The 24th edition of the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships took place on the re-arranged date in Gdynia, Northern Poland on Saturday. Races used a 5.5km loop starting in the City Centre with the finish area utilising a purpose built surface on the City’s Beach on Gdansk Bay on the Southern Coast of the Baltic Sea.

First up was the women’s race, with cool temperatures of around 8oc when the 105 starters hit the roads, perfect for the blistering starting pace.

Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh was among the favourites for the title following her 64:31 world record at Ras Al Kaimah in February.

Other favourites included previous World Champions Peres Jepchirchir (2016), defending Champion Netsanet Gudetta, former world record holder Joyceline Jepkosgei and the hugely talented Rosemary Wanjiru who is the fastest debutant in history with 65:34 but is yet to claim a global title.

Championships are often known for their cagey racing but with so many of the world’s best in the field, fast times were expected with former World Record Holder Jepchirchir hinting in the pre-race press conference that world records could be possible.

Big group on World Record pace

A group of 12 athletes passed the 5km mark in 15:20 with 2016 Champion Jepchirchir and former world record holder Jepkosgei at the very front. The 10km mark was passed in 30:47 with seven athletes remaining in the leading group.

With around half a lap left to run, Yeshanah and Jepkosgei fell forcing a decisive move from 2016 Champion Jepchirchir, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Germany’s Melat Kejeta.

With a well timed sprint to the finish, it was a victory for Peres Jepchirchir in 65:16 to regain her title from Cardiff in 2016. After being on the front for most of the pack running, it was great to see the hard work put in by the Kenyan athlete throughout the race pay off in the final stages.

Kejeta claimed a Silver medal in 65:18 for with a European record for the German and with Ethiopian Yehualaw claiming Bronze in 65:19. All three podium finishers went under Jepchirchir’s women’s only World Record set in Prague in September.

Ethiopia claimed team victory in the women’s race with Kenya second and Germany finishing a surprise third.

Young British team gaining valuable champs experience.

Samantha Harrison was the leading Briton from start to finish, with the Charnwood AC athlete finishing in a time of 71:53 and in 47th place.

‘’I was really happy with that’’ said Harrison. ‘’The course was much tougher than I anticipated it being and it really took it out of your legs. I started off well but as the race wore on it all just started to take its toll’’.

‘’I’m happy with it for my senior debut, I gave it all that I could and I’m happy to be inside the top 50 on my first appearance in a British vest’’.

Becky Briggs was the second British finisher in 73:08 on her senior debut for Great Britain and Northern Ireland and as the youngest athlete in the race. ‘’I’m only 20 but what an amazing experience to be in the same race as some of these girls, especially when they’re breaking the world record like they have done today’’.

Clara Evans finished just behind in 65th place with 73:11.

Ann Marie-Mcglynn revised her own Northern Ireland record to 71:40, representing Ireland.

Jacob Kiplimo joins a long list of Federico Rosa represented athletes to win on the big stage Photo: World Athletics

Upset in the men’s event

Debutant Joshua Cheptegei began as the overwhelming favourite in the men’s race after setting World records on his last three outings with 26:11.00 for 10,000m in Valencia, 12:35.36 for 5,000m at the Meeting Hercules and 12:51 for 5km in Monaco back in February.

In the absence of defending Champion Geoffrey Kamworor who is recovering from being hit by a motorcyclist whilst training in Kenya, 19 year old Jacob Kiplimo was thought to be among the main challengers.

Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie (P.B. 58:38) and Ethiopia’s Guye Idemo Adola (59:06) were amongst the other main protagonists.

It became apparent early on that chasing world records wasn’t a priority for the leading African athletes which included Ugandan Cheptegei in his longest race to date.

Early warm up for some of the leaders

European Record Holder Julien Wanders (59:13) of Switzerland took out the early frontrunning with Briton Jake Smith also right at the front of the field in the early kilometres.

5km was passed in 14:19 with much of the field still intact. That group thinned to around 20 athletes just under the 20 minute mark and still featuring leading Briton Smith. 10km then came in 28:23 with Smith still in attendance.

It was indeed Kiplimo that made a decisive move at just under the 50 minute mark to surge clear of second placed Kandie with further daylight back to Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn and Cheptegei.

Kiplimo relied on his track pace, proved with a 12:48 clocking over 5,000m this summer to pull away from Kandie and to stun the world with a first senior global title in a world u20 best of 58:49. This was also a Championships best and a Ugandan national record by over a minute.

