Joan Chelimo runs 65:04 at Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon, missing WR by 13 seconds!

PRAGUE (CZE, Apr 7): Kenya’s Joan Chelimo missed the world record by just 13 seconds, running 65:04 at the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon, while Benard Kimeli took a close men’s race in 59:47. Chelimo and pacemaker Mike Chesire kept up with Caroline Kipkirui’s pace over the first 5k of the largely flat course in almost ideal conditions, clocking 14:51 – on pace for 62:40. Kipkirui dropped off from 6km and Chelimo’s 10km split was 30:14, still on course to break the mark by a minute. She slowed a bit more to 45:54 for 15km and her eventual time rated fifth best all-time. Kipkirui eventually finished second in 66:09 with Ethiopia’s Worknesh Degefa third in 68:09. Eva Vrabcova-Nyvltova broke the 24-year-old Czech record with 71:01 in eighth. Kimeli led three runners under the one hour-mark in the men’s race with Geoffrey Yegon (59:56) and Peter Kwemoi (59:58) finishing second and third respectively. Best European was Italian Eyob Faniel as 10th in 62:27. A grand total of 11 668 runners competed in the twentieth Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon.