FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RAK HALF MARATHON WILL BE FAST - AGAIN!
What makes the RAK Half Marathon stand out from many running events - in
the middle east and further afield - is really quite simple; the organizers
work to stage an elite race that is strong in depth and which produces very
fast times.
This IAAF Silver Label event, staged around the pancake flat city of Ras Al
Khaimah, close to the northern tip of the small middle east nation of the
United Arab Emirates, has come a long way in its' four year life. While
plenty of competition organizers around the globe buy in a big name and set
up a glorified time trial - one or two of them not a million miles from Ras
Al Khaimah - the RAK Half team have pulled together this year and each of
the previous three years, enough fast athletes to genuinely claim that they
stage one of the world's top eliteevents.
While the men have grabbed the headlines in each of the three previous
additions, uppermost in many people's minds for the Friday morning event,
is Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, the diminutive former Ethiopian who, while
running in the colors of Turkey, happened to garner two silver medals in
Beijing 18 months ago. It was in those 2008 Olympics that she became the
fourth fastest in history at the track 10km and while a right achilles
injury scuppered any chance of a similar level of performance in Berlin
last year (she DNF'd in the 10,000m), she's now back to full strength and
raring to go.
In relaxed mood the day before the race, the 27 year old, who spends most
of the year funding and training with a small group of two of her brothers
and other friends in Addis Ababa, has rarely ventured on to the roads and
has never raced further than 10km on any surface. Her step up to 21.1km
with her appearance in the 4th RAK Half Marathon could be a revelation; she
talked casually about the possibility of a world record - eminently
achievable when one considers her track pedigree, a world record for 5,000m
in 2004 (14:24:68 - still No.5 All Time) and that awesome 10,000m in
Beijing (29:56:34 - No.4 All Time) just behind Tirunesh Dibaba for
starters. A recent increase in training volume under Croatian coach Nicola
Boric, might just have tweaked things sufficiently.
To hit the tough world best for the half marathon (1:06:25 by Lornah
Kiplagat in Udine, 2007) the Turk will have to reach 10km in 31:20, 15km in
47:00 (only six women have ever gone faster) and then maintain that tempo
for over 6km further. It looks tough, but seeing as she's a chunk quicker
than Kiplagat at 10,000m it is certainly feasible. If the record proves
elusive, a fast time would still seal a solid winter for Abeylegesse, who
plans the 5,000/10,000m double at this coming summer's European Champs in
Barcelona, but says a marathon debut will have to wait till after the 2012
Olympics.
Accompanying her through the early stages at least is likely to be Hilda
Kibet, herself due to break substantial new ground. The Dutch athletes'
current best of 1:09:43 was in 2007 but her 51:21 clocking for 10 miles
last September in Zaandam, indicates that this former European CC Champion
of Kenyan origin, can go some 2-3 minutes quicker.
On the men's side, Abu Dhabi half winner Tilahun Regassa has pulled out,
but has been replaced by last August's NYC Half Marathon winner, 60:45
performer Tadesse Tola of Ethiopia.
The RAK Half Marathon organizers might not have the massive funding of
other events in the region, but they know how to stage a race and they know
how to pull together a strong field - not always as easy as some in the
industry seem to appreciate.
RAK Half Marathon Elite Line-ups:
Men / Nat / PR
Deriba Merga (ETH) 59:15
John Kiprotich (KEN) 59:23
Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) 59:30
Stephen Kibiwott (KEN) 59:37
Jairus Chanchima (KEN) 59:43
Moses Arusei (KEN) 59:44
Fabiano Joseph (TAN) 59:56
Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 59:59
Tadesse Tola (ETH) 60:45
Women / Nat / PR
Dire Tune (ETH) 1:07:18
Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 1:07:48
Caroline Cheptanui (KEN) 1:08:16
Atsede Habtamu (ETH) 1:08:29
Mare Ibrahimova (AZE) 1:08:45
Magdalene Mukunzi (KEN) 1:08:52
Rosaria Console (ITA) 1:09:34
Hilda Kibet (NED) 1:09:43
Meseret Mengistu (ETH) 1:09:45
Agnes Kiprop (KEN) 1:09:54
Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR) Debut
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