Kibiwott Kandie was next to finish in 58:54 with Walelegn claiming the Bronze medal in 59:08. Despite the upset, it was still a great debut for Cheptegei who was fourth in 59:21.

Kenya regained the team title from Cardiff, overcoming defending Champions Ethiopia and with Uganda claiming their first team medals at the Championships since 2004 with Bronze.

The British mens team pose with recent 5000 & 10000m WR breaker Joshua Cheptegei. Photo: British Athletics

Smith jumps up UK rankings

Jake Smith came home as the second European athlete in 18th place with an eye watering 60:31 setting a new national record for Wales, re-moulding Steve Jones’ record of 61:14. His time also sends Smith to third on the UK all the lists behind Mo Farah and Callum Hawkins.

Smith commented saying; ‘’When I came down that final straight and saw what I was at the 20km mark, I couldn’t believe it. I got a 10km PB along the way and I was with the main group when I did that and it was so good. In that last lap, I caught one of the Turkish guys and just worked with him and I knew once we were at the top of the hill, it was downhill all the way’’.

‘’I put everything into the downhill and tried to hang on as much as I could. I started crying happy tears on the home straight because I just couldn’t believe it’’.

‘’I couldn’t ask for a better team, we all get on so well and we were warming up as a group and I couldn’t ask for anyone else to share this with’’.

Mohamud Aadan was the second British man in 50th with 62:41 just 10 seconds of his P.B. from the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in 2018.

Kristian Jones claimed a new best of 63:05 in 60th place with fellow Celt Adam Craig 62nd in a new best of 63:12. Ultra-distance man Tom Evans finished 64th in a P.B. of 63:14. There was also a new P.B. for Loughborough based Irishman Kevin Seaward in 62:58.

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The re-arranged event takes place in Gdynia, Northern Poland. The race originally set to host mass races will now take place exclusively for the International fields of just under 300 athletes. The course will use four laps of 5.5km, finishing on a purpose built surface on the City’s Beach in Gdansk Bay on the Southern Coast of the Baltic Sea.

This will be the first World Athletics Series Event to take place since the Covid-19 lockdowns. ‘’It is clear that the entire community – athletes, national federations, coaches, athlete representatives – have risen to the challenge,” said Jacob Larsen, World Athletics director of Competition and Events (via World Athletics). “It is evident that this is something everybody wants to happen – and indeed are making it happen’’.

Cheptegei coming in with decent form

Joshua Cheptegei will be the resounding favourite for the men’s race. The Ugandan Athlete has set World records for 5,000m (12:35.36) and 10,000m (26:11.00) in recent months and a 5km World Record (12:51) falling to him in Monaco back in February. In fact the 24 year old has lowered world records at every one of his races this year making a new world record on Saturday a definite possibility.

A battle with World Half Marathon Champion Geoffrey Kamworor was originally expected in March but never happened with the event being postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

World Record holder Kamworor (WR: 58:00) is not named in the Kenyan Team so the greatest opposition will likely come from Compatriot Jacob Kiplimo who will also make his Half Marathon debut in Gdynia.

19 year old Kiplimo finished second to Cheptegei at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Aarhus on the day that Kamworor was de-throned as World Champion. Two years earlier he had claimed the global crown in the Junior Men’s race.

Instead the Kenyan Challenge will be led by Kibiwott Kandie who has a 58:38 best making him the fastest in the field and as the fifth fastest of all-time, should not be counted out. Abraham Cheroben of Bahrain is the second fastest with a best of 58:40.

Guye Idemo Adola will head the Ethiopian Team with a P.B. of 59:06 and a Bronze medal at the Championships in Copenhagen from 2014 to his name.

Kaan Kigen Ozbilen (P.B: 59:48) of Turkey is the fastest European entrant with his P.B. recorded at Ras Al Khaimah in 2019.

Jake Smith racing in Paris.

British team reduced by injuries

British hopes have been affected by a series of withdrawals, reducing the men’s team to five athletes.

Jake Smith will be the fastest Briton on Paper with a time of 62:00 recorded when finishing third at the Vitality Big Half in March behind Kenenisa Bekele and Chris Thompson. This was a third outing over the distance for the 22 year old who debuted with 64:03 in 2018, going on to run 62:03 at the Boulogne Billancourt Half marathon last November.

The Cardiff based athlete born in Bermuda then recorded a 28:00 time trial for 10,000m in July to test fitness coming out of the Covid-19 lockdown and followed up with a fourth place at the Muller British Championships over 5,000m in September.

Mohamud Aadan set his lifetime best of 62:30 on his way to seventh at the Commonwealth Half Marathon championships in Cardiff back in 2018.

