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The Kenyan middle-distance runner only had to run in Prague after breaking away from the pack after 20 minutes.
Kenyan runner Peres Jepchirchir broke the world record for a women’s-only half-marathon on Saturday in the 21.1KM in Prague.
The 26-year-old clocked 1:05:34 on 16.5 laps of the Letna Park oval course to erase Netsanet Gudeta’s previous best time of 1:06:11, set at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships.
Jepchirchir broke away from his rivals after just 20 minutes, passing 10 kilometers in 30:32. The lack of a pacemaker began to show itself as his pace slowed in the second half of the race, but he still finished well below the previous record.
“I thank God … I’m so excited … I’m satisfied with the result although I thought I could have run 64:50, but I thank God for what he has given me,” the 26-year-old told reporters then race.
“It was difficult to run alone. If I could have had (good) pacemakers I could have run 64 “.
This is Jepchirchir’s second world record in distance. In 2017 she clocked 1:05:06 in a mixed race in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, a record that was held for just under two months.
Later, at km 21.1 from Prague, the men hope to break 58:30, a time exceeded only twice in history.
Jep chirchir’s achievement comes a day after another record-breaking event in the Brussels Diamond League on Friday, September 4, where Sifan Hassan and Mo Farah set new one-hour world records.
Netherlands’ Hassan, who won 10,000m gold at last year’s World Championships, covered a distance of 18,930km, while four-time Olympic champion Farah broke Haile Gebrselassie’s best one-hour world record to set a new record of 21,330 km.
