19-year-old Emmanuel Wafula dominated the men’s race after reaching the 10 km mark in 28’14” and finishing the marathon in 59’58”.
Kenyan athletes have recorded a double triumph at the first edition of the Rome Half Marathon, which took place Sunday morning on the central streets of Italy’s capital.
19-year-old Emmanuel Wafula dominated the men’s race after reaching the 10 km mark in 28’14” according to official results.
Wafula broke away from fellow Kenyans Gideon Kiprotich Rop and Antony Kimtai, running solo near the Colosseum before finishing in 59’58”.
Rop came in second with a time of 1h00’57”, while Kimtai completed the podium with 1h02’23”.
Daniele D’Onofrio, the first Italian to finish, came in sixth with a final time of 1h05’34”, just behind European 5,000m champion Ilias Fifa (1h05’22”).
In the women’s race, Nancy Sang won with a personal best for the distance. Sang’s 31’39 time in a 10km race last April ranks in the Top 30 world performances of the season. She finished in 1h06’52.
Behind her were Fantu Worku Taye (1h07’30”) and Evaline Chirchir (1h07’47”). Sofiia Yaremchuk finished seventh in 1h13’28”.
Over 17 thousand participants registered for the race along historic landmarks in Rome.