Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko leads the elite list at the 8th edition of the Istanbul Half Marathon that will be held on 27th March, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Mateiko comes to this race with a personal best 58:26 which is among the ten fastest times in half marathon races.
Event organisers have named the main contenders for the men’s race which includes four runners on the start list with the personal bests which are faster than the current course record of 59:35 that was set last year by Kibiwott Kandie from Kenya.
The 24 year-old achieved a major breakthrough in 2021. First he broke the one hour barrier in Copenhagen with 59:25, then he improved by almost a full minute to 58:26 when he was third in Valencia.
Another top title contender is the 2016 World U20 Champion, Rodgers Kwemoi who is the second fastest athlete on paper and carries a personal best of 59:16 that he got last year at the Medio Maraton Valencia where he finished in position nine.
Ethiopians Solomon Berihu and Huseyidin Esa will travel to Istanbul carrying with the personal bests of 59:17 and 59:32 respectively. Berihu clocked his personal best when he finished in second place at the New Delhi in 2019 while Esa only emerged on the international road running circuit in autumn last year. The 21 year-old made an instant impact with a second place in Lisbon in 59:39 and then improved four weeks later at his second international race, winning the Poznań Half Marathon with his current Personal best.
Turkey will be represented by former Kenyan; Aras Kaya who will hope to do better than the last year’s edition where he finished 12th place with a time of 1:03.36. Kaya holds personal best of 1:00.51 which he got at the World Championships after finishing in 24th place.
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