Orienteers and ultra runners with some leg speed

Scottish based Welshman Kristian Jones has become a regular in British Teams of recent years and takes a 63:09 best in to the Championships, recorded at the Barcelona Half Marathon early in 2020. His most notable win to date was a victory at the British Athletics Stirling Cross Challenge in February.

Tom Evans P.B. of 63:15 came at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in September. This was just the latest eye-catching performance for the Ultra distance Specialist. Evans has medalled at the IAU World Trail running Championships and the infamous Marathon Des Sables. Evans proved that he was an athlete comfortable over any distance with a 13:41 clocking at the Podium 5k and a Bronze medal at the CAU Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships back in February.

Adam Craig (63:24) has come in to the team as a replacement for fellow Scotsman Callum Hawkins. This will mean a debut for Great Britain & Northern Ireland on the roads for the Inverclyde AC Athlete in just his second outing over the distance.

26.03.16 – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships 2016 – Elite womens runners on Roald Dahl Plas.

The women’s race is exciting

The women’s race will be more likely to see a competitive battle between former champions and some of the fastest athletes in history.

The Kenyan team will boast 2016 Champion Peres Jepchirchir (65:06) and former World record Holder Joyceline Jepkosgei (64.51). Rosemary Wanjiru (65.34) is the next fastest on an extremely strong Kenyan team with a 10km best of 29:50 set in Valencia.

Netsanet Gudetta (65:45) of Ethiopia is the defending Champion setting a women’s only world record of 66:11 in Valencia. That record fell to Jepchirchir with 65:34 in an elite only event in Prague last month.

Her compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh is faster yet with a 64:31 clocking to smash the world record held by Jepkosgei in a race where second placed Brigid Kosgei also dipped under the previous best mark.

Debuts for British women

Samantha Harrison is the fastest British challenger having clocked an impressive 71:01 to finish second at the Vitality Big Half in March after leading the race for some time.

Harrison, who describes running as ‘’her happy place’’ only began racing seriously in September 2018 and in late 2019 described a main goal for 2020 to be gaining selection for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships.

Clara Evans is set to make her debut for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team, selected off the strength of a 72:21 lifetime best set at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in September.

Becky Briggs will make her senior debut for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Poland. The 20 year old set her best of 72:54 in Northern Ireland last month, taking her to seventh in the British U23 all-time lists and becoming the third fastest U23 in Europe this year.

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Thompson was a shade outside his personal best as he took the British title at Sunday’s Vitality Big Half in 61:07, finishing second to Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) having disputed the lead for the first five miles, and the 38-year-old Briton earns his first British vest on the road, 22 years after making his track debut at the World Junior Championships.

Fresh from lowering the British Under-23 record for the half marathon to 62:00 in London, Jake Smith will also represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland on the roads for the first time, having made his British track debut at last year’s European Under-23 Championships in Gävle, Sweden.

Having finished as the third and fourth British athletes home at the trial, both Ross Millington and Mohamud Aadan declined selection for the championship.

Progressive selection policy

With the selection policy stating that automatic selection can be offered to the next eligible athlete if declined by auto-qualifiers (in part due to hard work by members of the Athlete’s Commission), 2017 British Marathon gold medallist Josh Griffiths earns his first British vest in almost three years courtesy of his eighth-place showing at the trials.

Doha team member Ben Connor, who has already clocked 61:34 for the distance in 2020, will look to improve on his individual 64^th place finish at the 2018 instalment of the championships in Valencia, while Matt Leach, who has twice run for Britain in the European 10,000m cup, completes the senior men’s team.

On the women’s side, Partridge earns her first British vest since the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and will look to better her 70:31 personal best clocking, set in 2015, when she takes to the start line in Poland. Sarah Inglis, who moved 13^th on the all-time British list with a strong run in Houston in January, also gains selection.

British debuts are handed to Samantha Harrison and Stephanie Davis, who clocked respective personal bests of 71:01 and 71:15 for second and third-place finishes at the Big Half, with fourth place finisher, Hayley Carruthers, also earning her first British vest.

Good to see a full squad going

Ahead of the championship, team leader Chris Jones said: “The full squad of 10 for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia showcases some of Great Britain’s most in-form athletes over the distance, exemplified by the performances at the trials and the form we have seen already this season.

“The team we have selected shows a good range of previous British international experience and features new names to the international scene and I hope this strength will be reflected in the overall outcome.

“The championships will serve as an excellent opportunity for athletes to continue their upward trajectory on the roads and I hope that we can achieve a strong team position overall.”

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