RAK Half Marathon Hopes To Repeat As World’s Most Competitive Race

2009’s fastest mark was set at RAK.

The 2009 edition of the RAK Half Marathon was named the most competitive road race in the world by All-Athletics.com, and this year’s edition may repeat the feat. The February 19th event will feature many of the top returning performers from 2009, including 2009 Boston Marathon champion Deriba Merga of Ethiopia. Merga lead last year’s RAK through a world record 15K of 41:29 but conceded to eventual winner Patrick Makau of Kenya. Although Makau will not be there to challenge Merga this year, there are plenty of others that will certainly look to hang with the fast starting Ethiopian.

2010 Zayed Half Marathon champion Tilahun Regassa of Ethiopia will be Merga’s biggest threat, having recently defeated a world class field in Dubai. Fellow Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, recent winner at Abu Dhabi, will also look to stay with the lead pack. The challenging Kenyan contingent will be made up of John Kiprotich (59:23 PR), Geoffrey Mutai (59:30 PR) and Jairus Chanchima (59:44 PR). In total there will be a minimum of 10 sub one-hour runners in the field.

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