Kusuro leads Uganda to fifth place, wins sh12m

Team

1 Eritrea 2:58:56
2 Kenya 2:59:35
3 Ethiopia 3:00:45
4 South Africa 3:03:36
5 Uganda 3:04:36

Women

1 Gladys Cherono (KEN) 1:07:28
2 Mary Ngugi (KEN) 1:07:43
3 Selly Kaptich (KEN) 1:07:51
43 Linnet Chebet (UGA) 1:13:27

Geoffrey Kusuro led Uganda to a fifth overall place finish at the IAAF World Half marathon championships that were held here in Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday.

The position finish assured Team Uganda of a sh12m team prize, with the athletes sharing 50 percent as per the federation rules.

Defending champion Zersanay Tadese finished in fifth position as Stephen Kiprotich’s training partner Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor won the event.

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Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor crosses the line to win the half marathon

The Ugandan team had more to give back to the trust put in them, as all were making their debut in the world half marathon and nearly failed to make it-thanks for a timely intervention by Brussels Airline.

Almost all ran new best with Linnet Chebet slashing off three minutes from her former best.

In a competition that was dominated by the East African countries, Kusuro hung on with the winning pack until after the 15km mark when he dropped off to the second pack.

He however hung on to finish in 10th position with a new personal best of one hour and 40 seconds. The time was one minute better that his former best and just 15 seconds shy of Nicholas Kiprono’s national record of 1:00:25.

“It was a good course and we were making our first appearance at such an event. We will train hard and I promise you that come next competition, we will be having a better timing and position,” said Kusuro, who was franked by the other runners.

The national team captain said that they had run as a team until after the five kilometre mark when the Ethiopians, Eritreans and Kenyans decided to increase the pace, forcing most of the countries to fall off.

“I had to decide whether to wait for my friends or go on and I made up a decision to chase.”

It was not surprising that the first 11 positions were taken by the East African, though South Africa team running saw them displace Uganda from fourth position.

The race started with Moses Kibet taking the lead and trying to control the pace but somehow he fell back just before the 7km mark.

“I am a front runner but the pace was so much. I have gained more experience. We have all learnt a lot and we can beat them next time,” he said confidently.

In the last edition held in Karvana, Bulgaria, Team Uganda finished in the same position with Jackson Kiprop finishing in seventh position.

Linnet Chebet finished 43rd overall, slashing off three minutes of her former time, to set a personal best of 1:13:27.

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