Sifan Hassan taking gold in the 10,000m, Doha WC, photo by PhotoRun.net
Hassan for WR
VALENCIA (ESP): Sifan Hassan is targeting the world record of 64:51 in the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday. Hassan, who holds the European record at 65:15 from the Copenhagen Half Marathon last September, will be paced by Morocco’s Yakoub Labquira and Dutchman Roy Hoornweg and they have been assigned the task of setting a pace of 3:04 per kilometre. The women’s race also features reigning world half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta (66:11) and Ethiopian teammates Senbere Teferi (65:45), Genet Ayalew (66:26) and Meseret Belete (67:51) and Kenya’s Fancy Chemutai, the second fastest in history with a 64:52 PB. The men’s race is headed by world indoor 3000m champion Yomif Kejelcha (his second half after 59:17 in Copenhagen) and Ethiopian teammate Jemal Yimer, who was second last year in a national record of 58:33. Organisers are offering a €70,000 world record bonus on top of an additional €30,000 bonus for a sub-58:00 performance for men and sub-1:04:30 for women. With help from IAAF.
