Results and recap from the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon 2022 – part of the World Athletics Label Road Races elite series – as Hellen Obiri and Rodgers Kwemoi of Kenyan comfortably won the women’s race in bizarre racing conditions in the backend of the event on Sunday (27).
The race which started out very fast, was eventually affected by the windy conditions. There were some quick times from some of the leading runners in the opening kilometers, but their battle with the headwind in the second part of the race left them a bit disappointed as the closing distances showed a significant decline in pacing.
Hellen Obiri dominates N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon 2022
In the women’s competition, pre N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon 2022 favorite Hellen Obiri dominated in her return to Turkey after she clocked 1:04:48 to secure the win.
The Kenyan world cross country and two-time world 5000m champion ran 1:04:51 at the 2021 edition, but although she improved that time this year, the way she started out, we were expecting something close to a world-record performance.
Obiri, who ran very close to her pacemaker all the way, started off very fast – covering the opening 10K in 29:29 as she hunted a new personal best and perhaps course record. In fact, she stated that her goal entering the competition was to actually run sub-64 minutes.
However, the strong swirling wind made running difficult for the runners in the second half of the contest, as the Kenyan star slowed down to almost two minutes at 31:15 for the second 10k split.
Tsehay Gemechu of Ethiopia followed Obiri home in second place with a time of 1:05:52, while her compatriot Gudeta Bekelech clocked a new personal best of 1:06:35 for third place.
Rodgers Kwemoi runs away with N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon 2022 title
Kwemoi went out at a world record tempo in the men’s race, but similar to the women, he was unable to sustain that pace in the strong headwind and slowed down significantly in the latter part of the race.
Kwemoi covered the first 10k in 27:35 and went over the 15k mark at 41:34.
However, his race pace was reduced to about 28:30 for the second 10k, which was almost a minute slower than the way he started.
Nevertheless, the Kenyan dominated his chasers to win comfortably, breaking the tape with his arms held high above his head in a new course record of 59:14 to better the old mark of 59:35.
It was a 1-2-3 medal podium sweep for Kenya, with Daniel Mateiko finishing second with a time of 1:00:05 and countryman Emmanuel Bor third across the line at 1:00:20.
N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon 2022 results
Women’s Results
1 Hellen Obiri KEN 1:04:48
2 Tsehay Gemechu ETH 1:05:52
3 Bekelech Gudeta ETH 1:06:35
4 Vicoty Chepngeno KEN 1:06:58
5 Yasemin Can TUR 1:07:57
6 Medhin Gebreslassie ETH 1:08:27
7 Stella Rutto ROU 1:08:29
8 Nigsti Haftu ETH 1:08:32
9 Pauline Esikon KEN 1:09:11
10 Ludwina Chepngetich KEN 1:09:36
11 Moira Stewartova CZE 1:10:14
12 Meryem Erdoğan TUR 1:10:16
13 Abigael Jelimo Mutai KEN 1:10:19
14 Beatrice Nyaboke KEN 1:10:22
15 Kristina Hendel CRO 1:10:38
16 Daisy Kimeli KEN 1:10:55
17 Hanne Verbruggen BEL 1:13:58
18 Nuran Satılmış TUR 1:14:27
19 Neja Krsinar SLO 1:15:38
20 Santoshi Shrestha NEP 1:20:39
Men’s Top 20 Results
1 Rodgers Kwemoi KEN 0:59:15
2 Daniel Mateiko KEN 1:00:05
3 Emmanuel Bor KEN 1:00:20
4 Edmond Kipngetich KEN 1:00:30
5 Brian Kwemoi KEN 1:00:50
6 Tegegn Tamerat ETH 1:01:15
7 Isaac Kipkemboi KEN 1:01:40
8 Daniel Kiprotich KEN 1:01:43
9 Ashenafi Kiros ETH 1:01:44
10 Gerald Vincent KEN 1:01:47
11 Philimon Kiptoo KEN 1:02:02
12 Nicolae Alexandru Soare ROU 1:03:33
13 Hillary Kipchumba KEN 1:03:36
14 Ramazan Özdemir TUR 1:04:02
15 Vestus Chemjor KEN 1:04:39
16 David Chemweno KEN 1:04:53
17 Josphat Tanui KEN 1:05:15
18 Levente Szemerei HUN 1:05:27
19 Ömer Alkanoğlu TUR 1:05:51
20 Moses Too KEN 1:06:33
