By IAAF,
Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese and Ethiopia’s Mestawet Tufa set new course records [1:00:31] when winning at the third edition of the Naoko Takahashi Cup / Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race in 1:00:31 and 1:10:03 respectively on Sunday (19).
Zersenay, the six-time World champion on the roads and at cross country, improved the former course record set by Kenya’s Martin Mathathi two years ago by 16 seconds – and Mathathi also won last year in 1:01:29 – while Tufa, in her first race over the distance since 2010, sliced neatly three minutes off the course record set by South Africa’s Rene Kalmer 12 months ago.
Kenya’s Patrick Muendo Mwaka led the through the opening kilometres in the men’s race and was part of a trio who passed 5km in 14:14, accompanied by Ethiopia’s Abayneh Ayele and Zersenay.
However, Zersenay and Ayele soon started to edge away from Mwaka, and another two kilometres down the road, the race favourite started to drop his Ethiopian rival.
At 10km, which Tadese reached in 28:18, Ayele was 10 seconds in arrears. The next 5km proved crucial as Tadese continued to forge ahead and he reached the 15km checkpoint in 42:48, 11 seconds ahead of Mathathi’s course record split.
Behind him, Ayele started to falter and was passed just before 15km by a three Kenyans working together, Mathathi, Jacob Wanjuki and Cyrus Njui, but the trip were 35 seconds behind Tadese with just over six kilometres to go.
Mathathi and Wanjuki closed the gap a little on Zersenay in the final five kilometres but the Eritrean still was strong enough to win the race by 24 seconds with the former winner Mathathi second in 1:00:54, followed by Wanjuki one second further back and Njui fourth in 1:0108 while Ayele came home fifth in 1:01:43.
The top local runner was Taiga Ito in eighth place in 1:03:45.
The women’s race turned into a thrilling duel between Tufa, the 20078 IAAF World Cross Country Championships silver medallist, and Kenya’s Eunice Jepkirui, the pair starting the race at a super-fast pace, passing 5km in 16:04, which put them initially on course for a time below 68 minutes and gave them a lead of over a minute from the best of the rest of the women’s field.
Inevitable the pace started to slow but, running together, the pair passed 10km in 32:47, 15Km in 49:36 and then 20Km in 1:06:36. However Tufa surged just before they entered the stadium and won from Jepkirui, third in the Paris Marathon last month, by six seconds; with Australia’s Lara Tamsett a distant third in 1:13:33.
Tadese Wins Over Mathathi for Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon
World record holder Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) took down defending champion Martin Mathathi (Kenya/SuzukiHamamatsu AC) at Sunday’s Gifu SeiryuHalf Marathon, getting away early to set a new course record of 1:00:31.
Leading a pack of six through a 14:14 opening 5 km split, Tadese dropped a 14:04 over the next 5 km to take the race out of the competition’s comfort zones and go ahead alone.
With a 37-second lead over the chase group of Mathathi, Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) and Cyrus Njui (Kenya/ Team Hitachi Butsuryu) at 15 km Tadese backed off to a 14:34 split from 15 to 20 km, but despite Mathathi and Wanjuki picking it up and closing the gap they were too far away and had to settle for a duel for 2nd, Mathathi proving the stronger as he crossed the line in 1:00:54, two seconds ahead of Wanjuki.
Moscow World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t), running just a week after going sub-64 at the Sendai International Half Marathon, struggled in to a 14th-place finish in 1:05:05.
3rd Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon
MEN
1. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) – 1:00:31 – CR
2. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) – 1:00:54
3. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) – 1:00:55
4. Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Butsuryu) – 1:01:08
5. Abayneh Ayele (Ethiopia/Team Mazda) – 1:01:43
6. Patrick Muwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) – 1:01:57
7. Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) – 1:02:38
8. Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) – 1:03:45
9. Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) – 1:04:37
10. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) – 1:04:52
