by Justin Lagat
A historic men’s half marathon race that will be remembered for eons just happened this weekend, the 16th of February 2025, at the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks.
Indeed, there ought to have been some great fanfare before the men finally broke the 57 minutes for the half-marathon distance. There ought to have arisen debates across social media as to whether it was humanly possible to do so, followed by hundreds of attempts before one man would eventually break it in a unique race where all conditions, from perfect weather to precise pacing by other strong runners, would be arranged.
However, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who was in great form this weekend, could not wait for all these and decided to give his best.
Even in the race’s early stages, Kiplimo ran parallel to the pacer at the front. After the first two kilometers, he appeared slightly ahead of the pacer, took the lead, and gradually began to stretch the gap between himself and the rest of the runners. He crossed the first five kilometers alone at 13:34.
“The pacemaker set the agreed 2:45 pace, but I found myself full of energy and decided to inject a brisker rhythm from the third kilometer, but I never imagined to perform under the 57-minute barrier; that’s astonishing,” Kiplimo would say after the race.
The other man of all surfaces, Geoffrey Kamworor, who also has multiple cross-country and half-marathon titles, could not keep up with the fast pace and followed at a distance in the company of another Kenyan, Samuel Mailu.
Kiplimo crossed the 10K in 26:46, and Kamworor and Mailu did the same at 27:15. The gap had already grown considerably. Not only was Kiplimo in his own race against the clock, but he was also running on unchartered territory, as no one had gone faster than he was going at the moment in the kilometers that would follow.
He crossed the 15 km mark in a new world record time of 40:07, improving his previous record of 40:42, which he set last year for the distance. He completed the 20 km mark in 53:42.
Almost in disbelief, Kiplimo punched the air multiple times with both fists as he crossed the finish line in a new world record of 56:42. He proceeded to receive hugs from fans at the finish line, laid on his back to recover momentarily as someone threw a Ugandan flag over him before raising up to some more hugs and celebrations. He then sat down and waited a little more before Kamworor came across the finish line at 58:44, followed by Mailu at 59:40.
After the spectacular run, all eyes will now be on Kiplimo as he plans to debut at the London Marathon on 27th April.
