For a second. That is the difference with which the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha has registered a new Half Marathon world record when stopping the clock at 57.30 in an epic finale of the race in Valencia, which was held in the rain and in which he ran out of hares after three kilometres.
The athlete left his last teammates behind with a brilliant sprint at kilometer 15 and managed to reduce by one second the 57.31 that Jacob Kiplimo established in Lisbon in 2021 to achieve the best brand in the history of the test.
With drizzle, very light wind and 12 degreesthe president of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, Juan Roig, pressed the button that started the first of the six starts in which the 25,000 participating athletes were divided. Five minutes later, Mayor María José Catalá gave the second.
As agreed, the hares made the leading group firm completing the first kilometer in 2 minutes and 44 seconds with the big favorites, Kejelcha and his compatriot Selemon Barega, comfortable behind them.
Kejelcha was going so strong that when they had passed less than four kilometers, the hares had ‘fallen’ from the leading group, a bad situation that disorganized the race. An open front, looks of distrust and wet ground complicated record aspirationsbut time said it was possible and the Ethiopian did not give up.
Halfway through the race, only the two favorites and the Kenyan Daniel Mateiko remained in the lead and the time, 27.12, was four seconds slower than the current record. The group stayed together until Kejelcha wantedwhich until kilometer 15 when, with heavier rain, he left his teammates behind with a wild sprint on the ‘gargoyle bridge’.
Now alone and with victory in the race ‘assured’, Kejelcha gritted his teeth in a toss-up ending for the world record which he finally managed by just a second. Behind, almost a minute later, Mateko entered with a mark of 58.17.
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