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Kenya’s top half marathon runners got a glimpse of conditions in Prague on Wednesday with an evening training session after getting a clean health certificate after mandatory Covid-19 testing.
They are among a strong team of more than 30 riders invited to a special race in the Czech capital on Saturday, chasing world road racing records.
Hosted by athletics management company RunCzech, tomorrow’s contest has been endorsed by shoe giants Adidas, who are hoping their new Adizero Adios Pro range can win back some records from their staunch rivals Nike.
One of Saturday’s best runners is Kenya’s national cross-country champion Kibiwott Kandie, who started the 2020 season well, winning the cross-country title and then the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon crown before Covid-19 stopped the season. in March.
“The pandemic brought some problems, but I have to do everything possible for the ‘Prague Reboot’ project,” he said on Wednesday from the Czech capital.
“My training was interrupted, group training stopped and I had to train alone or with one person. As for form, I am at the same level as before the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February. My tempo test several weeks before that race and now they are almost the same.
World record for women only
“For me, not competing for long periods is not a big problem, as I can race competitively without needing a lot of opportunities,” he said.
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The runners will strive to get closer to, or perhaps beat, Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor’s world record for the 58-minute 1-second half marathon, and Ethiopian Netsanet Gudeta’s world record for distance only (1:06: eleven ).
Kandie’s personal best time is 58:58.
Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu (59:10) is also in the elite men’s field for Saturday and believes he can overcome the 59-minute barrier. “It felt strange to fly with all the (Covid-19) restrictions in place, but we have to get used to it,” he said Wednesday.
“It’s good to be back in Prague and compete. I hope to break the 59:00 barrier this weekend and do well against a strong field.
Peres Jepchirchir, former Kenyan half marathon world record holder (1:05:06) leads a strong women’s team and is equally optimistic.
“I am happy to be back in Prague and I am in very good shape, aiming to run faster than 66 minutes,” he said on Wednesday.
“I hope other athletes will cooperate and that we can try to break the only women’s world record of 66:11. That will be very good for all of us and especially for the organization (RunCzech) that made an effort to have the event during the Covid19 pandemic.
