B.A.A. Half Marathon – News – Champions Crowned at B.A.A. Half Marathon

Champions Crowned at B.A.A. Half Marathon presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund

More than 6,300 participants competed in New England’s signature half marathon

BOSTON (13-Nov) – The 2022 B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, made its triumphant return to Franklin Park this morning, as more than 6,300 athletes completed the 13.1-mile race along the Emerald Necklace Park System. At the front of the field, Kenyans Geoffrey Koech and Viola Chepngeno prevailed as men’s and women’s open division champions, while Americans Daniel Romanchuk and Jenna Fesemyer set new course records in the men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions. Preliminary results can be found here.

Despite sporadic rain throughout the morning, participants covered the challenging course through Boston and Brookline with smiles and enthusiasm. Among the finishers were more than 400 athletes representing the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jimmy Fund, raising more than $450,000 to defy cancer.

With a ferocious sprint into White Stadium, Chepngeno claimed the women’s open win in 1:10:40, just three seconds in front of Ethiopia’s Bosena Mulatie. Chepngeno, Mulatie and Hiwot Gebrekidan (Ethiopia) ran a majority of the race together, but it was ultimately the B.A.A. Half Marathon debutant in Chepngeno having the best finish of all.

“I’m happy. So, so happy,” said a smiling Chepngeno. “The rain was cold. But I am happy so much!”

Gebrekidan was third in 1:11:09, with B.A.A. High Performance Team member Erika Kemp finishing as the top American, seventh in 1:12:13. Team USA Olympians Molly Huddle and Molly Seidel placed 12th (1:13:29) and 16th (1:16:22), respectively.

As a pack of a dozen runners led the men’s race through 10K, it was Koech taking the reigns at mile 9. While Tsegay Kidanu (Ethiopia), Zouhair Talbi (Marocco), and Teshome Mekonen (USA) did their best to keep close, it was Koech who stormed out of Franklin Park Zoo in front and wound up winning in 1:02:02. Kidanu and Talbi rounded out the podium in 1:02:10 and 1:02:15, while Mekonen placed fourth in 1:02:28 as the top American finisher. This was Mekonen’s first race as an American citizen.

“The race was good, I am happy in Boston,” noted Koech, who said he came into the race briming with confidence. When did he know he had victory sealed? “The last 5K, all of the twisting [turns before the finish].”

Just a…