Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey smashed the world best for 15km at the Zevenheuvelenloop (Seven Hills Run) in Nijmegen, Netherlands, on Sunday (17).
Gidey, this year's World Championships 10,000m silver medallist, clocked 44:20, more than a minute better than the previous world best of 45:37 Joyciline Jepkosgei set in Prague two years ago en route to her first world record in the half marathon.
Covering the first five kilometres in a quick 15:09, the 21-year-old upped the pace over the next five kilometres, closing that stretch with a stunning 2:44 10th kilometre, to reach the 10km point in a remarkable 29:44. She slowed over the next two kilometres but shifted gears again in the waning stages, closing with kilometre splits of 2:49, 2:52 and 2:50. She covered the last 10km in a stunning 29:12, the fastest 10-kilometre stretch ever produced under any conditions.
"I felt I was in good form in preparation for the (race) and my legs felt good all through the race," said Gidey, who rose to prominence in the U20 ranks after taking back-to-back world U20 cross country titles in 2015 and 2017. "I was quite surprised to see how much time I was able to get off the previous world (best) to be honest but I had great legs and it was a really nice race."
Stephen Kissa of Uganda won the men's race in 41:49 to become the seventh fastest ever over the distance.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
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<h3>Lonyangata and Melese regain Shanghai Marathon titles</h3>
Kenya&rsquo;s Paul Lonyangata and Yebrgual Melese of Ethiopia took the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s title at the Shanghai International Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (17).
The 26-year-old Lonyangata broke clear before 35km and led alone the rest of the way to hit home with a clocking of 2:08:11, 57 seconds shy of the 2:07:14 course record he set in the Chinese city in 2015.
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Kenyan distance runner Paul Lonyangata</div>
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&ldquo;It has been five years since I run here last time,&rdquo; Lonyangata said. &ldquo;I noticed nobody had broke my course record so I came back to break it myself. But the weather was much hotter than five years ago.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The temperature was around 15 degrees when the race started but rose quickly. When the men&rsquo;s leaders reached 20km 1:00:12, it was already near 20 degrees.
A group of 12 runners led the race to a fast pace in the early stages, reaching 5km in 14:57 and 10km in 29:58. When the leaders passed the 15km mark in 45:01 they were already 47 seconds ahead of the course record, and by 20km they were still six seconds ahead.&nbsp;
But the pace slowed after 20km and when the last pace maker left the seven-runner leading pack, the leaders were 43 seconds behind the record time.
&ldquo;I think the pacers stopped too early. One of the two pacers stopped after 11 kilometres and the other left by 25km. Because of the weather and the pace maker, I did not break the course record,&rdquo; said Lonyangata, who decided to control the race with his own pace after 30km and pulled clear by 35 km before breaking the tape in style to celebrate his first marathon victory of the year.
Hassan El Abbassi of Bahrain, who set the Asian record of 2:04:43 last year in Valencia, finished second in 2:08:58, followed by Lmenih Getachew of Ethiopia with a clocking of 2:09:14.
Defending champion Yebrgual Melese also managed to confirm her favourite status in the women&rsquo;s race although the winning time of 2:23:19 is more than two minutes slower than the 2:20:36 course record she achieved 12 months ago.
As the fastest entrant in the field with a personal best of 2:19:36 set last year in Dubai, the 29-year-old Melese was among a six-athlete leading group in the first half of the race. When she arrived at the 25km water stations in 1:24:12, only countrywoman Waganesh Mekasha managed to keep up with the chasers trailing 16 seconds behind.
After another four kilometres, the 27-year-old Mekasha began to fade gradually. Melese was leading by 14 seconds at 30km and kept widening the gap until wrapping up her fourth title over the classic distance.
Mekasha, a 2:22:45 performer, finished second in 2:25:37 while Ethiopia&rsquo;s Obse Abdeta, 19, finished third in 2:27:47 in her marathon debut.&nbsp;
Vincent Wu for World Athletics
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<h3>Jelagat breaks course record at Boulogne-Billancourt half</h3>
Kenya&rsquo;s Nancy Jelagat broke the women&rsquo;s course record at the 23rd Boulogne-Billancourt Christian Grangier Half-Marathon, a World Athletics Bronze Label road race, on Sunday (17).
Jelagat took advantage of the perfect conditions to clock 1:08:25 and smash her personal best by almost two minutes as well as improving by five seconds the previous course record set by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Rahma Rusa two years ago.
Jelagat, who recorded two others PBs this year --32:05 in the 10km and 2:36:22 in the marathon-- produced a solo performance here. From the gun, she established a small lead over Ethiopia&rsquo;s Mehdin Beyene. Although Jelagat was shadowed by Beyene throughout the race, she never faded, ultimately erasing her previous best of 1:10:18 she set when winning in Hamburg in 2018.
Beyene finished second 14 seconds adrift in 1:08:38, also a career best. Deborah Samum rounded out the podium in 1:09:57, ten seconds ahead of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Silenat Ysmaw. Both bettered their respective lifetime bests.
In our preview yesterday, we wrote that the men&rsquo;s course record of 1:00:11 set by Franklin Chepwony in 2013 shouldn&rsquo;t be in jeopardy. Felix Kipkoech however produced an impressive display of strength and came tantalisingly close.
From the gun the 21-year-old Kenyan headed a group of six, including defending champion Taye Girma, Precious Mashele of South Africa, newcomer Selemun Kashsay and Briton Jake Smith. The leaders reached 10km in 29:10, suggesting a finish time of about 1:01:30.
But with Kipkoech as the driving force, the tempo was ratcheted up soon after. As a consequence, Kashsay and Smith were dropped at about 12 kilometres with Girma following suit two kilometres later. That left Kipkoech and Mashele, who finished third at last&rsquo;s year edition, to battle it out for the win.
They covered the next five kilometres in 14:08 to reach 15km in 43:18. Kipkoech then made his final move in the waning stages to pull off the victory in 1:00:12, just one second shy of the course record. He also improved his previous career best of 1:01:24 set in Rabat in April by more than a minute.
Mashele came home second in 1:00:28 as Girma held on to round the podium in 1:00:50.
Smith was fifth in 1:02:02 to lop 1:04 from the UK U23 record of 1:03:06 set by Callum Hawkins in 2014.
Leading results MEN 1 Felix Kipkoech (ETH) 1:00:12 2 Precious Mashele (RSA) 1:00:28&nbsp; 3 Taye Girma (ETH) 1:00:50 4 Selemun Kashsay (KEN) 1:01:41 5 Jake Smith (GBR) 1:02:02 WOMEN 1 Nancy Jelagat (KEN) 1:08:24 2 Mehdin Beyene (ETH) 1:08:38 3 Deborah Samum (KEN) 1:09:57 4 Silenat Ysmaw (ETH) 1:10:07 5 Asmae Ghizlan (MOR) 1:12:11
Quentin Guillon for World Athletics
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<h3>Yamaguchi and Kusuro take Kobe marathon titles</h3>
Haruka Yamaguchi of Japan and Ugandan Geoffrey Kusuro cruised to decisive victories at ninth Kobe Marathon, a World Athletics Bronze Label road race, on Sunday (17).
Yamaguchi, an unsponsored runner who clocked a 2:33:06 lifetime best in Sydney in September, pulled away early and was never threatened en route to her 2:27:39 victory. her performance also slashed nearly four minutes from the 2:31:38 course record set last year by Kenyan Susan Jerotich.
Further back, Ethiopians Sisay Meseret and Tesfanesh Merga finished second and third, respectively, clocking 2:31:30 and 2:31:43.
Kusuro, who had Kenyan Eliud Barngetuny for company for the first half, pulled away in the second en route to a 2:08:46 victory, also a personal best and well under the 2:12:42 course record set in 2017 by Morocco&rsquo;s Khalil Lemciyeh. Kusuro, 30, warmed up for the race with a 59:54 run at a half marathon in Belfort, France, on 29 September. He set his previous marathon best of 2:10:53 at the Ljubljana Marathon last year.
Barngetuny was second in 2:12:23 and further back Junichi Tsubouchi of Japan was third in 2:14:05.

