KEITANY & KIPCHOGE READY TO ROLL AT RAK 2015 – 9th RAK Half Marathon in the northern most tip of the UAE

At the pre-race press conference, staged in the luxury beachside Race HQ hotel, and with less than 24 hours till the 9th RAK Half Marathon in the northern most tip of the UAE, the elite athletes looked relaxed, as cameras rolled and quotes were scribbled.

Despite their numbers having reduced significantly in the last few days – reigning RAK Champion Priscah Jeptoo the most notable drop-out – the race has ample quality in men’s and women’s fields to provide yet more drama.

Indeed, the anticipation of great racing and perhaps fast times, was almost tangible as the two favourites for this notoriously fast race faced the media. Kenya’s placid Mary Keitany, the second fastest in history at the half marathon distance, and her equally chilled compatriot Eliud Kipchoge are both seasoned campaigners, but come at this with career paths that could hardly be more different.

Keitany, fresh from winning the TCS New York City Marathon last November, is looking to build on her reputation as a devastating road racer, one in contrast to Kipchoge, with almost zero track racing experience.

She has however, won 15 of her 17 completed half marathons, and is odds-on favourite to produce yet another fast time, fast enough to show she’s ready to regain her London Marathon crown on April 26th.

Already twice a winner in RAK (2011-12), it was on her first visit to this event that she produced a then world record of 65:50, since broken by Florence Kiplagat. Keitany was keen to play down any record-chasing ambitions, preferring to reiterate that training had gone well on the back of being unbeaten in 2014, and that “she hoped to run well“. Anyone who knows the tiny but steely 32 year old mother of two, will know that she seldom makes a big pre-race sell.

Kipchoge, after an astonishing track career spanning the full decade from 2003 to 2012, during which he became one of the fastest in history at 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m, is enjoying his “new career“ as a road racer. Asked how he’d been able to transition from track to marathon with such apparent ease – he won both Rotterdam (2:05.00) and Chicago (2:04.11) marathons in 2014 – he said it simply came down to thoroughness of preparation and focus.

The 2003 5,000m world champion’s best for a half marathon (59:25) was set in September 2012, before he’d run his first full marathon, and the belief is that he can improve that mark substantially with the additional strength acquired over the last two years. With eyes darting around the room, this genial, eloquent 30 year old, has long operated in the shadow of Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, when in any other era, he’d have been hailed a superstar of once-in-a-generation talent. Now he is able to enjoy the limelight and threaten to achieve something special, something for which many observers believe “the time is right“.

The chances of his countryman, marathon world record holder Dennis Kimmetto – also present to receive his AIMS World Record Award – offering any advice were slim however, as they will meet in April’s Virgin London Marathon.

But that will not phase Kipchoge.

Kimmetto, winner of this race in 2012, will be a fascinated spectator as the race gets underway at 7am local time (GMT +4) while Kipchoge, Keitany and the rest of the small but powerful elite field will be focused on maximising their chance to record yet more lightening-fast times on this improved circuit around the city’s lagoon.

The unfolding drama of RAK Half Marathon 2015, can be followed Live at www.rakmarathon.org

Bib    Elite Men    Nat    PB     Bib                    Elite Women    Nat    PB
2     Eliud Kipchoge     KEN     59:25               52     Mary Keitany     KEN     65:50
3     Jonathan Maiyo     KEN     59:02            53     Meseret Hailu     ETH     66:56
5     Mosinet Geremew     ETH     59:11        55     Philes Ongori     KEN     67:38
8     Peter Kirui     KEN     59:22                    56     Worknesh Degefa     ETH     67:49
9     Mike Kigen     KEN     59:58                   58     Mamitu Daska     ETH     68:07
10     Daniel Wanjiru     KEN     59:58            59     Cynthia Limo     KEN     68:24
11     Abera Kuma     ETH     60:19               61     Josephine Chepkoech     KEN     68:53
12     Edwin Kiptoo     KEN     61:13                 
14     Tsegaye Mekonnen     ETH     61:39                 
19     Demessew Tsega     ETH     63:22                 
20     Charles Koech     KEN     61:27    

Source: RAK Half Marathon

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