France, Kenya shine at Fujairah Half-Marathon

Fujairah Traby Hmatou Laila of France and Evans Kiplagat of Kenya helped themselves to the women’s and men’s titles respectively at the inaugural Fujairah Half-Marathon here Friday.

Laila, originally from Morocco but now representing France, completed the 21km in a time of one hour, 23 minutes 48.26 seconds, with the next four places all going to runners from Ethiopia. Marima Hashim was second in 1:24:00.42, followed by Mehrat Al Namo in 1:24:14.46.

Kiplagat was uncatchable in the men’s race as he set a fast pace and never allowed the pack to come anywhere close to catching him. The Kenyan, who spent the last few months training at altitude back home in Nairobi, ended with a time of 1:05:11.43.

Riad Mustafa of Morocco and David Rutoh of Kenya tussled for second place, with a final burst from Mustafa ensuring he won their personal battle in 1:07:20.23, while Rutoh came in third in 1:07:22.09.

Kiplagat, who has wins at various races in Germnay, France and Netherlands already this year, thought he could have gone even quicker. “But it was humid today and I was slowing down considerably. At first I thought it was a flat course, but I realised that the mountain slopes were not helpful,” he said.

“But I like the setting here and it has been a good debut win for me. However, I think I could have done with a better time as I know I am capable of running much faster.”

Mustafa was thrilled with his second place and also the way he nipped ahead of Rutoh in the final stretch. “I was aware that the Kenyan who came first [Kiplagat] is a world-class runner and it would be difficult to match him. So I did the next best thing and kept pace with David [Rutoh] and took him on the last stretch,” Mustafa said.

Rutoh said: “I thought I would get some help from the other Kenyas. But Evans [Kiplagat] broke ahead early and increased the pace, so I thought I would give it at the end. But my best was not enough today, possibly due to the heat.”

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, was the chief guest and presented the prizes to the winners later in the evening.

Results

Men - 1. Evans Kiplagat (Kenya) 1hr 5min 11.43sec; 2. Riad Mustafa (Morocco) 1:07:20.23); 3. David Rutoh (Kenya) 1:07:22.09; 4. Stephen Chebogut (Kenya) 1:08:56.53); 5. Hafeed Al Shani (Morocco) 1:12:11.03).

Women - 1. Traby Hmatou Laila (France) 1:23:48.26); 2. Marima Hashim (Ethiopia) 1:24:00.42); 3. Mehrat Al Namo (Ethiopia) 1:24:14.46; 4. Belainas Yami (Ethiopia) 1:24:43.26); 5. Emebet Belwe (Ethiopia) 1:24:57.23).