On the eve of the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016, Mo Farah, Geoffrey Kamworor and Sara Hall joined IAAF President Seb Coe, local organising committee CEO Matt Newman and Cardiff 2016 ambassador Paula Radcliffe at the pre-event press conference at the Motorpoint Arena on Friday (25).
&ldquo;This has been a tale of two cities for me,&rdquo; said Sebastian Coe. &ldquo;Only a few days ago I was in Portland and now I&rsquo;m here in Cardiff. But the tale of two cities also focuses on innovation. A lot of the things we did in Portland had been tested at the IAAF World Relays and I must thank Paul Hardy of the IAAF competitions department for driving many of the things we witnessed there.
&ldquo;There are two themes we were focusing on: one was the fact that indoor athletics creates the opportunity for public engagement, and the other was that we continue to make the athletes the heroes of the sport; they&rsquo;re the story and they are why we&rsquo;re here.
&ldquo;The World Half Marathon should excite people into wanting to run,&rdquo; added Coe. &ldquo;Cardiff has fully bought into the concept of running in the community. 20,000 runners will be lining up tomorrow, and 500 of those were offered places through Athletics for a Better World. We&rsquo;re delighted to be playing our part in that. I&rsquo;d also like to thank the public authorities, Cardiff University and the local organising committee. I know first-hand that a lot of hard work goes on in the background.&rdquo;
There was talk before the event the world record might come under threat but with the weather forecast not likely to cooperate, Mo Farah is focusing primarily on individual honours over fast times.
&ldquo;It depends on the weather,&rdquo; said Farah. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m thinking right, I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll see fast times. I&rsquo;m expecting a tactical race.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited to be here,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of my journey to Rio so when this came up, it was a no-brainer. I want to be here and I love to support the home crowd; it makes a massive difference.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be quite a tough race as Geoffrey is a great athlete &ndash; and the other Kenyans too &ndash; but hopefully I can go out there and have the crowd behind me.&rdquo;
Competing at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland might have made more sense from a logistical standpoint as Farah has been training at his home base in Oregon, &nbsp;but Farah didn&rsquo;t want to mess around with a schedule which has served him so well in recent years.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to change things; I&rsquo;ve always done a half marathon somewhere in spring,&rdquo; said Farah, who won the Lisbon Half Marathon this time last year in 59:32 and suggests he might be in similar &ndash; if not better &ndash; shape this year.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m more ahead than last year [in my training]. I&rsquo;m pretty happy with how training has gone and Rio is looking good. As long as I stay injury free, I should be good for Rio.&rdquo;
Farah&rsquo;s main rival tomorrow afternoon will be reigning champion Geoffrey Kamworor, who will be looking to become the first athlete since 2009 to retain his individual title.
&ldquo;I can say I&rsquo;m very delighted to get another chance to compete at the World Half Marathon Championships,&rdquo; said Kamworor, who won in Copenhagen two years ago in 59:08.
&ldquo;I expect stiff competition tomorrow but for me, I&rsquo;m looking forward to defending the title I won in 2014. The team from Kenya is really strong and we&rsquo;re looking forward to going home with the team title.&rdquo;
Matt Newman, CEO of local organisers Run 4 Wales, spoke of his pride of being able to bring a global event to Wales.
&ldquo;We have two fantastic elite fields and there&rsquo;s a lot of excitement about how the races will unfold,&rdquo; said Newman. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m also delighted that Dewi Griffiths selected for the British team, he is a real talisman for the local community to get behind.
&ldquo;To have thousands of everyday runners running in the footsteps of champions in a mass race is a unique opportunity. No other sporting event enables that to happen.&rdquo;
Sara Hall believes a medal in the team race isn&rsquo;t beyond the capabilities of an experienced US team who will be competing in Cardiff.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re eyeing that chance to win a medal as a team and we&rsquo;re excited about the cold and rain,&rdquo; she said, only half joking. &ldquo;A lot of us ran in the US Marathon Trials [in Los Angeles] where it was really hot so we don&rsquo;t mind a little bit of rain to make it cooler.&rdquo;
USA picked up medals in all but one of the middle-distance events in Portland last week and Hall, whose lifetime best for the half marathon stands at 1:10:07, is hoping they can build on this momentum in Cardiff.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve felt there&rsquo;s been a huge shift in attitude in runners in the US. The expectations have changed &ndash; from making the team and making the final to winning medals. The bar has been raised across all events. It&rsquo;s been like a snowball effect &ndash; it&rsquo;s an exciting time to be part of the sport.&rdquo;
Marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe recalled her past victories at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
&ldquo;My first victory was in Veracruz in 2000 and it came off the back of the Sydney Olympics, where I&rsquo;d just missed out on a medal.&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I wanted a fresh start and I had fun from start to finish. I had found a surface where I had a few more options and was harder to beat.
&ldquo;In Bristol one year later, I benefitted hugely from the home support,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;The whole city got behind the race, and there were a lot of people out on the course supporting us. It was a huge privilege to win that title on home soil. It&rsquo;s always such an honour to run in Britain, not only because of the extra support from the crowd but also the pride it gives you from seeing what a great job Britain does in putting on major events.&rdquo;
Steven Mills and Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

On the eve of the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016, Mo Farah, Geoffrey Kamworor and Sara Hall joined IAAF President Seb Coe, local organising committee CEO Matt Newman and Cardiff 2016 ambassador Paula Radcliffe at the pre-event press conference at the Motorpoint Arena on Friday (25).

