Helped by cool temperatures, European 10 000m champion, Kenyan-born Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, smashed the Prague Marathon women’s course record at the 25th edition of the IAAF Gold Label road race on Sunday.
Salpeter was part of a lead group of five women during the early stages, joined by Lucy Cheruiyot of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Yalew Genet. Following a pacemaker, they covered the first 5km in 16:42.
By halfway, reached in 1:10:12, Salpeter had a lead of a few seconds over defending Kenyan champion Bornes Jepkirui Kitur and Yalew.
Less than 10 kilometres later, Salpeter’s lead had grown to more than a minute and she was on schedule to break the course record of 2:21:57.
Although the wind increased in the latter stages of the race, she continued to increase her pace in the second half for a negative split of 1:09:33 as she finished in 2:19:46 becoming the first woman to break 2:20 in Prague and smashing her own national record, moving to third on the European all-time list.
Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete was second in 2:22:39 with Yalew placing third in 2:24:34.
In partnership with ANA and Mediapix
