Birhanu Legese and Cynthia Limo proved their immense half marathon pedigree with two very different but equally enthralling victories at the 10th anniversary edition of the RAK Half Marathon.
For the 22-year-old Ethiopian Legese, it was a repeat of his sprint finish tactics in Berlin and Delhi last year which once again saw him take a third major victory over 13.1 miles.
He sat in the pack for the entire race and then out-kicked 2015 New York marathon winner Stanley Biwott, although both recorded the same time of 60.40.
Cynthia Limo took advantage of excellent pace making in the women’s race to pull away from reigning world half marathon champion Gladys Cherono in the final kilometre.
Her scorching winning time of 66.04 was a massive personal best and puts her third on the official all time list behind only Florence
Cherono’s 66.07 places her fourth on the all-time list in a race of unparalleled quality.
The first six all broke 67 minutes with five recording personal bests, underlining RAK’s status as the world’s fastest half marathon.
Much of the focus before the men’s race was on Wilson Kipsang.
The former marathon world record holder has twice finished on the podium in RAK and was back ready to assess his shape ahead of the London marathon title in April.
The breezy conditions seemed to encourage a steady pace and Kipsang made his presence felt at the front early on.
A large group headed through the first 5km in a very steady 14.29 and 10km in 29.11. The pace finally picked up with 22-year-old Edwin Kiptoo.
By 15km, Kipsang had drifted over half a minute off the pace, and eventually finished 11th in 62.16.