Press conference highlights – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016

A total prize purse of US$245,000 is on offer at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on Saturday 26 March.
Prize money (all amounts are in US$) Individual 1st &ndash; 30,000 2nd &ndash; 15,000 3rd &ndash; 10,000 4th &ndash; 7000 5th &ndash; 5000 6th &ndash; 3000
Teams 1st &ndash; 15,000 2nd &ndash; 12,000 3rd &ndash; 9000 4th &ndash; 7500 5th &ndash; 6000 6th &ndash; 3000
World record bonus An athlete who surpasses a world record in Cardiff will be awarded a US$50,000 bonus by the IAAF.
The current ratified world records are:
Men: Zersenay Tadese (ERI) 58:23 Women (single-sex race): Lornah Kiplagat (NED) 1:06:25
The payment of all prize money is dependent upon athletes undergoing and clearing the usual anti-doping procedures.
Timetable Saturday 26 March (times are local, GMT): Women&rsquo;s race: 13:35 Men&rsquo;s race: 14:10

A total prize purse of US$245,000 is on offer at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on Saturday 26 March.

$245,000 in prize money up for grabs in Cardiff

After outkicking a trio of Kenyans for the world 10,000m title in Beijing last summer, Mo Farah commented: &ldquo;it felt like it was me against the whole team&rdquo;. The Brit is expected to come under a similar onslaught at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff.
The Kenyans have been ramping up the rhetoric in the build-up and reigning champion Geoffrey Kamworor has even talked about using this race as a platform to challenge the world record of 58:23 if the conditions on race day meet his liking.
The predicted heavy rain and strong winds might get in the way of any record attempts, but if recent history is anything to go by, the race is still expected to be fast.
Kamworor is joined on the Kenyan team by Bedan Karoki with whom he worked in tandem to shake off the Ethiopians at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Guiyang 2015 and shared the pace over 10,000m in Beijing last summer.
Farah has seldom &ndash; if ever &ndash; been put under such sustained pressure in a track final and the Kenyans will be buoyed by the fact they have double the distance on Saturday to run the finish out of him, but Farah has proved he is a capable performer at the distance, regardless of how the race is run.
The Brit has won the past two editions of the Great North Run by holding on to a fast pace before launching his famed sprint. He further demonstrated his racing nous at the Lisbon Half Marathon last spring where he was content to run some 100 metres off an ambitious pace before coming from behind to win in 59:32.
While Farah will be looking to become the first ever British winner of the men&rsquo;s race, Kamworor will be aiming to become the first athlete since Eritrea&rsquo;s Zersenay Tadese in 2009 to win back-to-back titles at the event.
However, Karoki has also quietly chalked up a brilliant record on the roads and could claim his first global title after a near miss in Guiyang last year when he finished second to Kamworor. Karoki is unbeaten at 10km and the half marathon and has broken the one-hour mark three times for the longer distance.
But while Farah and Kamworor have been preparing specifically for this race, Karoki might not have been afforded the luxury of easing off the mileage too much as he is preparing for his marathon debut in London next month.
The rest of the Kenyan team is made up of Simon Cheprot, Edwin Kipyego and Edwin Kiptoo, all of whom have PBs of 59:30 or quicker and will be looking to prise the team title away from Eritrea.
The Eritreans packed superbly two years ago with their five counters all finishing in the top eight but they might struggle to defend their crown with individual silver medallist Samuel Tsegay plus world record-holder Zersenay Tadese and world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie &ndash; who finished fourth and seventh respectively in Copenhagen &ndash; among the absentees.
But the Eritrean team on show in Cardiff is far from weak and with a team boasting lifetime bests ranging from 59:39 to 1:01:39, they will still contend for another team medal. The fastest runner on their team is Nguse Amlosom, who finished fifth in Copenhagen.
The Ethiopians have also sent a strong team which is led by 2014 individual bronze medallist Guye Adola, who won the trial race held in Spain last month. The 25-year-old has a lifetime best of 59:06 which he set at the 2014 New Delhi Half Marathon where he handed Kamworor a rare defeat over the distance.
Adola is joined by 2014 ninth-place finisher Adugna Takele, world cross-country sixth-place finisher Tamirat Tola, and Mule Wasihun, who finished fifth at this year&rsquo;s Dubai Marathon in 2:05:44.
A solid Japanese team is led by 20-year-old Keijiro Mogi, who was the top domestic finisher at last month&rsquo;s Marugame Half Marathon, the trial race for Cardiff, in 1:00:54.
Meanwhile, the US team is helmed by Jared Ward, who sealed his ticket for the Rio Olympics by finishing third at the US Olympic Marathon Trials behind Galen Rupp and Meb Keflezighi.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

After outkicking a trio of Kenyans for the world 10,000m title in Beijing last summer, Mo Farah commented: “it felt like it was me against the whole team”. The Brit is expected to come under a similar onslaught at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff.

