Led by Gladys Cherono’s Gold, Kenya Women Dominate 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon By Going 1 Through Five – Americans Bersagel and Kleppin Both in Top 15
by LetsRun.com
March 29, 2014
The Kenyan women put on a show today at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon in Copenhagen as led by Gladys Cherono‘s gold they went one through five. The 30-year old Cherono, who won silver in the women’s 10,000 at the Moscow World Championships last summer, won gold in 67:28 as she turned the tables on Mercy Wacera (silver in 67:43) who had edged her for the title at the World’s Best 10k last month (32:06 to 32:09).
“I’m happy because of what I have achieved today,” said Cherono after the race. “I was not expecting it.”
The American women had a good day and finished fifth – just 1:15 away from bronze. Based on personal bests, the US’s top seed was just 35th but USA put two in the top 15 and made a run for a medal in the team competition. The Americans were led by Annie Bersagel and Lauren Kleppin who both prd to finished 13th and 14th. The 30-year Bersagel, who is a 2:30 marathoner, knocked more than 3 minutes off her half marathon pb of 73:16 nearly 2 minutes off her previous pb of 72:01 from last fall, by running 70:09. Kleppin, who surprisingly ran 2:28 in LA earlier this month, knocked nearly two minutes off her 72:12 pb running 70:15 today.
“I kind of stopped looking at my watch, I just felt good,” said Bersagel to David Monti after the race. “I saw Lauren went out pretty early and I just thought, I can run with her, so let’s just try this.”
With Bersagel and Kleppin totaling 2:20:34 (the team score is time of top three runners), the US was ahead of Japan in the battle for the team bronze after two runners (Japan had 2:20:46), but Japan got bronze as their top three were 15th, 17th and 19th. The final scorer for the US women, Clara Santucci, was 34th in a 72:21, an improvement over her previous pb of 72:41. Japan’s cumulative time was 3:31:33 to the US’s 3:32:48.
Full individual results appear below. Team results will eventually show up here.
The Messageboard discussion of this race is here: Official 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Discussion Thread.
QT: Perfection by the Kenyan Women. Very, Very Impressive.
QT #2: Nice run by the American women.
QT #3: Stats by Ken Nakamura:For the first time in history of World Half Marathon Championships a nation (KEN) swept the medals in the women’s race. 67:28 is the fifth fastest time in World Half Marathon Championships.
More: IAAF Recap of Race
*Men: LRC Geoffrey Kipsang and Tiny Eritrea Have Days To Remember at 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
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