Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor on Sunday set up a new world record of 58min 01sec at the Copenhagen Half Marathon. He surpassed the previous record set by his fellow countrymen Abraham Kiptum in Valencia last year with as much as 17 seconds. Geoffrey won the marathon with a surprisingly large margin of 75 seconds ahead of another Kenyan, Benard Kipkorir Ngeno.

'Emotional moment'

Speaking on his victory, Geoffrey Kamworor said, “It is very emotional for me to set this record. And doing it in Copenhagen, where I won my first world title, adds something to it.” He also mentioned that, “It really wasn’t my plan to pull away after 10K, but it was the right time to do it. And the wind turned out not to be a problem.”

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According to reports, 26-year-old Geoffrey is a three-time World Half Marathon Champion. He recently won the Kenyan trials at 10000 meters. Defying the rains with over 37 minutes on the clock, Geoffrey broke away from the entire pack and raced alone for the final 11 kilometers. He covered five kilometers with a swift 13min 31sec time and reached 15 kilometers in 41min 03sec. He slowed his pace down slightly in the final quarter but still managed to stay inside the world record pace.

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Ethiopian victory in the women’s race

Birhane Dibaba Adugna of Ethiopia won the women's race crossing the finish line in 65min 57sec. She was the winner of the 2018 Tokyo Marathon. In the first 15 kilometers, her pace was followed by three Kenyans, but at the closing stage Evaline Chrichir stood second and 25 seconds behind her was Dorcas Jepchirchir Tuitoek coming in third.

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