Ras Al Khaimah: Turkey's two- time Olympic silver medalist Elvan Abeylegesse struck gold in her half-marathon debut in Ras Al Khaimah yesterday by setting a new course record time of 1:07:07. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the men's race with a time of 59:43.
The RAK Half Marathon 2010 lived up to its reputation of being one of the fastest courses with four men crossing the finish line in under 60 minutes and eight women breaking the 70-minute mark.
Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia finished runner-up with a timing of 1:07:13 as Elvan crowned her arrival in the half-marathon scene. Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia finished third with a timing of 1:07:22.
Among the men, Mutai finished first with a comfortable six-second lead over Ethiopian Tadese Tola at 59:49. Titus Masai of Kenya finished third with a timing of 59:51.
The 21.0975km event was held under the patronage of Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. As many as 1,440 runners from across the globe participated in the contest of a total prize money of $250,000 (Dh917,500).
Elvan said she tried to set a world record but was happy with the new course record. "It was my first run and I didn't know my opponents and that was the challenge. I tried for the world record. It didn't happen, but will try next time."
Geoffrey Mutai had succeeded in establishing a lead at 20km mark. "It is a very fast course but today there was a bit of humidity. As we reached 18km, I started pushing ahead," Mutai said.
