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A unique twin brothers\u2019 triumph in a major international road race produced the unexpected highlight of the T\u00fcrkiye Is Bankasi Istanbul Half Marathon. Kenya\u2019s 27 year-old defending champion Alex Matata won the race in 60:01, just a step ahead of his twin brother Charles Matata who crossed the line in the same time. Ali Kaya was third with a personal best of 60:12 and won the Turkish Half Marathon Championships. In the women\u2019s race Purity Gitonga of Kenya triumphed with 66:50 while Ethiopia\u2019s pre-race favourite Ftaw Zeray had to settle for second in 66:57. Glenrose Xaba of South Africa took third with 67:03<\/strong><\/p>\n Race organiser Spor Istanbul registered a record number of over 19,000 runners for the 21st edition of the T\u00fcrkiye Is Bankasi Istanbul Half Marathon, which is a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race. This figure includes athletes who competed in the 10k race staged parallel.<\/p>\n In the men\u2019s race a big leading group passed 10k in 28:32 in fine weather conditions. A group of seven runners then formed during the next 5k section: Defending champion Alex Matata and his brother Charles, who was entered as a pacemaker but was given the option to finish the race, were running besides fellow-Kenyans Benard Murkumen, Moses Cheruiyot, Solomon Yego and debutant Robert Keter. Turkey\u2019s Ali Kaya completed the group. While the 59:15 course record was out of reach the Matata twins put on a memorable show. Taking the lead before the 18k mark they moved well ahead and were then unchallenged. In a close finish Alex Matata added another victory to his impressive half marathon record. Over the past two years he has run the distance 14 times, winning a dozen of those races.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am happy to have defended my title. However I competed slightly injured. During a training run I twisted my ankle yesterday, so it was not an ideal race for me,\u201d said Alex Matata, who had originally hoped to break the Istanbul course record. \u201eMy next goal is to run in the World Half Marathon Championships in September. There are no plans yet regarding a marathon debut.\u201d His second-placed brother Charles Matata improved his three year-old personal best by four seconds. \u201cIt was great running together, I will continue competing at the half marathon distance,\u201d said Charles Matata.\u00a0<\/p>\n The women ran a consistent pace throughout the race. After a 10k split time of 31:40 a group of five athletes passed 15 kilometres in 47:31: Ftaw Zeray, who was the fastest runner on the start list with her 65:12 PB, and fellow-Ethiopians Asmarech Anley and Zimam Redae were together with Kenya\u2019s Caroline Gitonga and South Africa\u2019s Glenrose Xaba. With less than three kilometres to go Purity Gitonga moved ahead while Ftaw Zeray could not close the gap in the final section of the race. \u201cIt was a good race, but it was not easy,\u201d said the 29 year-old winner, who had entered the race with a PB of 67:31 and improved this by 41 seconds. \u201cI will now run some races at shorter distances and also compete on the track in the summer. May be I will run another half marathon in the autumn, but there are no plans for a marathon debut yet,\u201d said Purity Gitonga, whose twin sister Caroline originally was on the Istanbul start list as well. With 66:26 she has a slightly superior PB than Purity. But Caroline Gitonga had to cancel her trip to T\u00fcrkiye due to an illness.<\/p>\n In tenth position Nursena Ceto became the Turkish Champion with a personal best of 71:27.<\/p>\n Results, Men:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Alex Matata \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 KEN 60:01<\/p>\n 2. Charles Matata KEN 60:01<\/p>\n 3. Ali Kaya TUR 60:12<\/p>\n 4. Benard Murkomen KEN 60:21<\/p>\n 5. Robert Keter KEN 60:40<\/p>\n 6. Moses Cheruiyot KEN 60:48<\/p>\n 7. Teresa Nyakola ETH 60:51<\/p>\n 8. Mengistu Bekele ETH 60:56<\/p>\n 9. Solomon Yego KEN 61:13<\/p>\n 10. Shura Kitata ETH 61:20<\/p>\n<\/div>\n