in-form Sifan Hassan has also been confirmed.

Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru will be up against the 2023 Chicago and London Marathon champion Sifan Hassan at the Tokyo Marathon scheduled for Sunday, March 3.

During last year’s edition of the race, Wanjiru destroyed a strong field to claim the top prize, cutting the tape in 2:16:28. She enjoyed her 2023 season and will be looking to continue the hot streak to 2024.

Wanjiru also represented Kenya at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where she finished sixth in the marathon.

Dutch woman Hassan is, however, not to be downplayed since she has proven what she can do both on the track and the full marathon.

Hassan made her full marathon debut at the London Marathon and won in the most dramatic way. She clocked 2:18:33 to beat marathon experts including Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning Olympic marathon champion.

She extended her winning streak to the Chicago Marathon where she stunned defending champion Ruth Chepng’etich to second place.

Hassan will be eyeing the Olympic Games and the Toyo Marathon is a better place for her to build up for the event.

Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter has also been invited and she will be out to challenge the double Olympic champion and Wanjiru for the top prize. 

Salpeter has also been making headlines recently and she finished third at the World Championships last year.

The Ethiopians will be led by Sutume Kebede and Tigist Abayechew who will be out to reclaim the title they lost to Kenya last year. 

Magdalena Shauri of Tanzania will also be hoping to continue soaring high after her dominant exploits in Berlin last year where she finished third.

World and Olympic champions to compete at Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

The powerful list of elites confirmed for the 2024 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon continues to grow with former world marathon champion Tamirat Tola, Chicago Marathon winner Seifu Tura and former half marathon world record holder Ababel Yeshaneh joining the starting line-up.

The 17th edition of the event on February 24 will read like a Who’s Who of international distance running as a wealth of elites take advantage of the beautiful weather conditions in the countdown to both the London Marathon and the Paris Olympics.

Hosted by the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon will see Tola make his debut in the emirate just three months after winning the 2023 New York Marathon.

The Ethiopian has a personal best of 59:13 and is no stranger to the flat, fast roads of the Middle East having won the Dubai Marathon in 2017.

Fellow Ethiopian Seifu Tura returns to the race route on the iconic Al Marjan Island with a half marathon personal best of 58:36, which he set when finishing fourth at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon two years ago.

Now 26, Tura is an established distance runner with a number of impressive results on his CV most notably a superb victory in the 2021 Chicago Marathon.

He also has four other top six finishes in Major marathons including a runners-up spot in Chicago in 2022 and two fifth place finishes in London and Chicago last year.

On the women’s side, Ababel Yeshaneh will return to the scene of one of her greatest victories next month. The 32-year-old Ethiopian will kick off her 2024 season in Ras Al Khaimah and has fond memories of Al Marjan Island having set the then Half Marathon World Record of 64:31 when she claimed the women’s title there in 2020.

That time remains her personal best at the distance, although in the full marathon she also has two runner-up finishes to her name in Chicago (2019) and Boston (2022) as well as a third place finish at the New York Marathon in 2021.

The three Ethiopians will join elite fields that already include men’s defending champion Benard Kibet Koech (PB 58:45) and 2017 Ras Al Khaimah winner, reigning Olympic marathon champion and three-time World Half Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir (PB 65:06).

As well as a wealth of elite distance runners, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon will also offer races at 10km, 5km and 2km runs for athletes of all ages and abilities. Registration is open at rakhalfmarathon.com.

Edesa smashes Osaka course record, Maeda breaks Asian record

Workenesh Edesa took more than two minutes off the Osaka Women’s Marathon course record, winning the World Athletics Platinum Label road race in an equal PB of 2:18:51 on Sunday (28).

In a close race, the Ethiopian won by just eight seconds from long-time leader Honami Maeda of Japan, who clocked an Asian record of 2:18:59. Her time also puts her in a strong position to claim a spot on Japan’s team for the Paris Olympics later this year.

Five women – Edesa, Maeda, three-time winner Mizuki Matsuda, Ugandan record-holder Stella Chesang and Sayaka Sato – ran together for the first half, passing through 5km in 16:32 and 10km in 32:59. By the time they reached half way in 1:09:46 – comfortably on schedule to break Matsuda’s course record of 2:20:52 – they had a lead of more than two minutes on the chase pack.

Maeda tried to push on in the second half and the lead pack soon became strung out, Matsuda being one of the first to fall behind. Maeda built up a five-second lead over Edesa at 30km, passing through that checkpoint in 1:38:36, while Chesang was further back in third, a few seconds ahead of Sato.

But after another kilometre, Edesa caught up with Maeda and the Ethiopian gradually built up an 11-second lead by 35km (1:54:46). Maeda refused to let Edesa get out of her sights, though. Chesang appeared to have a comfortable 24-second lead over Sato at this point, while Matsuda was a distant fifth, two minutes behind the leader.

Edesa held on to her lead through to the finish with Maeda chasing hard behind. Edesa crossed the line in 2:18:51, with Maeda taking second in 2:18:59, taking 13 seconds off the Japanese and Asian record set in 2005 by 2004 Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi. But the real drama was unfolding behind as Matsuda passed Sato and then Chesang to make her way into third spot, crossing the line in 2:23:07. Chesang took fourth (2:23:36), more than a minute ahead of Sato. Germany’s Katharina Steinruck – daughter of three-time Osaka winner Katrin Dorre-Heinig – was sixth in a PB of 2:24:56.

“My goal was to break the course record,” said Edesa, who now shifts her attention to success at the Boston Marathon in a few months’ time.

Maeda, whose previous PB was 2:22:32, also admitted she had records on her mind leading up to today’s race. “In the later part of the race, I wasn’t sure if I could accomplish my goal because the wind and rain hit me in the final stages.”

Japan´s Mizuki Matsuda is aiming to become the first four-time winner at the Osaka Women’s Marathon

Course record-holder Mizuki Matsuda is aiming to become the first four-time winner at the Osaka Women’s Marathon, but the Japanese runner will face stiff opposition at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday (28).

Matsuda is one of three women to have won in Osaka three times, her latest victory coming just two years ago in a PB and course record of 2:20:52. Her last race was five months ago at the World Championships in Budapest, where she finished 13th.

She didn’t compete at the Marathon Grand Championships in October, Japan’s main selection race for the Olympic Games. But the top-placed Japanese runner in Osaka could potentially bump off the provisional third team member, Ai Hosoda, if they run faster than 2:21:42 – Hosoda’s best clocking within the qualifying window. The Nagoya Marathon in March will be the final opportunity for Japanese runners to claim an Olympic berth.

