The reigning half marathon world record holder Mary Keitany on Friday morning added another achievement to her chest after she claimed victory in the 6th edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the U.A.E.
Keitany fought against hard winds during the Asian event to take up the half marathon title 2012 at a time of 1:06:49. A clocking of 16 minutes for the fourth 5km section confirmed that it was a race of two halves for Keitany (first half 31:09, second half 32:03), but perhaps the strength of the wind was best underlined when splits showed that same 5km (to 20km) took the chasing group 16:32 although there was perhaps an element of watching each other therein.
For her part, with the finish in sight, the 30 yr old athlete pushed hard for the line, but even that last 1.1km took 3:37 (3:24 in her record run last year), as she crossed the line in 1:06:49, a time bettered by only three others in history.
Mary Keitany is the reigning half marathon record holder, a time set of 1:19:53 she set back in 2010 during the Berlin 25km road race. She won her 1st medal ever during the 2007 world road running championships after finishing 2nd behind Lorna Kiplagat.
Keitany began 2011 in record-breaking form as she won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a world record time of 1:05:50 which marked the first time a woman had run the distance in under 66 minutes.
She has also set a number of other records along the way, including a world record of 1:02:36 for 20 km and world best times for the 8 km and 10-mile markers. She is also the current London Marathon winner champion after clinching the title in at time of 2:19:19.
Source IAAF
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