{"id":172,"date":"2012-04-01T09:38:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T09:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/?p=172"},"modified":"2012-04-01T09:38:15","modified_gmt":"2012-04-01T09:38:15","slug":"tsegay-wins-prague-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/news\/tsegay-wins-prague-half","title":{"rendered":"Tsegay wins Prague Half"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Atsedu<\/a>

Atsedu Tsegay wins Prague Half Marathon 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Deposed champion in today\u2019s Hervis Prague Half Marathon, Philemon Limo was in little doubt of the quality of Atsedu Tsegay\u2019s winning run. \u201cIf there had been no wind today, this guy would have broken the world record,\u201d opined the Kenyan.<\/p>\n

Tsegay of Ethiopia ran away from Limo and his colleague Henry Kiplagat after 15k in cold and windy conditions in the Czech capital this lunchtime (Saturday, 31). Those who thought he had accelerated too early were soon disabused of their doubts, when Tsegay, a 20 year old from Addis Ababa just went further and further away from his pursers, eventually shattering Limo\u2019s course record, by close to a minute, in clocking 58min 47sec, the fastest time in the world this year.<\/p>\n

Tsegay readily agreed with Limo, saying, \u201cIt was very difficult today, very windy. In my next race, I would like to try and break and the world record\u201d. That belongs to Zersenay Tadesse of neighbouring Eritrea, with 58.23, which he ran in Lisbon just over two years ago.<\/p>\n

Had there been a world cross country championships this year \u2013 the athletics authorities have gone to a biannual format \u2013 we may have been applauding Tsegay as the new world champion, because he won the Ethiopian title a few weeks ago, and would certainly have been a handful for anyone the Kenyans could have fielded. Limo, for example was 7th in last year\u2019s world cross; and is well aware of Tsegay\u2019s pedigree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew he would be difficult, because he beat me in Marseille last year. We held him until 15k today, but after 15k it was impossible,\u201d said Limo, who eventually finished third in 60.03, two seconds behind Kiplagat.<\/p>\n

The Marseille to Cassis road race last October that Limo was referring to is on a very tough undulating course, and Tsegay broke that record too, as well as the 10k course record in another earlier French race, in Langueux. His previous half-marathon best was almost one year ago in Rabat, Morocco, where he clocked 61.12, so this comprehensive demolition of that time, in addition to his recent victories signal a major shift upwards in Tsegay\u2019s career, after an unspectacular international debut as a junior shortly after he began training seriously three years ago.<\/p>\n

Tsegay\u2019s immediate preoccupation is to make the Ethiopian team for the Olympic Games, where he will be more than a match for any of his colleagues at 10,000 metres at the moment, if he can translate his form, and pugnacious running style, to the track.<\/p>\n

Kiplagat was satisfied with his debut at the distance, just outside the hour, and Limo, who in 59.30 last year, said, \u201cToday was not my day; you can\u2019t run well every time, so I\u2019m happy with third place\u201d.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s race too was decided at 15k, when Joyce Chepkirui of Kenya eased away from her more favoured colleague, and defending champion, Lydia Cheromei, and another Kenyan, Gladys Cherono.<\/p>\n

The trio finished in that order, with all of them running personal bests, headed by Chepkirui\u2019s course record of 67.03, which was a personal best by over two minutes, and beat Cheromei\u2019s former best by exactly 30 seconds. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect to beat Lydia,\u201d said Cheromei, \u201cbut I got away from her at 15k, and I\u2019m very happy with my new personal best\u201d. Incidentally her coach and husband, Erick Kibet finished tenth in the men\u2019s race in 62.32.<\/p>\n

Cheromei bettered her time from last year by seven seconds, with 67.26, and signalled her intent to return for the Prague Marathon on May 13, to defend her title and course record then. Cherono also had a significant improvement today, with 68.18, like Chepkirui, a new best by over two minutes.<\/p>\n

This Hervis Prague Half-Marathon was the biggest ever field for a mass race in the Czech Republic (close to 11,000 starters); and is just the first of a series of races staged by the organisers around the country under the aegis of www.RunCzech.com.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/p>\n

MEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atsedu TSEGAY\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 58.47
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Henry KIPLAGAT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 60.01
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philemon LIMO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 60.03
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 32\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josphat BETT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 61.01
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Senteyehu MERGA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 61.02
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kenneth KIPKEMOI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 61.25
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geoffrey KANYAJUA\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 61.52
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dawid WOLDE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0 62.19
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel WANJIRU\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 62.31
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 27\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erick KIBET\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 62.32<\/p>\n

WOMEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Joyce CHEPKIRUI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 67.03
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lydia CHEROMEI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 67.26
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gladys CHERONO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 68.18
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rose CHELIMO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0 71.35
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tetiana GAMERA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 UKR 72.15
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 F23\u00a0\u00a0 Lyudmila KOVALENKO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 UKR 73.35<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deposed champion in today\u2019s Hervis Prague Half Marathon, Philemon Limo was in little doubt of the quality of Atsedu Tsegay\u2019s winning run. \u201cIf there had been no wind today, this guy would have broken the world record,\u201d opined the Kenyan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111,5,12,1],"tags":[66,124,30,81],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-czech","category-featured","category-half","category-news","tag-66","tag-atsedu-tsegay","tag-half-marathon","tag-prague"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}