Quick times on scenic course in Northern Ireland with Sesemann, Hauger-Thacker and Purdue among the Brits in action
Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya won the Condor Executive Antrim Coast Half Marathon on Sunday (Aug 24) in 59:51, while Mizan Alem of Ethiopia was first woman home in a swift 65:38.
Kamworor, 32, won the world half-marathon title in 2014, 2016 and 2018 in addition to the New York City Marathon in 2017 and 2019. In addition, he has won two world cross-country titles.
His big target in coming weeks is the Chicago Marathon on October 12. Here he went off hard but slowed down in the latter stages as fatigue took its toll, partly due to the warm conditions.
He follows in the footsteps of former winners such as Mo Farah.
Tadesse Getahon of Israel just pipped Phil Sesemann for second place as the duo clocked 61:21 and 61:22 with the Briton six seconds inside his PB.
Sondre Moen of Norway was a couple of seconds further behind in fourth followed by Hendrik Pfeiffer of Germany in fifth.
The Antrim Coast Half Marathon is regarded as one of the most scenic races in the world. The area has been used as a set location for, among other things, Game of Thrones, in addition to being the gateway to the Glens of Antrim, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and UNESCO world heritage site.
Women’s race winner Alem won the world under-20 5000m title in 2021 and AW readers will remember she won the women’s race at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in 2023 with a sub-30min performance.
Here the Ethiopian finished clear of runner-up Loice Chemnung of Kenya, who clocked 66:06.
Senayet Getachew of Ethiopia was third in 66:33 with Karoline Grovdal of Norway running 67:26 in fourth.
Lilian Kasait Rengeruk of Kenya was fifth in 67:36, while Dakotah Popehn, the American who finished 12th in the Olympic marathon last year, ran 67:42 in sixth.
Calli Hauger-Thackery was aiming to give Eilish McColgan’s UK record of 65:43 a scare but she faded to 69:36 in seventh place.
Hauger-Thackery is set to run the 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo before the Chicago Marathon.
READ MORE: Chicago Marathon line-ups
Charlotte Purdue, another top British marathoner, might also be disappointed to run outside 70 minutes in eighth although she has been troubled by injuries and has only been back in training for a couple of months.
