Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa and Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo have major marathon titles to defend in April, and showed Friday morning they look ready to do so in winning the RAK Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates.
Desisa, the defending Boston Marathon champ, won in a tight finish in which first place was 59:36 and eighth was 59:54. Eritrea’s Nguse Amlosom was second, three seconds behind Desisa, and Wilson Kiprop of Kenya, the 2010 world half marathon champ, was third in 59:45. The eight men under 60:00 is a record total for a half marathon.
Jeptoo’s win was far more dominating and clear-cut. The 2013 winner of the London Marathon, who’ll return to that race on April 13, finished in 1:07:02, more than a minute ahead of runner-up Flomena Cheyech, her Kenyan compatriot, who clocked 1:08:13. Nine women were under 70:00.
The news for another woman named Jeptoo who’ll also be looking for repeat as a marathon champion in April was not so positive. Rita Jeptoo, who'll defend her Boston Marathon title on April 21, was far behind, placing fifth in 1:08:49.
As quick as the times were on Friday, they weren’t particularly swift by RAK Half standards. Priscah Jeptoo was the runner-up at the race in 2013 in 1:06:11, two seconds behind winner Lucy Kabuu of Kenya. The women’s world record for the half marathon, 1:05:50, was set at this race by Kenya’s Mary Keitany in 2011.
Beijing Olympic marathon gold medalist Sammy Wanjuru set a world record of 58:53 (since broken) when he won the first RAK Half Marathon in 2007. Patrick Makau set the existing RAK record of 58:52 in 2009, and Geoffrey Kipsang won in 2013 in 58:54.
The opening 5Ks on Friday--14:31 for the men and 17:14 for the women--were unusually slow for fields of such caliber. Desisa (#9 in the photo above) and Amlosom made their break from the rest of the men with 3K to go, and Desisa began to get the edge over the Eritrean a kilometer later. Jeptoo ran the segment between 5K and 15K in 30:54, distancing herself from her pursuers.
As impressive as eight men under 60:00 might be, it could have been higher, based on the field initially assembled by event organizers. Dennis Kimetto, the world 25K record holder who won the Chicago Marathon last October in a course record 2:03:45, was a late scratch from the race, as were Stanley Biwott, the 2012 Paris Marathon champ with a half marathon best of 58:56, and Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia, who won the 2012 Dubai Marathon in 2:04:23. The three cited various ailments as reasons for withdrawing.
