RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON ON SATURDAY: New regime, new course, but Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir returns

The fastest half marathon in the world is just 48 hours away. Special thanks to #VisitRasAlKhaimah, the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, for supporting the event and the exceptional presser held today.

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This release is from Race-News-Service, one of our partners in global athletics and running coverage. Special thanks to Joerg Wenig.

RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON ON SATURDAY:

New regime, new course, but Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir returns.

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 nor half-marathoner among current women long-distance runners. Still, 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.

Koko Klosterholfen, Peres Jepchrichir, Tamirat Tola, 2024 RAK Half Marathon, photo by Giancarlo COLUMBO

Tola was similarly annoyed that an injury (stomach distress) prevented him from successfully defending his 2022 world marathon title in Budapest last summer. Still, 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. The fastest man in the field is Daniel Mateiko of Kenya, who scored 58.26, but his colleague Benard(sic) Kibet has the advantage of having won last year with 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 meters champion, the German called a halt to her summer season last year when a foot injury caused her to reassess her career. She had already changed her shoe sponsor and left her coach and long-term training venue in the USA. She then switched again and teamed up with Gary Lough, a latter-day coach to Mo Farah and the 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 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 do 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. In addition, Jepchirchir won in 2017 with a 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’.

MAIN CONTENDERS IN RAK

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