© Copyright – 2020 – Athletics Illustrated
Jake Smith improved on his own British Under-23 half-marathon record, Saturday. In so doing he moved up to third on the all-time British list with a 60:31 performance at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, Saturday.
He kept a steady pace throughout, not getting caught up in the hoopla of the East African battle up front, but he wasn’t far off the lead either. He ran at a strong clip passing through two laps (10K) in about 28:45.
đđđ!
â British Athletics (@BritAthletics) October 17, 2020
đ€Ż @JakeSmith_run take a bow! Another British U23 Half Marathon as he clocks 60:31! #WorldHalfMarathon pic.twitter.com/dGEHTpLyUy
When he ran Into the final stretch, he could clearly see that he was having a great race. In the end, he took nearly 90 seconds off his own best performance over the distance. His previous personal best was 62:00 was set in February.
His 10K personal best was 29:01. He bettered that en route Saturday to approximately 28:45. His 5000m best is 13:47.91 from a race that took place last month in Manchester.
The men’s race
Joshua Cheptegei has broken three world records this year, the 5K road, and 5000m and 10,000m track distances. So, it was expected that he may pull the trick for his fourth world record at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships. He didnât. In fact, he finished fourth overall â but it was still a great performance.
Fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo stunned a deep field to win gold in a new championship record time of 58:49. The win didnât come easy though.
There was an exciting change of leads during the final two kilometres between Kenyaâs Kibiwott Kandie and Kiplimo before the 19-year-old took the lead for good.
Ten ran under 60-minutes, 17 under 61, 10 more under 62. Twelve national records were broken in the menâs race.
Top-three
Jacob Kiplimo â 58:49
Kibiwott Kandie â 58:54
Amedework Walelegn â 59:08