Reigning champion Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda stole the show at the NN Seven Hills Run in Nijmegen on Sunday (18), a five-star certified road race by European Athletics Running for All.
In total, 34,000 runners took part across the programme - including 25,000 in the 15km - and a five-star certification guarantees entrants that race organisers have fulfilled a stringent and comprehensive set of safety and organisation checks.
Cheptegei raced to back-to-back victories over 15km in the men’s race Nijmegen, setting a world best of 41:05 to eclipse Kenyan Leonard Komon’s long-standing mark by eight seconds.
The Ugandan will be prolonging his stay in Europe for another week to take part in the European Athletics Endurance Summit in Skanderborg, Denmark on 24-25 November along with his coach Addy Ruiter.
There were a gamut of noteworthy performances in Cheptegei’s wake as well. Fresh from pacing Arne Gabius until 30km in the Frankfurt Marathon, Richard Ringer was fourth in a German record of 43:39, breaking a mark which had stood since 1974.
European 10,000m silver medallist Bashir Abdi was fifth in 43:40 with Belgian teammate Koen Naert, the European marathon champion in Berlin, sixth in 43:59.
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Susan Krumins also continued her excellent build-up to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on home soil in Tilburg with a third-place finish, breaking her lifetime best by nearly two minutes.
Krumins had opened up a small gap on her rivals at the 10km checkpoint in 31:44 (just one second shy of her lifetime best) and despite being reeled by Uganda’s Stella Chesang (47:19) and Kenya’s Evaline Chirchir (47:35), Krumins’ time of 47:41 still represented a sizeable improvement on her previous personal best of 49:30.
Krumins has set lifetime bests across a wide range of distances in recent weeks and the European 10,000m silver medallist will form part of a strong Dutch team in the senior women’s race in Tilburg which also features European 5000m champion Sifan Hassan and sub-four minute 1500m performer Maureen Koster.
The European Athletics Quality Road Race standards act as an assurance for road runners throughout Europe. They distinguish between races that respect the standards and those that haven’t sought certification or assessment, and form the foundation of Running for All, a strong, recognisable brand for running activities throughout Europe.
More information on Running for All:
Website: european-running4all.org
Contact: [email protected]
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Please click here or contact: [email protected]. The European Running Business Conference will take place in Prague from 6-8 September 2019 and registration for the conference is already open.