The Prague Half Marathon was won by Kenyan Sabastian Sawe, the reigning world champion, who broke the course record by 23 seconds.

Sawe finished in the time of 58 minutes and 24 seconds, which is also a new personal best. The performance is the 12th fastest half marathon of all time and the 2024 world lead. The women’s race was won by Ethiopian Gete Alemayechu Teklemichael.

The fastest Czech male runner was Patrik Vebr who clocked a 1:06:06 finish time. Last year he clocked 1:05:42 at the same event. The first domestic female runner was Tereza Hrochová in 1:14:19, her best is 1:12:04 from the České Budějovice in 2022. The Prague Half Marathon is a part of the SuperHalfs series. Due to more than 15 thousand participants, it has become the largest mass sports event in the Czech Republic and one of the biggest events in Central Europe.

Sawe

By the 10th kilometre, Sawe was running alone and won overwhelmingly. His compatriots Geofry Kipchumba and Patrick Mosin finished 1:37 and 1:51 back, respectively. Sawe has won six of the last eight half marathons he has competed in. The 28-year-old had a personal best of 58:29 from the 2023 Valencia Half Marathon — Prague was five seconds faster. In Brussels two years ago, he broke the world’s best-known time in the one-hour race making it to 21,250m (21.25K).

“I am absolutely happy that I managed to achieve my personal best and to break the race record as well. I had a great run, the course was fast and enjoyable. The fans drove me forward, I didn’t experience any critical moment,” said Sawe. “Prague is a beautiful city. I liked it during my training, but today the beauty of the city got me completely.”

Sawe spent several days in the city running the course and training in the local parks.

Teklemichael

Teklemichael led a pack of several women for the first few kilometres, then began to break away with Kenya Jesca Chelangat in tow.

Fellow Ethiopian Nigsti Haftu Tesfay and Teklemichael worked together for most of the race before, the pack which also included Vivian Melly and Sultan Hayer, began to spread out in single file.

With a kick, Teklemichael put space between herself and her competitors to cross the finish line in 1:08:10. Her personal best is 1:06:37 from Barcelona two years prior.

Hrochová

Hrochová entered the race with loaded legs, from training in the mountains.

“It was still snowing there sometimes, so it was a big temperature shock for me. Somewhere in the beginning my stomach started to hurt and only in the second half did it ease up. The beginning was pretty tough because of the weather and I got better only in the second half,” said Hrochová.

Results — top 10

  1. Sebastian Sawe – 58:23
  2. Geofry Kipchumba – 1:00:00
  3. Patrick Mosin – 1:00:14
  4. Gideon Rop – 1:00:44
  5. Jackson Muema – 1:01:59
  6. Mohcin Outalha – 1:02:03
  7. Fredrick Domongole – 1:03:20
  8. Yakoub Labquira – 1:03:30
  9. Peter Kipsirart – 1:03:31
  10. Ahmed Jaddar – 1:03:34

TOP RESULTS WOMEN HALF MARATHON

  1. Gete Teklemichael – 1:08:10
  2. Jesca Chelangat – 1:08:12
  3. Nigsti Haftu Tesfay – 1:09:29
  4. Vivian Melly – 1:09:32
  5. Sultan Haydar – 1:09:47
  6. Anchinalu Genaneh – 1:11:09
  7. Jennifer Gulikers – 1:13:53
  8. Tereza Hrochova – 1:14:18
  9. Lauren Hall – 1:15:29
  10. Nicole Egger – 1:17:01
Full results

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