National half marathon records and PBs are falling in the Catalan capital.
This year’s edition of the Barcelona Half Marathon didn’t quite produce the fireworks of Jacob Kiplimo 12 months ago, but two world leaders were still set and a number of national records and personal bests were smashed in the Catalan capital on Sunday (February 15).
It was only recently that World Athletics confirmed that Kiplimo’s apparent world record of 56:42 last February would not be certified because he was getting the benefit of the lead car.
Yomif Kejelcha’s time of 57:30 remains the official record for now, and while that mark stood this time, fellow Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhivet won in Barcelona in 58:05, eclipsing Geoffrey Kamvor’s world best of 58:14, set by Rass Khaahim barely 24 hours earlier.
Gebrhivet, the 2016 Olympic 5,000m bronze medalist and fifth-place finisher at Paris 2024, who will make his marathon debut in April in London, pulled away in the closing stages to finish well clear. Behind him, South Sudanese-born Dominic Lobalu, who now competes for Switzerland, finished third on the European all-time list with his run of 59:26.
Emmanuel Rudolph’s 59:37 in the third not only put him sixth on the European all-time list, but also lowered Morhad Amdouni’s French record of 59:40 from 2020. The Australian record also went to sixth-placed Jack Rayner as he clocked 59:53, beating Brett Robinson by 595 minutes.
There was also a raft of PBs for the strong British contingent. Zak Mahamad finished eighth in 60:46 (his previous best was 61:43) and his brother Mahamed Mahamad continued his preparations for London in 61:09 in 11th place, seven seconds off his own best.
Finishing 17th in 61:19, Tevelde Menges took more than two and a half minutes off his PB in 63:51, while Andy Butchart, who set a Scottish 10km record of 27:42 in Valencia in January, was 21st in 61:45. His PB was 62:15.
In the women’s race, Lois Chemnung set a world record and smashed the course record in 64:01, the Kenyan fourth-place finisher at the Chicago Marathon last year to sixth on the all-time list, leading from start to finish.
Wayne Kelati Frezghi of the United States was second in 66:04, beating his own American record by five seconds, while Ethiopia’s Dinya Abraya rounded out the top three in 66:28.
Samantha Harrison was the first British woman to finish 9th in 69:00 and Jess Warner-Judd was 11th in 70:77, Louise Small was 12th thanks to a great PB of 70:23 and Jessica Martin 14th in 70:54.
