Sawe shifts focus to Prague half marathon

A seventh-place finish at the just-concluded World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade may not have been ideal for Sebastian Sawe, but the Kenyan has little time to dwell on that as he heads to Prague half marathon on 6 April. 

The world half marathon champion was seen as one of the challengers for gold that was retained by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo but he could only manage a similar performance as his Team Kenya debut in Bathurst last year. 

His seventh place helped Kenya win team gold. 

As he heads to the 'City of a Hundred Spires' as the Czech Republic capital is referred, Sawe will be hoping to put that performance behind him and chase yet another victory in the half marathon, a distance he seems to excel in more.

Carrying a 58:29 personal best (PB) from his win at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon, Sawe is the fastest on paper in the Saturday race and will come under heavy fire from compatriot Geoffrey Toroitich, the other sub-one-hour runner on the field with a 59:13 PB. 

The other Kenyan on the elite field is Gideon Kiprotich who holds a 1:00:28 PB. 

Uganda's Maxwell Rotich who heads to the race with a 1:00:06 PB from last year's Praha half presents the Kenyan trio with what will likely be their toughest challenge in the race with Ethiopian Haftamu Abadi Gebresilase (1:00:27) also in the mix. 

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Meanwhile, the women’s charge is led by Nigsti Haftu who holds a PB of 1:06:17, just 17 seconds shy of Irene Kimais' winning time from last year. 

Kenya's Jesca Chelangat and Vivian Melly (1:07:35) carry the country’s hopes for a medal. 

Men's elite field

Sabastian Kimaru Sawe 🇰🇪 PB 58:29

Geofry Toroitich 🇰🇪 PB 59:13

Maxwell Rotich 🇺🇬 PB 1:00:06

Haftamu Abadi Gebresilase 🇪🇹 PB 1:00:27

Gideon Kiprotich 🇰🇪 PB 1:00:28

Ahmed El Jaddar 🇲🇦 PB 1:00:40

Yakoub Labquira 🇲🇦 PB 1:00:47

Women's elite field

Nigsti Haftu 🇪🇹 PB 1:06:17

Gete Alemayehu 🇪🇹 PB 1:06:37

Jesca Chelangat 🇰🇪 PB 1:07:03

Anchinalu Dessie 🇪🇹 PB 1:07:30

Vivian Melly 🇰🇪 PB 1:07:35

Sultan Haydar 🇹🇷 PB 1:09:12

Tereza Hrochova 🇨🇿 PB 1:12:04

Meraf Bahta 🇸🇪 debut