Matsuda’s motivation will be high, but she’ll face three formidable opponents from overseas.

Workenesh Edesa is the fastest in the field, boasting a PB of 2:18:51 from the 2022 Berlin Marathon. She has finished on the podium in 10 of her 15 career marathons, and she has bettered 2:21 in her past four races over the classic distance. Last year she won in Prague, then went on to clock 2:19:40 in Berlin.

Uganda’s Stella Chesang could be something of an underdog. The 2018 Commonwealth 10,000m champion has only contested one marathon to date, but she clocked a national record of 2:20:23 to finish third in Hamburg.

Edesa’s fellow Ethiopian Meseret Gola will also be highly motivated on Sunday, having finished second last year. In fact, she has finished runner-up in six of her 10 most recent marathons – including at the 2022 Seville Marathon, where she set her PB of 2:20:50 – so will be keen to claim the top spot of the podium.

Matsuda won’t be the only Japanese runner vying for a last-minute call-up to the Olympic team. Sayaka Sato represented Japan at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, following a 2:22:13 PB run in Berlin in 2022. Honami Maeda won the Marathon Grand Championships ahead of the Tokyo Olympics but finished seventh at the latest edition in October. Natsumi Matsushita, meanwhile, finished fifth in that race and will be hopeful of showing improved form on Sunday.

Leading elite entries

Workenesh Edesa (ETH) 2:18:51

Stella Chesang (UGA) 2:20:23

Sisay Meseret Gola (ETH) 2:20:50

Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) 2:20:52

Sayaka Sato (JPN) 2:22:13

Honami Maeda (JPN) 2:22:32

Natsumi Matsushita (JPN) 2:23:05

Rie Kawauchi (JPN) 2:25:35

Ayano Ikemitsu (JPN) 2:26:07

Yuna Daito (JPN) 2:26:09

Daeun Jeong (KOR) 2:28:32

Kaena Takeyama (JPN) 2:29:20

Militsa Mircheva (BUL) 2:29:23

2017 Valencia Marathon champion to compete in first marathon after doping ban

The 2017 Valencia Marathon champion will be keen to make a comeback to winning ways this year after successfully serving his doping ban.

An estimated 13,000 runners from more than 70 countries have been confirmed for the Marrakech International Marathon (MIM), scheduled for Sunday, January 28.

Sammy Kitwara, a former World Half Marathon Championships bronze medalist will bid to make an impression in his first marathon after concluding his doping ban.

The 2017 Valencia Marathon champion was banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) back in 2019 for the presence of Nanning Terbutaline, a drug used as a "reliever" inhaler in the management of asthma symptoms.

His positive test came from the Seul International Marathon in March 2019 where he took seventh place with 2:09:52. Kitwara said he took the drug without knowing it was banned by WADA. He had also failed to consult with a doctor to obtain a therapeutic use exemption (TUE).

Kitwara will be joined by compatriot Nicholas Kirwa and the Kenyan duo will be up against top runners including Ethiopia’s Hiribo Shano Share and Omar Ait Chitachen.

Speaking at a press conference, Mohamed Knidiri, the Grand Atlas (AGA) and director of this international competition indicated that the marathon is organized under the high patronage of HM King Mohammed VI.

“Over the years, MIM has become a school for promoting and launching great champions of this discipline, who have left their mark on the international scene, particularly among Moroccan athletes.

“Thanks to upstream planning and operational management experienced in major competitions, the MIM aims not only to obtain the 11th place in the world obtained in 2013 but, even better, to become the essential international meeting for all the stars of this sporting discipline, like its glorious position in 2012 when it was the only marathon on the African continent qualified for the London Olympic Games,” he said.

He also hoped that this edition would be marked by the achievement of new records, particularly among the men.

Ugandan Stella Chesang headlines Osaka Women’s Marathon

The 2018 Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion, Stella Chesang will be the lady to watch at the 43rd edition of the Osaka Women’s Marathon slated for this Sunday (28) in Osaka, Japan.

The 27 year-old who is also the 2015 World U20 5000m bronze medallist, comes to this race with a life time best of 2:20.23 that she got last year at the Haspa Marathon where she took the bronze medal.

Chesang will not have an easy ride as she will have to get past Workenesh Edesa of Ethiopia, who is the fastest athlete on paper with a time of 2:18.51 that she set two years ago at the Berlin Marathon, where she finished in fourth place. Edesa who is the oldest athlete on the elite list is also the reigning Prague Marathon champion and will steer the ship alongside her compatriot Sisay Meseret Gola, who is the youngest athlete among the elite and holds the third fastest time of 2:20.50 that she got at the 2022 Zurich Marathon where she took the silver medal.

The three athletes will battle with the race defending champion and course record holder, Matsuda Mizuki, who is also the 2017 Asian Games 10,000m bronze medallist and comes to this race with a personal best of 2:20.52 that she got last year at this event. The 28 year-old will partner with her six compatriots as they seek to retain the title.

Japan’s Sato Sayaka of 2:22.13 will tag along Maeda Honami of 2:22.32, Matsushita Natsumi 2:23.05, Kawauchi Rie 2:25.35, Daito Yuna 2:26.09, Takeyama Kaena 2:29.20 as they also fight for the top position.

LEADING TIME

42KM WOMEN

Stella Chesang           (UGA) 2:20.23

Workenesh Edesa      (ETH)  2:18.51 

Sisay Meseret Gola   (ETH)  2:20.50

Matsuda Mizuki        (JPN)   2:2052

Sato Sayaka                (JPN)  2:22.13

Maeda Honami           (JPN)  2:22.32

World Athletics comes under fire after controversial Xiamen and Tata Mumbai Marathons

Athletics enthusiasts have raised eyebrows concerning the credibility of the rules governing Platinum Label road races after recent happenings at the Xiamen and Tata Mumbai Marathons.

World Athletics has for long been known to champion for viewership boosts in China and India, with the belief being that the presence of renowned athletes and remarkable performances can significantly enhance engagement for those races.

However, the race organizers of some of the elite races in India and China together with World Athletics have come under fire after two recent marathons breached one of the rules of the World Athletics Platinum Label road races.

