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Kenyans, Ethiopians Romp To Fast Times At RAK Half - RRW

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DyeStatPRO.com   Feb 15th 2013, 2:59pm
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KENYANS, ETHIOPIANS ROMP TO FAST TIMES AT RAK HALF
By David Monti
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(15-Feb) -- In what could have been the best-ever dual meet between Kenyan and Ethiopian teams in a half-marathon, athletes smoked the flat desert course in Ras Al Khaimah at the 7th RAK Half-Marathon in the United Arab Emirates producing sensational results.  The top-3 men --Kenyans Geoffrey Kipsang, Stanley Biwott and Geoffrey Mutai-- all broke 59 minutes, the first time that has ever happened in a single race.  The top-4 women all broke 67 minutes, including winner Lucy Kabuu of Kenya whose 1:06:09 was the #2 time in history.

"Based on top 10 average, RAK half-marathon is the fastest half marathon in the world," proclaimed independent statistician Ken Nakamura in an e-mail message.  "The top-10 average (life-to-date) is 59:04.36."

Helped by cool temperatures (13C/55F), both races went out fast.  The women hit 5 kilometers in 15:35, while the men ran a slightly more conservative 14:02.  By 10-K, there were seven women left in contention (31:18), and 11 men (28:12).  Those intermediate marks would win most elite road races at those distances.

In the latter stages, the women's race would come down to four:  Kenyans Kabuu, Priscah Jeptoo, and Rita Jeptoo along with Ethiopia's IAAF World Half-Marathon Champion Meseret Hailu. Kabuu managed to open a small gap by 17-K, and hit the 20-K mark in 62:49, only 13 seconds slower than Mary Keitany's world record at that distance.  She was able to hold off her challengers to the finish.

The men's contest came down to a three-way drag race between Kipsang, the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships junior winner, and fast marathoners Biwott and Mutai.  Kipsang ran the fourth 5-K segment in 13:58, hit 20-K in 58:54, and was able to hold the two-second lead he had at that point all the way to the finish, clocking 58:54.  Biwott was timed in 58:56, Mutai 58:58, and Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa well back in fourth in a still very fast 59:25.

The top-10 finish spots in both races were taken by Kenyans and Ethiopians. Had 4-athlete cross country scoring been used, the Kenyan men's and women's teams would have both scored a scant 11 points, just one over a perfect 10, and would have won the team competition easily.

Top Results:
MEN -
1    Geoffrey Kipsang (KEN)    58:54
2    Stanley Biwott (KEN)     58:56
3    Geoffrey Mutai (KEN)    58:58
4    Feyisa Lilesa (ETH)    59:25
5    Stephen Kibet (KEN)    59:59

WOMEN -
1     Lucy Kabuu (KEN)     1:06:09
2    Priscah Jeptoo (KEN)    1:06:11
3    Rita Jeptoo (KEN)    1:06:27
4    Meseret Hailu (ETH)    1:06:56
5    Florence Kiplagat (KEN)    1:07:13

PHOTOS: Geoffrey Kipsang and Lucy Kabuu win the 2013 RAK Half (photos by Victor Sailer, courtesy of RAK Half-Marathon; used with permission)



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