Ethiopia s Geremew takes third title at Yangzhou Half Marathon

Yangzhou (China) April 23 (IANS) Course record holder Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia completed his title hat-trick at the Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon an IAAF gold label race here on Sunday after a breathtaking four-man battle in front of the finish.

Four runners were shoulder-to-shoulder with five hundred metres to go before the finish line and the 25-year-old Geremew who set the course record of 59 minutes 52 second in Yangzhou two years ago outraced the other three runners to take his third straight title in 1:00:56 reports Xinhua news agency.

Kenyan Leonard Kipkoech Langat who also clocked 1:00:56 finished second with a deficit of 0.15 seconds. Asian record holder Abraham Cheroben of Bahrain finished third in 1:00:57.

The women s race was won by Sutume Asefa of Ethiopia who clocked 1:10:30 to break the tape in style. Her compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh trailed eight seconds to finish runner-up.

Kirghizistan s Daria Maslova clocked a national record of 1:11:06 for the third place.

A total of 18 000 runners competed in the half marathon event on Sunday and some 17 000 took part in the spin-off 10km and 6.2km races.

--IANS
gau/vt