According to World Athletics, an intentional arrangement, act or omission aimed at an improper alteration of a result or the course of an event or competition in order to remove all or part of the unpredictable nature of the event or competition to obtain an undue benefit for oneself or others is a violation.

According to an analysis done by the Canadian Running Magazine, former world half marathon record holder Kibiwott Kandie and defending champion Philimon Kipchumba withdrew from the Xiamen Marathon after covering 20km and this was in order for them to collect their appearance money.

The race organizers were aiming to draw more attention to marathon events in China but their plan seemed not to work out. According to further reports, the organizers are said to have invited 22 elite international athletes, but only seven of them finished.

Kandie and Kipchumba withdrawing from the marathon immediately after crossing the 20K mark, raising eyebrows from locals as they posed for photos, shook hands and smiled for photos.

Before the race, World Athletics did a preview of the race, however, none of the top athletes who were featured in the preview finished the race.

When the Canadian Running Magazine reached to a World Athletics representative, the individual said: “As I am sure you understand, whether due to injury, personal reasons or other, we are never able to predict with certainty who will start or finish a race, come event time. Appearance fees are an important aspect of our sport, and many others–including tennis and golf.”

Although athletics and the pro tennis structure share similarities, they also have one major difference since a tennis player who is paid an appearance fee to play a tournament, or a match, will finish the match, unlike in elite marathoning.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Tata Mumbai Marathon in India on January 21 presented another example of high-performance athletes seeming to collect appearance fees without providing strong performances.

Ethiopian runner Lelisa Desisa headlined the Gold-Label men’s field, and two-time Amsterdam Marathon champion Tadelach Bekele headlined the women’s field. Both athletes started the race, but fell off the lead pack and dropped out.

Ethiopian runners Hayle Lemi, Aberash Minsewo win races at the Mumbai Marathon

Ethiopians Hayle Lemi and Aberash Minsewo won the men’s and women’s elite races, respectively, at the Mumbai Marathon 2024 on Sunday.

Hayle Lemi, who set the new course record with a timing of two hours, seven minutes and 32 seconds (2:07:32) last year, clocked 2:07:50 for the top spot this season. Aberash Minsewo, meanwhile, won the women’s race in 2:26:06.

Interestingly, all podiums in the elite race went to the Ethiopian runners. Lemi, who won the 2016 Boston Marathon, was followed by Haymanot Alew, who took the silver in the men’s event in 2:09:03. Mitku Tafa settled for bronze in 2:09:58. 

In the women’s race, Muluhabt Tsega took the silver in 2:26:51 while Medhin Bejene clocked a personal best to take the bronze in 2:27:34.

Indian runners at Mumbai Marathon 2024

Among Indian elite runners, Mumbai Marathon 2020 champion Srinu Bugatha pipped 2023 champion Gopi T and won the men’s race in 2:17:29 while Nirmaben Thakor Bharatjee won the women’s race in 2:47:11.

Gopi T followed Bugatha in 2:18:37 while Sher Singh Tanwar completed the Indian men’s podium, clocking 2:19:37. 

Nirmaben Thakor Bharatjee, meanwhile, beat second-placed Reshma Kevate by a margin of 16 minutes and 23 seconds. Shyamali Singh came third among the Indian women in 3:04:35.

Sunday’s race was the 19th edition of the Mumbai Marathon, which is a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race event. 

Mumbai Marathon 2024 winners

Overall elite men

Hayle Lemi (Ethiopia) - 2:07:50

Haymanot Alew (Ethiopia) - 2:09:03

Mitku Tafa (Ethiopia) - 2:09:58

Overall elite women

Aberash Minsewo (Ethiopia) - 2:26:06

Muluhabt Tsega (Ethiopia) - 2:26:51

Medhin Bejene (Ethiopia) - 2:27:34

Kenyan Anderson Seroi conquers Hong Kong Marathon

Kenya's Anderson Seroi wins Hong Kong Marathon, vows to return for a faster finish amid strong international competition.

Kenya’s Anderson Saitoti Seroi triumphed in the Hong Kong Marathon completing the grueling course in an impressive time of two hours, 12 minutes, and 50 seconds. 

Seroi's victory came amidst challenging conditions, yet his resolve remained unshaken as he immediately set his sights on returning next year for an even swifter conquest.

The race, held on Sunday, saw Seroi narrowly outpace South Africa’s seasoned runner Stephen Mokoka, who secured the second spot with a time of 2:12:58.

 Mekuant Ayenew from Ethiopia rounded out the top three, finishing in 2:13:09.

 This year's marathon was marked by a moderate temperature of around 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) at the start, providing somewhat ideal conditions for the runners.

In the women’s category, Ethiopia’s Medina Armino emerged victorious, clocking in at 2:28:47. 

She was closely followed by Beatrice Cheptoo and Gadise Mulu, who completed the race in 2:29:30 and 2:29:46, respectively. 

Despite the physical toll of the race, Seroi's spirit remained high. 

Post-race, he expressed his gratitude and affection for the city of Hong Kong. 

“First of all, I want to thank God for the win, but also Hong Kong, it’s a beautiful city,” Seroi said. 

“I feel really good, the course is tough but I enjoy running it.” His determination was evident, as he pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion, even experiencing sickness after crossing the finish line.

Seroi, 30, is already planning his return, aiming to shatter his current record.

 "I ran two hours 12 this year, so next year I’ll aim for two hours 10," he stated, showcasing his relentless ambition.

 His 2024 goal is a testament to his unwavering commitment to excellence in the sport.

In a historical context, Seroi's time this year marks a significant achievement, but it also serves as a reminder of the fiercely competitive nature of the marathon.

 In 2023, a time of 2:12:00, achieved by Senbeta Geza Tadease, was only good enough for third place, highlighting the continually evolving standards in marathon running.

The event also doubled as the Asian Marathon Championships, where India’s Man Singh claimed gold with a time of 2:14:19. 

He was followed by China’s Huang Yongzheng and Kyrgyzstan’s Ilya Tiapkin, who finished in 2:15:24 and 2:18:17, respectively.

The Pill That Over Half the Distance Medallists Used at the 2023 Worlds

What's the deal with sodium bicarbonate?What if there was a pill, new to the market this year, that was used by more than half of the distance medalists at the 2023 World Athletics Championships? A supplement so in-demand that there was a reported black market for it in Budapest, runners buying from other runners who did not advance past the preliminary round — even though the main ingredient can be found in any kitchen?

