Antrim Coast Half Marathon delivers women's world record run
Yalemzerf Yehualaw was a class apart with a world record run of 63:43 in the picturesque coastal town of Larne in Northern Ireland. There were a hatful of PBs on this superfast course from Marc Scott and Rose Harvey in particular who led the British challenges.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian, who just missed Olympic selection, clocked 63:43 to beat the previous record of 64:02 set by Kenyan, Ruth Chepngetich..
With a bronze at the World Half-Marathon Championships in Gdynia last year in 65:19, Yehualaw was on a mission and executed a treat to the delight of her support team and the local organisers led by James McIlroy.
Passing 5km in 15:05, 10km in 30:22 and 15km in 45:24 surrounded by pacemakers and international team runners she pushed on her own in the latter stages carrying an inspirational photograph, which she kissed in celebration at the end. Vane Nyaboke, from Kenya, was second in 69:44 with England runner Rose Harvey (handicap -1.1) running a massive PB with 70:28. Georgina Schwiening (handicap -1.2) ran 71:13 ahead of Armagh’s Fionnuala Ross (handicap 0.1) with 73:10.
Jemal Yimer, also from Ethiopia, won the men’s race in 60:31 in a closely contested hour long race that included Marc Scott. In the final downhill run into the finish, Scott was dropped by 4 metres and was unable to regain contact as the final 600m on the flat saw Yimer hold his lead to the end. Ethiopian Tesfahun Akalnew and Kenya’s Shadrack Kimining completed the podium ahead of Marc Scott (handicap -7.4) who clocked a PB of 60:34 just 15 metres down on the winner.
The domestic performances were impressive with full result via this link.
UK runbritain rankings for endurance events and age groups
Other results from the weekend are on the following links: