Rising long-distance star Dennis Kipkogei smashed the course record at the Gutenberg Mainz Half Marathon on Sunday. Clocking 59:14 the Kenyan placed the upcoming German race firmly on the international map for high-class half marathon racing. The only national half marathon that currently produces faster results than Mainz is Berlin.
It was only Kipkogei’s second race outside Kenya after finishing runner-up at the Berlin Half Marathon in March, where he ran most of the distance as a pacemaker. After his stunning performance in the German capital the 24 year-old now showed that this was not a one-off. Dennis Kipkogei could well become Kenya’s next great long distance runner. In Mainz he was more than a minute ahead of his rivals. Fellow Kenyans Kelvin Kipruto, who ran his debut, and Jamal Kiprono took second and third with 60:25 and 60:29 respectively.
“We are very pleased that we were able to break both course records for the third time. A winning time of sub one hour is of course something special. With that result we are currently the eleventh-fastest half marathon in the world this year – that is quite an achievement,” said Race Director Jo Schindler. The organisers had registered 12,960 entries for the half marathon. Including races at shorter distances over 17,500 athletes were registered.
The initial pace of the men’s leading group was very fast and the first split times even suggested finishing times of well under 59:00. As expected it was Dennis Kipkogei, who broke away after around 10k and then built a substantial lead. It was only in the final kilometres that the Kenyan was unable to maintain his blistering pace in warm weather with temperatures of around 20 Celsius. He narrowly missed his personal best of 59:11 from Berlin. “I came here to break the course record and I am happy that I managed it. I had a problem with my hamstring so my body did not feel that good. Otherwise I could have run even faster,” said Dennis Kipkogei, who improved the previous course record of 60:50 by over a minute and a half to 59:14. “If I am selected I will compete at the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen in September.”
While the three runners behind him finished inside the former course record, Tom Thurley was the best German runner. The national marathon champion finished eleventh with 64:07, missing his PB by eleven seconds. “My next goal is an autumn marathon and I will try to improve to under 2:10,” he said.
LEADING RESULTS
- Dennis Kipkogei KEN 59:14
- Kelvin Kipruto KEN 60:25
- Jamal Kiprono KEN 60:29
- Joshua Mengich KEN 60:36
- Jonathan Kamosong KEN 60:53
- Edward Koonyo KEN 61:07
- Enos Saat KEN 61:18
- Benard Kimeli KEN 61:27