Olympic champion Jepchirchir starts favourite in RAK Half Marathon

Reigning Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir leads the Kenyan long-distance battalion tomorrow at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates.

Jepchirchir, who has been drafted into the Kenya team for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, will have the company of compatriots Margaret Chelimo, Irene Cheptai and Catherine Reline among others.

The three-time World Half Marathon champion—Cardiff (2016),  Gdynia (2020) and Riga (2023) is the most experienced athlete in the field having also won the 2021 New York Marathon, Boston Marathon (2022) as well as silver at the the 2023 London Marathon.

Jepchirchir will face stiff competition from  Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh who holds the world half record of 64:31 minutes set on the same course during the 2020 edition.

Chelimo, who is the 2019 world 5,000m silver medallist in Doha and the 2022 world 10,000m bronze medallist in Oregon can not be ruled out.

Chelimo is one of the most consistent runners having also won silver at the World Road Running Championships in Riga behind Jepchirchir. Chelimo has a personal best time of 64:46 in the half marathon. 

Reline, the bronze winner at Riga, will be the other athlete to watch. She has a personal best at 65:39 set during the same event. Cheptai, who will be making her marathon debut next month in  Hamburg has her time at 64:53.

Others in the mix include the Ethiopian pair of Tsigie Gebreselama (65:46) and Bosena Mulatie (65:46) and Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen at 65:41.

Antrim Half Marathon champion Daniel Mateiko starts favourite in the men's category. Mateiko will be up against compatriots Kennedy Kimutai, Bernard Kibet, and Alex Korio.

 Mateiko has the best time in the field at 58:26 but has to deal with Kimutai who is two seconds shy and Ethiopian Seif Tura at 58:36 to realize his dream of living up to the favourite tag.

Also to watch will be Ethiopians Amedework Walelegn (58:40), Tadese Worku (58:47) and Birhanu Legese (58:59) alongside Kenya's Kibet (58:45) and Korio (58:51).