How did this pill become so popular? Well, there are rumors that Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been taking it for years — rumors that Ingebrigtsen’s camp and the manufacturers of the pill will neither confirm nor deny.

So about this pill…does it work? Does it actually boost athletic performance? Ask a sports scientist, someone who’s studied it for more than a decade, and they’ll tell you yes.

“There’s probably four or five legal, natural supplements, if you will, that seem to have withstood the test of time in terms of the research literature and [this pill] is one of those,” says Jason Siegler, Director of Human Performance in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University.

But there’s a drawback to this pill. It could…well, let’s allow Luis Grijalva, who used it before finishing 4th in the World Championship 5,000m final in Budapest, to explain.

“I heard stories if you do it wrong, you chew it, you kind of shit your brains out,” Grijalva says. “And I was a little bit scared.”

The research supports that, too.

“[Gastrointestinal distress] has by far and away been the biggest hurdle for this supplement,” Siegler says.Okay, enough with the faux intrigue. If you’ve read the subtitle of this article, you know the pill we are talking about is sodium bicarbonate. Specifically, the Maurten Bicarb System, which has been available to the public since February and which has been used by some of the top teams in endurance sports: cycling juggernaut Team Jumbo-Visma and, in running, the On Athletics Club and NN Running Team. (Maurten has sponsorship or partnership agreements with all three).Some of the planet’s fastest runners have used the Maurten Bicarb System in 2023, including 10,000m world champion Joshua Cheptegei, 800m silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, and 800m silver medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi. Faith Kipyegon used it before winning the gold medal in the 1500m final in Budapest — but did not use it before her win in the 5,000m final or before any of her world records in the 1500m, mile, and 5,000m.

Herman Reuterswärd, Maurten’s head of communications, declined to share a full client list with LetsRun but claims two-thirds of all medalists from the 800 through 10,000 meters (excluding the steeplechase) used the product at the 2023 Worlds.

After years of trial and error, Maurten believes it has solved the GI issue, but those who have used their product have reported other side effects. Neil Gourley used sodium bicarbonate before almost every race in 2023, and while he had a great season — British champion, personal bests in the 1500 and mile — his head ached after races in a way it never had before. When Joe Klecker tried it at The TEN in March, he felt nauseous and light-headed — but still ran a personal best of 27:07.57. In an episode of the Coffee Club podcast, Klecker’s OAC teammate George Beamish, who finished 5th at Worlds in the steeplechase and used the product in a few races this year, said he felt delusional, dehydrated, and spent after using it before a workout this summer.

“It was the worst I’d felt in a workout [all] year, easily,” Beamish said.

Not every athlete who has used the Maurten Bicarb System has felt side effects. But the sport as a whole is still figuring out what to do about sodium bicarbonate.

Many athletes — even those who don’t have sponsorship arrangements with Maurten — have added it to their routines. But Jumbo-Visma’s top cyclist, Jonas Vingegaard — winner of the last two Tours de France — does not use it. Neither does OAC’s top runner, Yared Nuguse, who tried it a few times in practice but did not use it before any of his four American record races in 2023.“I’m very low-maintenance and I think my body’s the same,” Nuguse says. “So when I tried to do that, it was kind of like, Whoa, what is this? My whole body felt weird and I was just like, I either did this wrong or this is not for me.”

How sodium bicarbonate works

The idea that sodium bicarbonate — aka baking soda, the same stuff that goes in muffins and keeps your refrigerator fresh — can boost athletic performance has been around for decades.

“When you’re exercising, when you’re contracting muscle at a really high intensity or a high rate, you end up using your anaerobic energy sources and those non-oxygen pathways,” says Siegler, who has been part of more than 15 studies on sodium bicarbonate use in sport. “And those pathways, some of the byproducts that they produce, one of them is a proton – a little hydrogen ion. And that proton can cause all sorts of problems in the muscle. You can equate that to that sort of burn that you feel going at high rates. That burn, most of that — not directly, but indirectly — is coming from the accumulation of these little hydrogen ions.”

As this is happening, the kidneys produce bicarbonate as a defense mechanism. For a while, bicarbonate acts as a buffer, countering the negative effects of the hydrogen ions. But eventually, the hydrogen ions win.The typical concentration of bicarbonate in most people hovers around 25 millimoles per liter. By taking sodium bicarbonate in the proper dosage before exercise, Siegler says, you can raise that level to around 30-32 millimoles per liter.

“You basically have a more solid first line of defense,” Siegler says. “The theory is you can go a little bit longer and tolerate the hydrogen ions coming out of the cell a little bit longer before they cause any sort of disruption.”

Like creatine and caffeine, Siegler says the scientific literature is clear when it comes to sodium bicarbonate: it boosts performance, specifically during events that involve short bursts of anaerobic activity. But there’s a catch.

***

Bicarb without the cramping

Sodium bicarbonate has never been hard to find. Anyone can swallow a spoonful or two of baking soda with some water, though it’s not the most appetizing pre-workout snack. The problem comes when the stomach tries to absorb a large amount of sodium bicarbonate at once.

“You have a huge charged load in your stomach that the acidity in your stomach has to deal with and you have a big shift in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide across the gut,” Siegler says. “And that’s what gives you the cramping.”

A few years ago, Maurten was trying to solve a similar problem for marathoners trying to ingest large amounts of carbohydrates during races. The result was their carbohydrate drink, which relies on something called a hydrogel to form in the stomach. The hydrogel resists the acidity of the stomach and allows the carbohydrates to be absorbed in the intestine instead, where there is less cramping.

“We thought, okay, we are able to solve that one,” Reuterswärd says. “Could we apply the hydrogel technology to something else that is really risky to consume that could be beneficial?”

For almost four years, Maurten researched the effects of encapsulating sodium bicarbonate in hydrogels in its Swedish lab, conducting tests on middle-distance runners in Gothenburg. Hydrogels seemed to minimize the risk, but the best results came when hydrogels were paired with microtablets of sodium bicarbonate.

The result was the Maurten Bicarb System — “system,” because the process for ingesting it involves a few steps. Each box contains three components: a packet of hydrogel powder, a packet of tiny sodium bicarbonate tablets, and a mixing bowl. Mix the powder with water, let it stand for a few minutes, and sprinkle in the bicarb.The resulting mixture is a bit odd. It’s gooey. It’s gray. It doesn’t really taste like anything. It’s not quite liquid, not quite solid — a yogurt-like substance flooded with tiny tablets that you eat with a spoon but swallow like a drink.

