Ethiopia’s Gudeta shatters women’s half marathon record in Spain

Netsanet Gudeta Kebede of Ethiopia broke the Kenyan dominance in the World Half Marathon Championships by smashing the women’s-only race world record in Valencia, Spain on Saturday.

Kenyan women had conquered the podium at the previous two championships, however, at this race, Gudeta pushed on alone for 15 kilometers.

World record shattered

With a time of one hour, six minutes and 11 seconds, the 27-year-old shattered the previous record of 1:06:25 for a single-sex race set by Lornah Kiplagat at the 2007 International Association of Athletics Federation World Road Running Championships in Udine, Italy.

Gudeta finished 43 seconds ahead of Kenyan favorite Joyciline Jepkosgei who clocked 1:06:54.

Jepkosgei’s compatriot Pauline Kamulu took bronze with a time 1:06:56.

Kamworor claims men’s race

At the men’s race, the Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor won his third consecutive title with a time of 1:00:02.

He was followed by Bahrain’s Abraham Cheroben with 1:00:22 and Eritrea’s Aron Kifle with 1:00:31.