Eunice Kirwa‘s winning time of 1:08:07 in Marugame missed her personal best and Bahrain national record from ’16 by just a single second, but both her 10 km split (31:37) and 15 km split (47:58) established new personal bests over those distances. Finishing a close 2nd behind Kirwa was Amy Cragg of the United States (1:08:27), while Riko Matsuzaki of Japan was a distant third (1:11:04). The 1:08:07 puts Kirwa in 3rd place on the 2017 women’s world half marathon chart behind the 1:07:58 by Veronica Wanjiru of Kenya and 1:08:06 by Deva Dida of Ethiopia.
Also competing in Marugame, Kenneth Kipkemoi finished 8th with a time of 1:01:27, which puts him in 13th place on the 2017 men’s world half marathon chart.
Three other Personae-managed athletes made noteworthy road performances in early 2017, all at the Standard Chartered Marathon Mumbai, held 15. January: Bornes Kitur – 1st in 2:29:02 (personal best and improving from last year’s 2nd place); Personae-newcomer Eliud Barngetuny – 3rd in 2:10:39 (personal best); and Jacob Cheshari – 4th in 2:11:46 (improving from last year’s 5th place).
(photo credit: Getsurikui)
(cover photo credit: Belga)