The Man of All Surfaces: Geoffrey Kamworer
It was another glorious day for Geoffrey Kamworor and Asmarech Anley, and their fans, as they won the 2026 RAK Half Marathon men’s and women’s titles, respectively.
Displaying remarkable self-assurance, Kamworor positioned himself just behind the two frontrunners immediately after the start, signalling his intent for a swift race.
After passing the first 5 km in 13:50, Kamworor appeared slightly impatient and drew level with Kipsaisak, who was leading. He soon surged to the front, increasing the pace and causing the pack to thin out behind him.
Five men crossed the 10km point at 27:42 as Kamworor maintained the relentless pace.
With only Ethiopia’s Balew Birhanu giving company to three Kenyans, Kamworor, Gideon Ronoh and Samwel Masai, the pace seemed to slow slightly as a pack formed of the four runners. But Jemal Mekonen, who had lagged behind the leaders, closed the gap again.
At around 14km, Kamworor injected the pace again, and fellow Kenyan, Masai, was the first one to drop back.
After 15 km, which he covered in 41:25, Kamworor shifted to a different gear and pulled away from the rest, who then followed him in single file. The man of all surfaces, three-time world half-marathon and three-time world cross country champion, continued to extend his lead, focusing his eyes on the front and running his own race.
With 1 km to go, Balew kicked hard and appeared to be closing the gap, but Kamworor was probably oblivious of that as he went on to win the race in a world-leading 58:14, eight seconds ahead of Balew. Rono finished third in 58:36.
When a race packed with some of the world’s top elites starts out at a relatively slower pace, the closing stages often turn into a fast and exciting climax.
The women crossed the 5km point in 16:32, which was a slightly modest pace compared to the men’s and a larger group of women remained in the lead pack. The leaders then crossed the 10 km point in 32:45 in a huge pack of 15 runners.
The pace increased slightly as they approached the 12 km mark. By the time they reached the 15 km point, which they crossed in 48:26, the leading group had narrowed down to just five runners. This pack consisted of three Ethiopians—Melknat Wudu, Aselef Kassie, and Asmarech Anley—two Kenyans —Jesca Chelangat and Cynthia Chepkwony —and one Tanzanian —Magdalena Shauri.
The 2023 African U20 Champion in the 3000m event, Anley, used her track speed to break away from her fellow Ethiopian, Wudu, to emerge victorious as she broke the tape at 1:07:22. Wudu ran 1:07:27 ahead of Chelengat, who registered 1:07:32 to complete the podium.