Kenya’s Paul Lonyangata and Yebrgual Melese of Ethiopia took the men’s and women’s title at the Shanghai International Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (17).

Weekend road round-up: Gidey smashes 15km world best, Lonyangata and Melese win in Shanghai

Morocco&rsquo;s Aziz Lahbabi and Uganda&rsquo;s Geoffrey Kusuro will make their return to the 43rd edition of the Roma Ostia Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Race, on Sunday (12).
The Roma Ostia has produced fast times in recent years and this Sunday&rsquo;s race is set to continue that tradition. Last year the race grabbed headlines when Kenyan Solomon Kirwa Yego set the course record with a jaw-dropping 58:44 performance, the fourth fastest time in history.
Lahbabi will be bidding to win the Roma Ostia for the second time, three years after clocking an impressive lifetime best of 59:25. Lahbabi has also clocked a lifetime best of 13:04.06 in the 5000m on the track.
Kusuro finished third in the Italian capital in 2015 with his personal best of 59:43.
The fastest runner in the men&rsquo;s field is Ethiopian Guye Adola, who won the bronze medal at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen with 59:21 and has notable personal bests of 27:09.78 in the 10,000m from Eugene in 2014 and 59:09 over the half marathon distance from New Dehli in 2014.&nbsp;
Another Kenyan runner, who will make his return to the Roma Ostia is Peter Kwemoi Ndorobo, who finished eighth in 2015 clocking 1:01:38 and fourth in 2016 with 1:00:13.
<h3>Tanui vs Mergia in women&rsquo;s race</h3>
Kenyan Angela Tanui will be looking to improve her second place finish from last year&rsquo;s edition when she set clocked a 1:07:16 personal best, finishing eight seconds behind winner Debele Degefa of Ethiopia.
Tanui will face Ethiopian Aselech Mergia, who finished runner-up in the 2015 New York City Marathon and won the bronze medal in the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin. Mergia set her half marathon personal best with 1:07:21 in 2011 and clocked the fastest time of her career in the marathon with 2:19:31 in Dubai in 2015.
Another leading contender for a top-three finish is Kenyan Gladys Cherono, who won the Berlin Marathon in 2015 with her career best of 2:19:25. She also has 1:06:07 half marathon credentials from Ras Al Khaimah in 2016.
Kenya will be also represented by Rebecca Kangogo Chesire, who won the Stramilano Half Marathon in 2015 with her personal best of 1:08:21, and the Singapore Marathon in 2016.
Italian hopes will be carried by Rosaria Console, who ran for the first time at the Roma Ostia in 2003 when she finished second. Console has contested the race seven times in her career and won in 2005 with 1:09:34.
The popular Roma Ostia Half Marathon race has attracted no less than 12253 runners.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Morocco’s Aziz Lahbabi and Uganda’s Geoffrey Kusuro will make their return to the 43rd edition of the Roma Ostia Half Marathon, a IAAF Gold Label Race, on Sunday (12).

Weekend road round-up: Gidey smashes 15km world best, Lonyangata and Melese win in Shanghai

Lahbabi and Tanui lead strong fields for Roma Ostia