Perfect start to Chelimo's distance running

World 5000m silver medalist Margaret Chelimo had a perfect start to half marathon running as she raced to victory at the Barcelona half marathon (Edreams Mitja Marató Barcelona) a World Athletics Elite Label race, on Sunday 3 April. 

The 2021 Valencia Ibercaja 10km champion clocked 1:05.26 to beat race favourite Asnakesh Awoke who came third in 1:09.34 behind fellow Ethiopian Gete Alemayehu (1:06.37). 

“It was my debut so I cannot be more satisfied. Everything was superb, the circuit, the temperature and the pacemaker," Chelimo told World Athletics. 

The elite women set off at a moderate 3:07-3:08/km pace for the opening uphill kilometres. The first 5km was covered in 15:39 with just the eventual medalists matching the pacemaker. 

The tempo heated up over the second 5km section which only took 15:19 for a 30:58 10km split. 

Awoke had begun to lose ground and only Chelimo and Alemayehu remained close to the pacesetter who dropped out of the race exactly at 12km with the clock reading 37:12, well on schedule to finish inside 1:06.

Over the following kilometres, Chelimo ran sandwiched between a number of male athletes, which helped to keep the pace fast enough to threaten her compatriot Florence Kiplagat's course record of 1:05:09 set in 2015 as another 15:24 5k split led to a 46:22 clocking at 15km. 

That kind of cadence proved to be too tough for Alemayehu, a 1:08:23 performer; the Ethiopian had lost 18 seconds on Chelimo by then.

Chelimo's rhythm slowed down a bit in the following 5km section, which she covered in 15:47, but she found another gear for a fast finish, crossing the line in 1:05:26; the third fastest clocking in the history of the event, only bettered by Kiplagat's 1:05:12 (2014) and 1:05:09 (2015) then world records.

Kenyan Elvis Cheboi finished third in the men's category in a race dominated by Ethiopians. Haftu Teklu won in 00:59:04 followed by Chala Ragasa in 00:59:08.

Additional reporting by World Athletics