{"id":76,"date":"2012-02-09T12:41:42","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T12:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/?p=76"},"modified":"2012-02-09T12:41:42","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T12:41:42","slug":"rak-half-marathon-2012-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/news\/rak-half-marathon-2012-preview","title":{"rendered":"RAK Half Marathon 2012 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Geoffrey<\/a>

Geoffrey Mutai <\/p><\/div>\n

The sixth RAK Half Marathon on February 17th, now a well-established IAAF Gold Label Road Race, promises even more than the usual fare in this tiny corner of the United Arab Emirates, which is saying a great deal for a race that can boast a number of world records and dozens of personal bests from the elite in the previous five editions, including Mary Keitany\u2019s astonishing 65:50 world record just twelve months ago.<\/p>\n

In both Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s line-ups, the names confirmed make clear that the RAK event is now widely identified as a perfect form-indicator and preparatory race for those elite men and women planning an April marathon which, this coming spring marathon season, might secure them an Olympic team berth.<\/p>\n

The tiny but lion-hearted Keitany returns to the scene of this clockwise loop race that last year projected her towards a 2:19:19 victory in London eight weeks later and her inevitable status as one of the favourites for Olympic Marathon gold later this year. In spite of her ill-judged pacing and subsequent third place in New York last November – she reached half way at close to world record tempo, only to slow dramatically to a 2:23:38 clocking – it is hard to imagine a Kenyan Olympic squad without the 30 year old, but she will know that many more eyes watch her every result now than prior to record-shattering run at RAK 2011.<\/p>\n

In addition, Keitany has returned gently to training after her wedding last December 31st and admits to not being in World Record shape, but in \u201conly\u201d around 67 minute form. She will need to be, because lined up against her is a high calibre field with no less than seven other athletes who have broken 70:00 for the half marathon, the fastest being Caroline Cheptanui Kilel (68:16), significantly the Boston Marathon champion last year in 2:22:36.<\/p>\n

For their part, with nine boasting sub 60 minute bests, the men can justifiably claim a harder victory will be fought out after the early morning starter\u2019s gun, particularly when one remembers that every one of the five editions so far has been won in well under the hour. Last year\u2019s champion Deriba Merga does not run but in his place are several marathoning luminaries of 2011 from Kenya, such as Geoffrey Mutai, the fastest marathon runner ever after his wins last year in Boston (2:03:02) and New York (2:05:06), Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich who won in Otsu (2:06:13) and then Frankfurt (2:03:42), and Wilson Chebet, the Rotterdam (2:05:27) and Amsterdam (2:05:53) champion.<\/p>\n

To underline the strength of the men\u2019s line-up, other runners that just miss top billing such as Ethiopia\u2019s Tsegay Kebede, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist and one of the most consistent marathon runners of the last four years, and Lelisa Desisa who won the Delhi Half Marathon in 59:30 in late November, would top the start list at most races. Likewise, after placing second here last year (59:44), Bernard Kipyego now knows the RAK course and with five sub 60 minute clockings in the last three years as well as the strength of a 2:06:29 third place in Chicago last October, will be a strong contender for a podium spot.<\/p>\n

With pacemakers lined up for both Men and Women, two lightning quick races are in prospect once again in RAK. General entries have risen to almost 3,000 – a not insignificant number in the Emirates – and if conditions are good, who knows where this year\u2019s times might get down to.<\/p>\n

The RAK Half Marathon will be held on 17 February 2012 and is an IAAF Gold Label Race (Silver Label 2009, 2010, 2011) and a full member of the Association of Marathons and Distance Running (AIMS).<\/p>\n

The RAK Half Marathon 2012 is presented by Saqr Port and supported by adidas, UPS, Al Ain Water, Capri Sun, RAK Hospital, Outdoor UAE, La Luna and RAK Police.<\/p>\n

MEN
\nWilson Kipsang Kiprotich\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 58:59
\nBernard Kipyego\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:10
\nWilson Chebet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:15
\nLelisa Desisa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:30
\nGeoffrey Mutai\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:30
\nTsegay Kebede\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:35
\nAzmeraw Bekele\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:39
\nKiplimo Kimutai\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:44
\nFabiano Joseph\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TAN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59:56
\nLevy Matebo Omari\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 60:06
\nJoseph Nganga Maregu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 60:24
\nFeyisa Lelisa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 60:33
\nDennis Kipruto Koech\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 61:30A<\/p>\n

WOMEN
\nMary Keitany\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 65:50
\nCaroline Cheptanui Kilel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 68:16
\nHilda Kibet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 68:39
\nFeysa Tadesse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 68:44
\nAniko Kalovics\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HUN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 68:58
\nGeorgina Rono\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 69:08
\nGladys Cherono\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 69:26
\nRose Chelimo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 69:45
\nSerena Burla\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 70:08<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sixth RAK Half Marathon on February 17th, now a well-established IAAF Gold Label Road Race, promises even more than the usual fare in this tiny corner of the United Arab Emirates, which is saying a great deal for a race that can boast a number of world records and dozens of personal bests from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77,"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":[12,11,1,80],"tags":[84,83,82,81],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-half-marathon","category-news","category-pre-event","tag-84","tag-geoffrey-mutai","tag-mary-keitany","tag-rak-half-marathon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}