The “swallow” part is important. Chew the tablets and the sodium bicarbonate will be absorbed before the hydrogels can do their job. Which means a trip to the toilet may not be far behind.

When Maurten launched its Bicarb System to the public in February 2023, it did not have high expectations for sales in year one.

“It’s a niche product,” Reuterswärd says. “From what we know right now, it maybe doesn’t make too much sense if you’re an amateur, if you’re just doing 5k parkruns.” 

But in March, Maurten’s product began making headlines in cycling when it emerged that it was being used by Team Jumbo-Visma, including by stars Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič. Sales exploded. Because bicarb dosage varies with bodyweight, Maurten’s system come in four “sizes.” And one size was selling particularly well.

“If you’re an endurance athlete, you’re around 60-70 kg (132-154 lbs),” Reuterswärd says. “We had a shortage with the size that corresponded with that weight…The first couple weeks, it was basically only professional cyclists buying all the time, massive amounts. And now we’re seeing a similar development in track & field.”

If there was a “Jumbo-Visma” effect in cycling, then this summer there was a “Jakob Ingebrigtsen” effect in running.To be clear: there is no official confirmation that Ingebrigtsen uses sodium bicarbonate. His agent, Daniel Wessfeldt, did not respond to multiple emails for this story. When I ask Reuterswärd if Ingebrigtsen has used Maurten’s product, he grows uncomfortable.

“I would love to be very clear here but I will have to get back to you,” Reuterswärd says (ultimately, he was not able to provide further clarification).

But when Maurten pitches coaches and athletes on its product, they have used data from the past two years on a “really good” 1500 guy to tout its effectiveness, displaying the lactate levels the athlete was able to achieve in practice with and without the use of the Maurten Bicarb System. That athlete is widely believed to be Ingebrigtsen. Just as Ingebrigtsen’s success with double threshold has spawned imitators across the globe, so too has his rumored use of sodium bicarbonate.

Grijalva says he started experimenting with sodium bicarbonate “because everybody’s doing it.” And everybody’s doing it because of Ingebrigtsen.

“[Ingebrigtsen] was probably ahead of everybody at the time,” Grijalva said. “Same with his training and same with the bicarb.”

OAC coach Dathan Ritzenhein took sodium bicarbonate once before a workout early in his own professional career, and still has bad memories of swallowing enormous capsules that made him feel sick. Still, he was willing to give it a try with his athletes this year after Maurten explained the steps they had taken to reduce GI distress.

“Certainly listening to the potential for less side effects was the reason we considered trying it,” says Ritzenhein. “I don’t know who is a diehard user and thinks that it’s really helpful, but around the circuit I know a lot of people that have said they’ve [tried] it.”

Coach/agent Stephen Haas says a number of his athletes, including Gourley, 3:56 1500 woman Katie Snowden, and Worlds steeple qualifier Isaac Updike, tried bicarb this year. In the men’s 1500, Haas adds, “most of the top guys are already using it.”

Yet 1500-meter world champion Josh Kerr was not among them. Kerr’s nutritionist mentioned the idea of sodium bicarbonate to him this summer but Kerr chose to table any discussions until after the season. He says he did not like the idea of trying it as a “quick fix” in the middle of the year.

“I review everything at the end of the season and see where I could get better,” Kerr writes in a text to LetsRun. “As long as the supplement is above board, got all the stamps of approvals needed from WADA and the research is there, I have nothing against it but I don’t like changing things midseason.”

***

So does it actually work?

Siegler is convinced sodium bicarbonate can benefit athletic performance if the GI issues can be solved. Originally, those benefits seemed confined to shorter events in the 2-to 5-minute range where an athlete is pushing anaerobic capacity. Buffering protons does no good to short sprinters, who use a different energy system during races.

“A 100-meter runner is going to use a system that’s referred to the phosphagen or creatine phosphate system, this immediate energy source,” Siegler says. “…It’s not the same sort of biochemical reaction that eventuates into this big proton or big acidic load. It’s too quick.”

But, Siegler says, sodium bicarbonate could potentially help athletes in longer events — perhaps a hilly marathon.

“When there’s short bursts of high-intensity activity, like a breakaway or a hill climb, what we do know now is when you take sodium bicarbonate…it will sit in your system for a number of hours,” Siegler says. “So it’s there [if] you need it, that’s kind of the premise behind it basically. If you don’t use it, it’s fine, it’s not detrimental. Eventually your kidneys clear it out.”Even Reuterswärd admits that it’s still unclear how much sodium bicarbonate helps in a marathon — “honestly, no one knows” — but it is starting to be used there as well. Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum used it when he set the world record of 2:00:35at last month’s Chicago Marathon; American Molly Seidel also used it in Chicago, where she ran a personal best of 2:23:07.

Siegler says it is encouraging that Maurten has tried to solve the GI problem and that any success they experience could spur other companies to research an even more effective delivery system (currently the main alternative is Amp Human’s PR Lotion, a sodium bicarbonate cream that is rubbed into the skin). But he is waiting for more data before rendering a final verdict on the Maurten Bicarb System.

“I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed papers yet come out so a bit I’m hesitant to be definitive about it,” Siegler said.

Trent Stellingwerff, an exercise physiologist and running coach at the Canadian Sport Institute – Pacific, worked with Siegler on a 2020 paper studying the effect of sodium bicarbonate on elite rowers. A number of athletes have asked him about the the Maurten Bicarb System, and some of his marathoners have used the product. Like Siegler, he wants to see more data before reaching a conclusion.

“I always follow the evidence and science, and to my knowledge, as of yet, I’m unaware of any publications using the Maurten bicarb in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial,” Stellingwerff writes in a text to LetsRun. “So without any published data on the bicarb version, I can’t really say it does much.”

The closest thing out there right now is a British study conducted by Lewis Goughof Birmingham City University and Andy Sparks of Edge Hill University. In a test of 10 well-trained cyclists, Gough and Sparks found the Maurten Bicarb System limited GI distress and had the potential to improve exercise performance. Reuterswärd says the study, which was funded by Maurten, is currently in the review process while Gough and Sparks suggested further research to investigate their findings.

What about the runners who used sodium bicarbonate in 2023?

