Mary Keitany Sets New Half Marathon World Record Of 65:50
Kenyan Becomes First Woman Under 66:00 For 13.1 Mile Distance On A Loop Course; Deriba Merga Goes Out Hard And Settles For Men's 8k World Best And Men's Victory
By: Letsrun.com
February 18, 2011
LRC RAK Half Photo Gallery
At the RAK Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates on Friday morning (Thursday evening in the US), 29-year-old Mary Keitany of Kenya became the first woman to break the 66-minute barrier in the half marathon on a loop course, as she ran 65:50 to set a new world record, obliterating Lornah Kiplagat's former world record of 66:25 from 2007 by 35 seconds.
Pending the normal certification process, Keitany's time will be regarded as the new world record for the half marathon distance (editor's note: and likely the world best for the 12km, 10 mile, and 20km distances as Keitany beat the previous official bests for those distances and the organizers appear to have clocked her times at these points). That being said, two other women have run slightly faster than Keitany for the 13.1 mile distance. Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe ran 65:40 on the record-ineligible, point-to-point Great North Run course in 2003 and Susan Chepkemei, who would later serve a doping suspension, ran 65:44 on the point-to-point Lisbon course in 2001.
Coming into the race, it was thought by some that Keitany had a good shot at the record, as she came in as the number two woman in history, with a 66:36 personal best that she ran to win the 2009 world title in Birmingham. With the help of a male pacesetter who would accompany her for nearly the entire race, Keitany got started on record pace from the very beginning, as she covered the first 5km in 15:18, which is 4:55 mile pace and the old world record worked out to just under 5:04 pace.
At 10km, Keitany had slowed only slightly, as her time was 30:45 (4:57-ish overall pace), meaning her second 5k was covered in 15:27. Close to halfway, Keitany had a lot of time in the bank, but the question was "Would she be able to keep it together during the second half of the race?"
Yes, she would.
During the next 5k, Keitany slowed a bit more, as she covered the 10k to 15k in 15:55, giving her a 15k split of 46:40, which is basically 5:00 pace for 5k (5:00.41 to be exact). With just over 6k to go, would she be able to hold on? A 15:55 5k is 5:07.38 pace and to get the record, Keitany would need to be able to stay under 5:12.76 pace. Keitany's 10-mile split of 50:05 showed she was still on basically 5-flat pace (5:00.50) and it seemed as if the record might indeed happen.
At 20k (62:36), it was clear Keitany was going to get the record, as she really didn't slow from 15k to 20k at all, covering that 5k in 15:56. Barring a total collapse over the final 1.0975 km, the record was going to belong to Keitany, as she would only have had to run 5:36 pace to not get the record. The question now became "Could she break the 66-minute barrier?"
Yes, indeed. Keitany got her record in style as she re-accelerated and hammered home the final 1.0975 km at 4:44 pace.
Along the way to her new world record at the half marathon, Keitany also set new world bests or records at 8km, 12km, 10 miles, and 20km and just missed the world record for 15km (Editor's Note: Other runners may have run faster at some of these distance but times just weren't recorded. For example, Tirunesh Dibaba may have gone faster through 12km in her 15km world record but there was no clock there to record it. Here, the race organizers have photos of Keitany showing her with the clock showing her split times at 12km, 10 miles, 20km and the finish, showing that they believe these were all world bests.).
LRC RAK Half Photo Gallery
Previous World Record Or World Best/New World Record/Best |
2011 RAK Half Marathon |
2011 RAK Half Marathon |
Overall - Male - 5km |
Overall - Female - 5km |
Overall - Male - 10km - Diff. 1. 2 Deriba Merga ETH 27:30 - 2. 5 John Kiprotich KEN 28:03 0:34 3. 8 Bernard Kipyego KEN 28:04 0:34 4. 9 Titus Masai KEN 28:04 0:34 5. 7 Leonard Langat KEN 28:04 0:34 |
Overall - Female - 10km Diff. 1. 51 Mary Keitany KEN 30:45 2. 52 Dire Tune ETH 31:55 1:10 3. 61 Agnes Kiprop KEN 32:05 1:20 4. 60 Sultan Haydar TUR 32:05 1:20 5. 58 Rose Kosgei KEN 32:05 1:20 |
Overall - Male - 15km 1 D. Merga (ETH) 41:44 2 B. Kipyego (KEN) +0:50 3 L. Langat (KEN) +0:50 4 J. Kiprotich (KEN) +0:51 5 T. Masai (KEN) +0:51 |
Overall - Female - 15km 1. 51 Mary Keitany KEN 46:40 2. 61 Agnes Kiprop KEN 48:51 2:11 3. 52 Dire Tune ETH 48:51 2:12 4. 58 Rose Kosgei KEN 48:51 2:12 5. 54 Mare Dibaba ETH 48:51 2:12 |
Overall - Male - 10mile |
Overall - Female - 10mile |
Overall - Male - 20 km |
Overall - Female - 20 km |
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