Obiri, Kiplimo reign supreme in Great North Run in England
Olympic silver medallist Hellen Obiri (pictured) and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo were crowned champions of the 41st edition of Great North Run half marathon in Northeast England on Sunday.
The women’s race at the Great North Run came down to a three-way sprint between two Olympic champions and a world champion. Hellen Obiri, the Four-time World Champion, won her second successive Great North Run half marathon in 1:07:05. She defeated reigning Olympic champion in the marathon Peres Jepchirchir (1:07:07) and World record holder and Olympic champion in the 10000m Almaz Ayana(1:07:10).In last year’s edition Obiri clocked 1:07:42 to finish ahead of Eilish McColgan who came second in a time of 1:07:48.Great Britain’s Charlotte Purdue finished third in 1:08:49.Obiri has a personal best time of 1:04:22 which she ran at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February.
Jepchirchir, who made her debut, has a personal best time of 1:05.06 which she ran at the 2017 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. She placed first during the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in 2016 and 2020 in respective times of 1:07:31 and 1:05:16. Jepchirchir is also a former world half marathon record holder.Kiplimo who recently won double gold at the Commonwealth Games crossed the line in 59 minutes 33 seconds to win the men’s elite race.
Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega (1:00:39)
was second, with his Ethiopian compatriot Kenenisa Bekele(1:01:01) placed third.A total of 60,000 runners entered the 41st edition of the world’s biggest half marathon.
This year’s Great North Run saw it return to its usual 13.1 mile Newcastle to South Shields route, after changes were made in 2021 to make it Covid safe.
