World Half Marathon champion Sabastian Sawe led his compatriots to a Kenyan podium clean sweep in this year’s Prague Half-Marathon held today in the Czech Republic.
Sawe won the race in a course record time of 58 minutes and 24 seconds, lowering the previous course record set by Ethiopia’s Atsedu Tsegay in 2007 by 23 seconds.
Sawe, who finished seventh at the recent World Athletics Cross Country Championship in Belgrade, Serbia, also improved his personal best by 5 seconds.
Sawe took the lead from his compatriots, Geoffrey Toroitich Kipchumba and Patrick Kabirech Mosin, at the 10km mark.
Breaking away from his rivals after little more than five miles, the 29-year-old passed 10km in 27:32 and drew further clear as the race unfolded in the Czech Republic capital to win by more than a minute and a half.
Racing under blue skies by the banks of the Vltava River, Sawe improved Atsedu Tsegay’s long-standing event record of 58:47. He also ran a PB and rose to No.12 on the world all-time rankings.
Kipchumba finished second in 60 minutes and 02 seconds while Kabirech Mosin was third in 60 minutes and 15 seconds.
“I am absolutely happy that I managed to achieve my personal best and to break the race record as well,” he said. “I had a great run, the course was fast and enjoyable. The fans drove me forward, I didn’t experience any critical moment.
“Prague is a beautiful city. I liked it during my training, but today the beauty of the city got me completely,” added Sawe, who was a relatively late starter to international athletics.
The victory came seven days after he placed seventh in the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. On that occasion he was part of Kenya’s gold medal-winning men’s team but was only fourth scorer.
Ethiopia’s Gete Alemayehu won the women’s race with a time of 1 hour 08 minutes and 10 seconds. Jesica Chelangat finished second in 1 hour 08 minutes and 13 seconds. A record 15,500 runners from 115 countries took part in the Prague Half Marathon this year.