Klecker decided to give bicarb a shot after Maurten made a presentation to the OAC team in Boulder earlier this year. He has run well using bicarb (his 10,000 pb at The TEN) and without it (his 5,000 pb in January) and as Klecker heads into an Olympic year, he is still deciding whether the supposed benefits are worth the drawbacks, which for him include nausea and thirst. He also says that when he has taken the bicarb, his muscles feel a bit more numb than usual, which has made it more challenging for him to gauge his effort in races.

“There’s been no, Oh man I felt just so amazing today because of this bicarb,” Klecker says. “If anything, it’s been like, Oh I didn’t take it and I felt a bit more like myself.”

Klecker also notes that his wife and OAC teammate, Sage Hurta-Klecker, ran her 800m season’s best of 1:58.09 at the Silesia Diamond League on July 16 — the first race of the season in which she did not use bicarb beforehand.

A number of athletes in Mike Smith‘s Flagstaff-based training group also used bicarb this year, including Grijalva and US 5,000 champion Abdihamid Nur. Grijalva did not use bicarb in his outdoor season opener in Florence on June 2, when he ran his personal best of 12:52.97 to finish 3rd. He did use it before the Zurich Diamond League on August 31, when he ran 12:55.88 to finish 4th.“I want to say it helps, but at the same time, I don’t want to rely on it,” Grijalva says.

Almost every OAC athlete tried sodium bicarbonate at some point in 2023. Ritzenhein says the results were mixed. Some of his runners have run well while using it, but the team’s top performer, Nuguse, never used it in a race. Ritzenhein wants to continue testing sodium bicarbonate with his athletes to determine how each of them responds individually and whether it’s worth using moving forward.

That group includes Alicia Monson, who experimented with bicarb in 2023 but did not use it before her American records at 5,000 and 10,000 meters or her 5th-place finish in the 10,000 at Worlds.

“It’s not the thing that’s going to make or break an athlete,” Ritzenhein says. “…It’s a legal supplement that has the potential, at least, to help but it doesn’t seem to be universal. So I think there’s a lot more research that needs to be done into it and who benefits from it.”

The kind of research scientists like Stellingwerff want to see — double-blind, controlled clinical trials — could take a while to trickle in. But now that anyone can order Maurten’s product (it’s not cheap — $65 for four servings), athletes will get to decide for themselves whether sodium bicarbonate is worth pursuing.

“The athlete community, obviously if they feel there’s any sort of risk, they’re weighing up the risk-to-benefit ratio,” Siegler said. “The return has got to be good.”

Grijalva expects sodium bicarbonate will become part of his pre-race routine next year, along with a shower and a cup of coffee. Coffee, and the caffeine contained wherein, may offer a glimpse at the future of bicarb. Caffeine has been widely used by athletes for longer than sodium bicarbonate, and the verdict is in on that one: it works. Yet plenty of the greats choose not to use it.

Nuguse is among them. He does not drink coffee — a fact he is constantly reminded of by Ritzenhein.

“I make jokes almost every day about it,” Ritzenhein says. “His family is Ethiopian – coffee tradition and ceremony is really important to them.”

Ritzenhein says he would love it if Nuguse drank a cup of coffee sometime, but he’s not going to force it on him. Some athletes, Ritzenhein says, have a tendency to become neurotic about these sorts of things. That’s how Ritzenhein was as an athlete. It’s certainly how Ritzenhein’s former coach at the Nike Oregon Project, Alberto Salazar, was — an approach that ultimately earned Salazar a four-year ban from USADA.

Ritzenhein says he has no worries when it comes to any of his athletes using sodium bicarbonate — Maurten’s product is batch-tested and unlike L-carnitine, there is no specific protocol that must be adhered to in order for athletes to use it legally under the WADA Code. Still, there is something to be said for keeping things simple.

“Yared knows how his body feels,” Ritzenhein says. “…He literally rolls out of practice and comes to practice like a high schooler with a Eggo waffle in hand. Probably more athletes could use that kind of [approach].”

Talk about this article on our world-famous fan forum / messageboard.

It is possible to run faster, 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele insists

41-year-old marathoner Kenenisa Bekele believes he still has the mileage in his legs to run faster as he eyes victory at the Olympic Games.

Marathon legend Kenenisa Bekele has insisted that he is the greatest form of his life heading into the Olympic Games in Paris, France where he will lock horns with other great marathoners.

In an interview with Athletics Weekly, the Ethiopian insisted that his progression is going well and he is ready to run faster times. He has gathered a lot of experience so far and will definitely be looking forward to impress.

“When I look at my progression, I feel like I have good energy and power…I feel very strong unlike when I struggled around three or four years ago.

“It is possible to run faster with this age you know…it is quite a good age for a marathon so I think I will do something better in the future,” the 41-year-old said.

He added that marathon running requires an athlete to have the talent first and the capacity to run the distance and also experience.

“Experience by itself can’t change anything if you don’t have the capacity to cover the distance. If you compare that with age also the young generation is struggling to run faster times and follow the pace of the older and experienced runners.

"This could be influenced by their capacity and talents. That’s why in my mind, I know myself and during training, I compete against my teammates to gauge myself,” Bekele said.

The two-time Berlin Marathon also commented on his training, explaining that it has not been a walk in the pack for him.

“Marathon training is really challenging…I was out of the track due to an injury and every time I get an injury, my training changes.

“Training wise, at some point and I could not follow every training session. This is the greatest challenge I face in training for my training,” he said.

Malindi Elmore set to race 2024 Boston Marathon

Two-time Olympian Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., is on the women’s elite list for the 128th Boston Marathon on April 15. Elmore is featured in a strong field with reigning champion Hellen Obiri and 2022 New York Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi; she will also be one of three Canadian women running in Boston.

This will be Elmore’s second time running the Boston Marathon. In 2022, she ran to an impressive 11th-place finish, posting a time of 2:27:58, which is the fastest-ever time in Boston by a Canadian woman. She left Boston wanting to return, saying, “It’s a blast to run the crowd-lined streets, where there is always someone cheering you on and shouting your name.”

Elmore, who ran the second-fastest Canadian women’s marathon time at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, achieved the Olympic qualifying mark of 2:26:50. She is currently the only woman who has solidified her spot on Team Canada for the marathon in Paris. The 43-year-old told Canadian Running that she plans to use Boston as a prep race for the Olympic marathon in August. 

“Racing Boston is part of the Paris 2024 plan,” says Elmore on her decision to race Boston. “The course in Paris is reported to be twice the elevation gain of Boston, so I want the opportunity to train and race on hills through the winter and hopefully be a hill beast by August!”

