Drama Galore Expected At Sunday's BAA Half Marathon - Who Will Walk Away With $100,000?
Kim Smith Should Win Big Payday on Women's Side But Men's Side Is Hard To Handicap
By LetsRun.com
October 6, 2012
There will be a lot of drama on Sunday at the BAA Half-Marathon as $200,000 will be on the line.
This year the BAA decided to offer $100,000 to the person with the fastest overall cumulative time at its 5k, 10k and half-marathon road races. The final race - the half-marathon - is Sunday.
On the women's side, Kim Smith leads Ethiopia's Aheza Kiros by 16 seconds. Since Smith has a half-marathon PR that is nearly 2 minutes better than Kiros and a marathon PR that is 8 minutes better, the $100,000 is clearly Smith's for the taking. Barring a total choke job or injury, she should get the win.
| Runner | # Seconds Behind | 5k PB | 10k PB | Half PB | Marathon PB |
| Kim Smith | 0 | 14:39 | 30:35 | 67:11 | 2:25:21 |
| Aheza Kiros | -16 | 14:56 | 31:06 | 69:10 | 2:33:21 |
The men's side is where the drama will be as four men are within five seconds of each other as shown by the following chart?
| Men | # Seconds Behind | 5k PB | 10k PB | Half PB | Marathon PB |
| Sam Chelanga | 0 | 13:09 | 27:08 | 61:19 | NA |
| Ali Abdosh | 0 (tied) | 12:56 | 27:04 | 64:26 | NA |
| Allan Kiprono | -4 | 13:48 | 27:42 | 62:21 | NA |
| Lani Rutto | -5 | 13:46 | 28:35 | NA | NA |
Who has the edge?
The interesting thing about the race is that the half-marathon is a longer distance than what all the men are used to running as non of them has ever run a marathon and they all have limited half experience.
As Abdosh told Barbara Huebner for a NYRR story, "Half marathon like for me is full marathon. ItÂ’s very long and very hard."
Based on 10,000 and half-marathon PRs, the edge belongs to Chelanga.
But based on recent results, the edge in our minds belongs to Allan Kiprono. The 22-year old, who won Bloomsday earlier this year,convincingly beat two of the other contenders at Falmouth on August 12th.
Falmouth - August 12th
Allan Kiprono 32:32
Sam Chelanga 33:08
Lani Rutto 33:09
That win over Chelanga wasn't a fluke as Kiprono crushed him the week before at Beaach To Beacon.
Beach to Beacon - August 4th
Allan Kiprono 28:22
Sam Chelanga 29:24
But based on the BAA 10k, the one to beat is Abdosh as he beat the other three there.
BAA 10k - June 24
Ali Abdosh 28:21
Allan Kiprono 28:37
Sam Chelanga 28:38
Lani Rutto 28:40
The question for Abdosh is, "How will he hold up for 13.1 miles?"
More: Article on race by Barbara Huebner for the NYRR: Kim Smith Has Eye on $100,000 Prize
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