Gudeta to take on Chepngetich at Istanbul Half
World champion Netsanet Gudeta will be the headline act at the Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Ethiopian set the women’s-only race world record at the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia last year, clocking 1:06:11.
But she’s run even faster since, clocking 1:05:45 to equal the Ethiopian national record at the RAK Half on 8 February, where she finished second. More recently, she ran 1:06:49 at the Bahrain Night Half Marathon on 15 March to finish third.
She’ll face Ruth Chepngetich, who set the Istanbul course record of 1:06:19 in 2017. She was second in the Bahrain race last month, clocking 1:06:09 to clip ten seconds from her personal best. Chepngetich began 2019 with a bang, winning January’s Dubai Marathon in 2:17:08 to become the third fastest marathoner in history.
Other standouts include Ethiopians Bekelech Gudeta and Helen Tola, who have 1:07:03 and 1:07:47 lifetime bests to their credit; and Kenyan Delvine Meringor, another sub-1:08 runner.
The men’s field includes five men with sub-60 minute credentials.
The fastest of those is Guye Idemo Adola of Ethiopia, whose 59:06 best came in New Delhi back in 2014. But he’s gotten off to a decent start in 2019, winning the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon last month in 1:00:17.
He’ll be backed up by compatriots Amdework Walelegn, who clocked 59:22 in New Delhi last year, and set the Istanbul course record last year in 59:50.
Aziz Lahbabi of Morocco also has solid credentials, with a 59:25 lifetime best from 2014.
Kenya’s fastest entrant is Peter Kwemoi, a 59:58 man who won this year’s Verona Half Marathon.
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