Victor Chumo clocked a new personal best of 59:58 to clinch the Barcelona Half Marathon last weekend.
Prior to the race, Chumo, 33, had a personal best of 60:03 minutes set last year in Lille and the victory saw him register the elusive sub-one hour record.
Chumo, who was paced by the duo of Cornelius Kiplangat and Boniface Kibiwot, was among the leading pack in the race which kicked off at a moderate tempo as the large main group went through the opening 5km in 14:18.
The rhythm then heated up over the following kilometres with the lead pack reaching 10km in 28:04, well on schedule to attack the course record of 59:44 set in 2018.
Six men Chumo and Moses Koech, Uganda’s Stephen Kissa and Mande Bushendich, and Eritrea’s Abrar Osman and Ethiopia’s Tesfahun Alkanew remained in contention.
Chumo, the 2014 Corrida Pedestre International de Houilles road race winner eventually prevailed clipping five seconds from his previous best with Kissa and Koech next in 1:00:00 hour. Chumo said he was pleased with the new time he set which quenched his thirst to run in under one hour. “I have been looking for an under 60 minute time for so long so I’m very satisfied with my win and my timing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Benson Kipruto and Lucy Cheruiyot began their 2020 season on a high, claiming the 34th Electrolit Guadalajara Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race on Sunday, although the course records set one year ago remained intact.
