Men's Field for Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon to Include 14 Men Who Have Broken 60 Minutes

By Adam Kopet

The IAAF announced the elite fields for the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, often known as the RAK Half Marathon, scheduled for Feb. 8.

The men's field is led by 58:44 man, Abadi Hadis of Ethiopia. He set personal bests last year at 3,000 meters (7:39.10), 5,000 meters (12:56.27) and the half marathon.

Hadis leads 13 other men who have run under 60 minutes in their careers. Among them are two Kenyans who have also run under 59 minutes, Jorum Okombo (58:48) and Alex Korio (58:51).

Someone to potentially watch out for is 2018 New York City Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia. He was only 10th in this race last year, but he did win in 2014, running 59:36, which stands only six seconds shy of his 2013 personal best.

The women's race is not as deep as the men's, but there is still plenty of fire power. Peres Jepchirchir leads the field with a 1:05:06 personal best. That ranks her fifth all-time and sixth on the all-time performance list.

Jepchirchir owns a personal best that is more than a minute clear of the field. However, the next three women could make for quite a race. Alia Mohammed Saeed of the United Arab Emirates and the Ethiopian duo of Netsanet Gudeta and Zeineba Yimer all own personal bests between 1:06:11 and 1:06:21.

The RAK Half Marathon will also serve as the half marathon debut of Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia. However, she has already skipped over the half marathon distance, running a debut marathon last year in Dubai. She ran 2:24:11 for ninth place.

Teferi has also run well on the track. She won a silver medal in the 5,000 meters at the 2015 IAAF World Outdoor Championships and she holds personal bests of 8:32.49 for 3,000, 14:23.33 for 5,000 and 30:40.59 for 10,000. Her 3,000- and 5,000-meter bests were achieved last year.