The Boston and New York marathons are two of the tougher Abbott World Marathon Major courses. The Boston is a net downhill, but features a lot of hills in the second half of the race, including the famous Heartbreak Hill at 32 kilometres. The Paris Olympic marathon is touted to be the hilliest Olympic marathon to date, featuring more than 400 metres in elevation gain on an out-and-back loop to the Palace of Versailles. 

Elmore will be one of three Canadian marathoners on the women’s elite list. Joining Elmore in Boston are two up-and-coming marathoners from Thunder Bay, Ont., Michelle and Kim Krezonoski. The Krezonoski sisters ran their personal bests of 2:36:39 (Michelle) and 2:37:20 (Kim) at the 2022 California International Marathon.

Michelle said it’s been an exciting and emotional journey to get to this point after partially tearing her Achilles tendon in her build-up to the 2023 Toronto Waterfront Marathon (which she did not race). “I am grateful to have this opportunity to run alongside the world’s best with my twin sister,” Michelle told Canadian Running. “Boston is historic, and it’s a course that challenges your strength.”

Obiri returns for glory

The most dominant women’s marathoner in the world right now, Hellen Obiri, returns to Boston to defend her title. Last year, Obiri unleashed a perfectly-timed sprint in the final mile to earn her first Boston Marathon title, in only her second career marathon. Boston marked one of her two marathon wins in 2023. She became only the second women’s marathoner in history to win both Boston and New York in the same year. 

“I am excited to return to the 2024 Boston Marathon to try to defend my title,” shared Obiri, who won last year’s race in 2:21:38. “Boston is a historic race, and I would like to add my name further to its history on April 15. Winning such a historic marathon with my family waiting at the finish line was an experience I’ll never forget.”

The 2024 Boston Marathon will also see a trio of Ethiopian runners with personal bests under 2:18:00. Worknesh Degefa, the 2019 Boston Marathon champion, is set to return. Tadu Teshome, with a marathon best of 2:17:36 from the 2022 Valencia Marathon, will make her Boston debut, and Senbere Teferi, a world championship silver medallist over 5,000m, will also compete after winning the B.A.A. 5K in a course record time of 14:49 in 2022.

Chebet, Lemma and Geay to clash at Boston Marathon

Evans Chebet and Gabriel Geay, the top two finishers at last year’s BAA Boston Marathon, will return to the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on April 15, to take on recent Valencia Marathon winner Sisay Lemma.

Chebet successfully defended his Boston title last year in 2:05:54. In fact, the Kenyan has won six of his past seven marathons.

Lemma won in Valencia last month in 2:01:48, making him the fourth-fastest man in history. The Ethiopian, who also won the 2021 London Marathon, is the fastest man in this year’s Boston Marathon field, which features 20 men with sub-2:10 PBs.

Tanzania’s Geay, runner-up in Boston last year, has an identical PB to Chebet – 2:03:00 – and, like Chebet, it was also set in Valencia.

Other men in the field with sub-2:05 PBs are Kenya’s Joshua Belet (2:04:18), Ronald Korir (2:04:22), and Cyprian Kotut (2:04:34), as well as Ethiopians Haftu Teklu (2:04:43) and London and New York City runner-up Shura Kitata (2:04:49).

New York Marathon champion Albert Korir, former Japanese record-holder Suguru Osako, and Norwegian record-holder Sondre Moen are also in the field, as are Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi, winner of last week’s Houston Marathon in a course record 2:06:39, and multiple NCAA champion Edward Cheserek.

Elite field

Sisay Lemma (ETH) 2:01:48

Evans Chebet (KEN) 2:03:00

Gabriel Geay (TAN) 2:03:00

Joshua Belet (KEN) 2:04:18

Ronald Korir (KEN) 2:04:22

Cyprian Kotut (KEN) 2:04:34

Haftu Teklu (ETH) 2:04:43

Shura Kitata (ETH) 2:04:49

John Korir (KEN) 2:05:01

Mohamed Esa (ETH) 2:05:05

Suguru Osako (JPN) 2:05:29

Sondre Moen (NOR) 2:05:48

Filmon Ande (ERI) 2:06:38

Zouhair Talbi (MAR) 2:06:39

Isaac Mpofu (ZIM) 2:06:48

Albert Korir (KEN) 2:06:57

Kento Otsu (JPN) 2:08:15

Ryoma Takeuchi (JPN) 2:08:40

Segundo Jami (ECU) 2:09:05

Tsegay Tuemay (ERI) 2:09:07

Matt McDonald (USA) 2:09:49

David Nilsson (SWE) 2:10:09

Tristan Woodfine (CAN) 2:10:39

CJ Albertson (USA) 2:10:52

Chris Thompson (GBR) 2:10:52

Edward Cheserek (KEN) 2:11:07

Yemane Haileselassie (ERI) debut

Peres Jepchirchir headlines women field at Ras Al Khaimah Half-Marathon

Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will headline the 16th edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half-Marathon scheduled for February 24, 2024 in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

The three time World Half Marathon champion is also the only woman to simultaneously hold the Olympic, New York and Boston marathon titles, which she achieved in the seven months between August 2021 and April 2022.

Jepchirchir who also holds two world marathon majors, knows this course so well as she set her first world half marathon record here in 2017 when she broke Florence Kiplagat’s record of 1:05.09 that she had set in Barcelona in 2015 with a new world record of 1:05.06.

The mother of one will be looking to challenge the race course record of 1:04.14 set last year by the 2018 World U20 5000m bronze medallist, Girmawit Gebrzihair of Ethiopia.

Race Director and Pace Events CEO Peter Connerton said today, ‘We were honoured and enormously gratified to be invited by the Ras Al Khaimah tourist authorities to organise an event like the RAK half-marathon. We feel it’s a reflection of the success we’ve had with the Dubai Marathon since 2000.

We’ve added a 10k to the RAK programme since we’ve seen how successful the shorter event has been in Dubai; either as a challenge in its own right, or as a stepping stone for runners on the way to a half or full marathon. Jepchirchir is the first of many leading names we shall be announcing for the RAK ‘half’ in the coming weeks”.

Laura Muir returns to defend wanamaker mile title at 2024 Millrose Games

Great Britain’s Laura Muir, the Olympic 1500m silver medalist and three-time 1500m world championship medalist, will return to the 116th Millrose Games at The Armory on Feb. 11 to defend her NYRR Wanamaker Mile title.

