Wanjiru vs Tadese in Dubai Half-Marathon

Would brojos have hyped this race if Haile was running?

anybody got splits, updates?

give me info wrote:

anybody got splits, updates?

race won't start until 3:30pm Abu Dhabi time, which is 9 hours ahead of EST. So it'll start at 9:30am EST

That should be 6:30am EST. that one link the other guy posted shows the Abu Dhabi sports channel, but i'm not sure if they will show the race.

v-dawg wrote:

give me info wrote:

anybody got splits, updates?

race won't start until 3:30pm Abu Dhabi time, which is 9 hours ahead of EST. So it'll start at 6:30am EST

predictions just for fun

men

1. bernard kipyego

2. tilahun regassa

3. patrick makau

4. micah kogo

5. deriba merga

women

1. linet masai

2. mary keitany

3. meselech melkamu

4. wude ayalaw

5. teyba erkesso

erkesso is interesting as she is scheduled to run the houston marathon in 10 days and she said in an article she wants to run 2-3 minutes faster at houston this year, then she ran last year when she ran 2:24:18 in her debut, so apparently she is going against the generally accepted theory of not running any race, much less a half marathon, so close to a marathon.

Bernard Kipyego is not in tip-top shape.I think the guys who are in superb shape for this race are Duncan Kibet and Abel Kirui.Bot of them have had about 2 solid months of uninterrupted training.You saw Kwambai smoke the field in san silvester 15K;he has been training with Kibet and Abel Kirui was training first for Ekiden then for this race.Makau is not in tip-top shape either.Kitwara is reprtedly in excellent shape and could have done very well in the cross-country circuit races currently going on in kenya but instead opted for this HM.As for women;Lornah Kiplagat is not 100%,neither is Mary Keitany whose training was intererrupted by an injury in december.The darke horse in the women's race is Linet chepkirui who is in fantastic form.

Any results on this yet??

race doesn't start til 6:30 EST

possible link to watch:

http://www.talfazat.com/en/video-player/AbuDhabiSportChannel/

It's a little more than one and a half hours to the start. Right now I'm watching Abu Dhabi Sports Channel via satellite tv in Germany. What they are showing looks like pre-race coverage to me. Two reporters wearing shirts with the race logo on them are talking. No idea what they're saying, as I don't understand arabic.

please give updates on the race if you can

If the race started at 6:30 AM Eastern time, it should be finishing right about now. That link to the Abu Dhabi Sport Channel doesn't show anything for me...is anyone watching? Who is winning/won??

The race was held in Abu Dhabi, not Dubai.

The broadcast was terrible. No times, no splits, no nothing. Also, picture quality was very poor so that I had trouble recognizing the individual runners.

There was a big group of 25+ runners in the lead for the first half. Then that group began to fall apart quickly. By 12 or 13 kilometres Tilahun Regassa attacked from a group that was down to seven or eight men by that time. Regassa lead by 20 metres when Sammy Kitwara decided to catch up with him. Regassa and Kitwara quickly built a comfortable lead on the rest of the field. Regassa dropped Kitwara on the last kilometre winning by a 10 second margin or so. The next three runners an Ethiopian and two Kenyans were another 30+ seconds behind.

As that didn't show any times at all I can only estimate the winner's at around 59:20 - 59:30.

Virtually no coverage of the women's race. Winner's time around low 1:07. I think Mary Keitany won, though I'm not sure.

Thanks for the update. Here's an older photo of the winner Tilahun Regassa:

http://www.falmouthroadrace.com/shared-files/regassa.jpg

I guess Kitwara's an "old man" at 24 now. Regassa is still just 19.

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=eth/athcode=230791/index.html

Men:

1. Tilahun Regassa - 59.19

2. Sammy Kitwara - 59.34

3. Lelisa Benti - 59.59

4. Wilson Kipsang - 60.04

5. Willy Mwangi - 60.07

6. Wilson Chebet - 60.31

7. Kiplimo Kimutai - 60.41

8. Fabiana Jospeh - 60.53

9. Duncan Kibet - 61.00

10. Shumi Eticha - 61.08

Women:

1. Mary Keitany - 67.14

2. Philys Ongori - 69.19

3. Dire Tune - 69.19

4. Eselefech Merga - 69.20

5. Amane Gemale - 69.24

6. Wude Yumer - 69.25

7. Mare Hurssa - 69.38

8. Peninah Arusei - 69.39

9. Teyla Wako - 69.48

10. Lineth Chepkirui - 70.35

http://www.dehardloopkrant.com/artikel.php?date=2010-01-06%2007:52&id=Definitieve%20startlijsten%20Zayed%20halve%20marathon

Wow. Talk about blowing away the field- Keitany!

If I'm correct, Keitany now holds 5 of the 10 fastest times ever in the half marathon.

Regassa is pretty young and that is an all time top 30 mark.