Istanbul, April 4: Kenya’s 26-year-old world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich shaved 29 seconds from the world record as she emerged winner in the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon, timing a mind-boggling 1:04:02 on Sunday.
In the men’s category, world-record holder Kibiwott Kandie topped the race with a course record of 59:35, after challenging early leader Benard Ngeno with about 12 minutes remaining.
Chepngetich, winner of the event in 2017 and 2019, broke away from Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in the final stages to win by 38 seconds.
Hellen Obiri, the two-time world 5,000m champion, was third in 1:04:51.
This was Chepngetich’s third win in the Turkish city and her third improvement on the course record.
She won the 2017 edition in 1:06:19 seconds and 2019 in 1:05:30. (IANS)