Here’s what you need to know:

– Last year, Muir closed the race with a 30.99s final lap to win in 4:20.15 over Josette Andrews, who will also be returning after back-to-back runner-up finishes. Muir made her Millrose Games debut last year after a stunning 4:14.8 victory at the 2022 Fifth Avenue Mile. Muir is keeping a tight indoor schedule as she gets ready for the 3000m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. She just ran 8:34.39 for 3000m at the Cardiff Metropolitan University Christmas Classic on Dec. 19.

– The Wanamaker Mile event record is the 4:16.85 American record set by Elinor Purrier St. Pierre in the 2020 edition of the meet. She will return to The Armory after missing last year’s indoor season while being pregnant with her son, Ivan. She gave birth in March and then returned to racing at the 5th Avenue Mile in September with a 4:23 for seventh place. Purrier -St. Pierre also won the 2019 2022 edition of the Wanamaker Mile with a 4:19.30 victory.

– The field will also include 2023 World Championship 1500m finalists: Jessica Hull (7th in Budapest) and Katie Snowden (8th in Budapest).

– Ethiopia’s Axumawit Embaye, a two-time World Indoor silver medalist in the 1500m, will make her Millrose Games debut. Last year, she ran season’s bests of 4:00.98 for 1500m and 4:24.01 for the mile. She notched a personal best of 15:04.41 for 5000m at the Stockholm Diamond League.

Beatrice Chepkoech to open her indoor track season against two Ethiopian youngsters

Beatrice Chepkoech will be pitted against two Ethiopian youngsters in the women's 1500m at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting.

Ethiopian youngsters Diribe Welteji, and Freweyni Hailu will be up against Beatrice Chepkoech in the women’s 1500m field at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, in Torun, Poland, on February 6.

21-year-old Welteji set a world record when winning the mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga in October, as she clocked 4:20.98 as her compatriot Hailu finished second with Faith Kipyegon completing the podium.

Welteji and Hailu will team up again in Torun where they will be up against the world 3000m steeplechase record-holder Chepkoech. Other strong opponents in the field include Ethiopia’s world indoor 1500m bronze medallist Hirut Meshesha and Uganda’s 2019 world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi.

Welteji has proven to be a master in the 1500m and she also doubles up as the World 1500m silver medallist, having finished runner-up to Kipyegon in Budapest in August. She will surely be the one to watch when the race begins.

Meshesha has the quickest short track PB of the quintet, having clocked 4:02.01 in Lievin last year, finishing second and one place ahead of Hailu who set a PB of 4:02.47. Chepkoech ran her national record of 4:02.09 in 2020.

Meanwhile, multiple US record-holder Grant Fisher will take on the already announced world champion Josh Kerr in the two-mile race at the Millrose Games, also a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event.

The race on February 11 is set to be paced with the world indoor two-mile best of 8:03.40 as the target. Joining them on the start line will be USA’s Joe Klecker, Cooper Teare, and Dylan Jacobs. New Zealand’s George Beamish, Australia’s Morgan McDonald, and Ky Robinson will also be in the mix and will be joined by Britain’s Matthew Stonier, Japan’s Keita Satoh, Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu and Addisu Yihune, and Sam Parsons of Germany.

Ethiopians Jemal Yimer (60:42) and Sutume Kebede (64:37) won the overall titles in Houston Half

In what is becoming an annual tradition, Weini Kelati ran 66:25 on Sunday to break the American record at the 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. It was the third straight year the record was broken in Houston as the 27-year-old Kelati, making her half marathon debut, followed in the footsteps of Sara Hall (67:15 in 2022) and Emily Sisson (66:52 in 2023) to become a record-breaker in Houston. Sunday marked the third time the record had been broken in the past year as Keira D’Amatolowered Sisson’s record to 66:39 at the Asics Half Marathon in Australia in July.

Kelati finished 4th overall as Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede, a late addition to the women’s field, upset Hellen Obiri to win in 64:37, a US all-comers record that moves her into a tie for 9th on the all-time list. The time was a pb of more than three minutes for Kebede, who was previously best known for finishing 3rd at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon and running 2:18:12 at the 2022 Seoul Marathon. Obiri, who was with Kebede through 10k (30:28) faded over the second half and wound up a distant 2nd in 66:07.

The men’s race came down to a five-man sprint finish with Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer, who won in Houston in 2020 and was 4th at the World Half Marathon Championships in October, prevailing in 60:42. Wesley Kiptoo of NAZ Elite and Kenya was 2nd for the second straight year in 60:43 with 2022 champ Milkesa Mengeshaof Ethiopia 3rd in 60:45.

Biya Simbassa was the top American man in 60:45 in 4th, just ahead of a resurgent Diego Estrada, who led for the first 20 minutes and finished 5th in a pb of 60:49. Galen Rupp, tuning up for the Olympic Marathon Trials three weeks from now, hung back from the leaders and finished 14th in 62:37.

In the Chevron Houston Marathon, contested simultaneously, former NAIA star Zouhair Talbi of Morocco won the men’s race in 2:06:39 to boost his chances of Olympic selection. 2016 NCAA XC champion Patrick Tiernan, now training as part of Alistair and Amy Cragg’s Puma Elite Running team in North Carolina, was 4th in 2:07:45, hitting the Olympic standard and moving to #2 on the all-time Australian marathon list.

Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa, the runner-up behind American Betsy Saina in September’s Sydney Marathon, won the women’s marathon in Houston in 2:19:33.

The races featured temperatures in the low 40s with 10 mph winds and gusts up to 17 mph, which made for a challenging end to the half marathon as miles 9, 10, and 11 were run directly into the teeth of the wind.

Below, six takeaways from the day’s racing in Houston.

2024 Houston Half Marathon men’s top 51. 60:42 Jemal Yimer, Ethiopia2. 60:43 Wesley Kiptoo, Kenya3. 60:45 Milkesa Mengesha, Ethiopia4. 60:45 Biya Simbassa, USA5. 60:49 Diego Estrada, USA14. 62:37 Galen Rupp, USA

2024 Houston Half Marathon women’s top 51. 64:37 Sutume Kebede, Ethiopia2. 66:07 Hellen Obiri, Kenya3. 66:24 Buze Diriba, Ethiopia4. 66:25 AR Weini Kelati, USA5. 67:36 Mestawut Fikir, Ethiopia