Haile Gebrselassie won the Lisbon Half Marathon on Sunday in a world leading time of 59:15 by a clear margin over the former 10,000m world champion Charles Kamathi of Kenya. Kamathi finished in 60:45. The fastest woman in Lisbon was Salina Kosgei in a speedy 69:57. In a sprint finish the Kenyan had just two seconds’ advantage over her compatriot Pamela Chepchumba.
“I’ll get the world record back as soon as I can,” was what Gebrselassie said last year, after Samuel Wanjiru had taken the mark from him by bringing it down to 58:33. Gebrselassie’s best time for the half marathon is 58:55, set before Wanjiru’s world record. The Ethiopian could at least comfort himself with the thought that he had improved Wanjiru’s world leading time this year by ten seconds. The Lisbon organizers had changed the course especially for Gebrselassie, who brought the world marathon record down to 2:04:26 in Berlin in 2007. The course was made even more ideal for record-breaking by moving the start from a bridge; previously the course had had too much descent to be valid for record-breaking.
Torres Triumphs in Central Park
Jorge Torres won the U.S. 8K championships in Central Park on Saturday, holding off a fast-closing Andrew Carlson to finish in 22:42. Carlson, who had won the U.S. 15K championship the previous Saturday, was given the same time as Torres. Kimbia runners took the next three spots, with Jason Hartmann, James Carney and Fasil Bizuneh placing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
The women’s race wasn’t a national championship, but still featured a strong American field. National cross country champion Shalane Flanagan dominated on the roads of Central Park as she had the turf of San Diego last month – she took the lead from the start and was never challenged en route to finishing in 25:40. Former 10,000m national champion Katie McGregor was second in 25:56.
American mile record holder Alan Webb had been pegged as the favorite, and he led the lead pack through 5K in 14:10. In the last mile, however, he faded significantly to finish 16th in 23:32. Webb later revealed that he had contacted food poisoning two nights before and was feeling so weakened from illness that he almost didn’t start the race.
Musyoki Wins in The Hague
Another half marathon also produced high-quality results on Sunday: In The Hague, Patrick Makau Musyoki won his third half marathon of the year, this time in a speedy 60:08. Four seconds back was his compatriot Joseph Maregu, and another Kenyan, Dennis Ndiso, took third in 60:33.
The fastest woman in The Hague, where Samuel Wanjiru set the current world half marathon record, was the Kenyan Pauline Wangui in 69:49. Susanne Hahn of Germany was the surprise second-place finisher in 71:29, a good performance for her. She’s preparing for the Mainz Marathon, where she hopes to run the Olympic qualifying time. Third in a comparatively weak women’s field was the Dutch runner Naja Wijenberg (76:32).
Korir Makes Comeback in Seoul
Kenyan Sammy Korir won the Seoul Marathon in a strong run of 2:07:32. The 36-year-old, who achieved what was then the second fastest marathon in history behind Paul Tergat in 2004 (2:04:56), has had to cope with repeated injuries in recent years. He was five seconds ahead of his compatriot Jason Mbote at the finish. Third was another Kenyan, Edwin Komen (2:07:45). Kimbia’s Charles Kibiwott was fifth in 2:08:33. There was double success for the Chinese in the women’s race: Zhang Shujing won in 2:26:11 over Wang Xueqin (2:28:39).
