RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON ON SATURDAY: New regime, new course, but Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir returns

The fastest half marathon in the world is just 48 hours away. Special thanks to #VisitRasAlKhaimah, the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, for supporting the event and the exceptional presser held today. 

Watch for several upcoming stories today! 

This release is from Race-News-Service, one of our partners in global athletics and running coverage. Special thanks to Joerg Wenig. 

RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON ON SATURDAY:

New regime, new course, but Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir returns.

New regime, new course, but with Olympic and world champions and the usual array of speedsters, Saturday’s Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is virtually assured of the sort of fast times that have been a feature of the event throughout its 17-year history, including three women’s world records.

Pride of place both on the start list and at this morning’s press conference in one of the smaller emirates in the UAE were Olympic marathon and three-time world half-marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya and keeping the balance in the long-term East African distance running rivalry, world marathon champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia heads the men’s entry. The wild card, hoping to gatecrash the party, is Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany, who surprised the East Africans when she beat a dozen of them to win her debut half-marathon in Valencia in 2022.

Jepchirchir may neither be the fastest marathoner nor half-marathoner among current women long-distance runners. Still, she knows how to win races, an asset far more valuable than fast times. In the seven months between late August 2021 and mid-April 2022, she won the Olympic, New York, and Boston Marathons, a rare collective achievement. In her comeback marathon following an injury, she finished third in last year’s London Marathon. And she has won 12 of her 16 half-marathons. She is loath to admit her plans yet, but this RAK ‘half’ is perfectly scheduled as a springboard to going back to London in April to upgrade that third place.

Tola was similarly annoyed that an injury (stomach distress)  prevented him from successfully defending his 2022 world marathon title in Budapest last summer. Still, a speedy recovery saw him break the long-standing New York Marathon record with 2.04.58 three months later. He is one of the few elites to be making his debut in the RAK ‘half’, and the scale of his task may be judged by the fact that on paper, there are 15 men faster than his best of 59.37 set seven…