Africa-Press – Uganda. Stephen Kissa hoped to win the first 21km race in his career but it didn’t go as planned at Barcelona Half-Marathon in Spain on Sunday.
Kissa, who was a pace setter for 23km at the Berlin Marathon in Germany last month, posted a time of one hour and 19 seconds after being beaten to the tape by Ethiopian Haftu Teklu (59.39 sec).
“Kissa was okay but the other guy was better,” said his coach Addy Ruiter.
This was Kissa’s fifth career 21km race and, the second this year, having posted a fast 1:00:02 in sixth place at the Istanbul Marathon in Turkey on April 4.
Last year, he debuted over the distance with a flat one hour in second place at the Barcelona Half-Marathon.
Kissa wrapped up 2020 with a personal best of 58:56 in third place at the Delhi Half-Marathon in India on November 29.
Sikowu finds leg, Chelangat up
In Barcelona on Sunday, he had anticipated victory, at least owing to his progression. And he had been comfortable in the leading group led by counterparts Matthew Chekwurui and Abel Sikowo – who crossed 10km in 28:08 minutes.
Teklu and Kissa were joint leaders at 15km in 42:19 minutes before the former peeled away to victory.
“He had some stomach problems at the end. I expected him to be one minute faster,” Ruiter said of Kissa.
Sikowo, who had been entered as a pacer, may now have fully transitioned from steeplechase on track to long-distance after he finished fifth in 1:01:44.
“Abel now knows that pacing till 15km is something different than finishing a half-marathon. But still fifth and next time will be better. And then he must do it without being the pacer first,” added the Dutch tactician Ruiter.
In the women’s race, Mercyline Chelangat continued to impress since a return from three-year sabbatical with a fourth place finish in a new national record (NR) time of 1:08:27.
“The race was fair. I’m even happier,” said Chelangat, who beat Juliet Chekwel’s previous NR mark of 1:08:44 set during in Gdynia last October.