Preview: men's race – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016

The Kenyan women achieved an unprecedented feat at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen by filling the top five places. With a close to full-strength team in Cardiff, Kenya is expected to dominate proceedings in a similar manner this time around.
The team might not be laden with household names, but they boast lifetime bests ranging from 1:06:04 to 1:07:17. All but one of the quintet have set their lifetime bests in the build-up to these championships with three of the team setting those times at the prestigious race in Ras Al Khaimah which more or less acted as a de facto trial race for Cardiff.
The winner on that day was Cynthia Limo, one of the most consistent and prolific road racers in recent years. The 26-year-old secured a place on her first Kenyan team by stopping the clock in one of the fastest times in history of 1:06:04 to defeat 2014 world half marathon champion Gladys Cherono, who has elected to forego her title defence in order to focus on the London Marathon next month.
But despite being among select company on the world all-time lists with only Mary Keitany (1:05:50) and Florence Kiplagat (1:05:09) ahead of her, Limo doesn&rsquo;t have sole ownership on the mantle of pre-race favourite.
In another fast race at the start of the season, Limo had to settle for second at the Houston Half Marathon &ndash; 1:06:29 to 1:06:41 &ndash; behind Mary Wacera, who set a North American all-comers&rsquo; record in that race.
Wacera took the individual silver medal behind Cherono two years ago and such is the strength in depth in Kenyan distance running, the 27-year-old is the only returning member of the team which swept the board in Copenhagen.
The remainder of the Kenyan team comprises Peris Chepchirchir, Gladys Chesire and Paskalia Kipkoech.
Jepchirchir and Chesire placed fourth and fifth in Ras Al Khaimah in 1:06:39 and 1:06:58 respectively while Kipkoech, who is the most experienced of the quintet with a bronze medal dating back to 2012, holds the world-leading mark at 10km with 31:14.
While the Kenyans have chosen a team comprised of their fastest runners, the Ethiopians have opted to send a fairly inexperienced team, but their squad does include two returning top-10 finishers from two years ago.
Their best chance of an individual medal will fall on the shoulders of Genet Yalew, who finished 10th in Copenhagen. The 23-year-old, who has won international medals at youth and junior level, broke up the Kenyan hegemony in Ras Al Khaimah by finishing third where she shaved nearly two minutes off her lifetime best to claim the Ethiopian record in 1:06:26.
Yalew is joined on the Ethiopian team by Netsanet Gudeta, who finished sixth in Copenhagen but improved to a bronze at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Guiyang 2015. The remaining team members aren&rsquo;t expected to feature too prominently although it is worth noting that Meseret Hailu was plucked from obscurity in 2012 to claim the title in Kavarna.
Individual medals are likely to be decided between the Kenyans and Ethiopians but the Japanese arrive with a team of five runners with lifetime bests ranging from 1:09:41 to 1:10:25. Led by Miho Shimizu and Yumeki Waku, the Japanese are expected to pack well again and challenge for another team medal.
Japan has only claimed three individual medals at the World Half Marathon Championships but have won 16 team medals since the championships was first hosted in 1992.
The USA has also sent an experienced team including the likes of Sara Hall, Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and Kellyn Taylor. A team medal isn&rsquo;t necessarily beyond their capabilities but the one sizeable caveat is their team is comprised almost solely of athletes who ran at the Olympic Marathon Trials which were staged in hot conditions in Los Angeles just six weeks ago.
The British team was initially led by Gemma Steel but the 30-year-old, who finished seventh at the 2012 edition and boasts a lifetime best of 1:08:13, has been forced to withdraw due to a chest infection. With Steel sidelined, the hosts&rsquo; hopes are led by Alyson Dixon, who finished inside the top 20 two years ago in a PB of 1:10:38.
Other potential top-10 finishers include Australians Eloise Wellings and Milly Clark, Canada&rsquo;s Lanni Marchant and Italy&rsquo;s Anna Incerti.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

The Kenyan women achieved an unprecedented feat at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen by filling the top five places. With a close to full-strength team in Cardiff, Kenya is expected to dominate proceedings in a similar manner this time around.

Preview: women's race – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016

The final entry lists for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 are now available on the IAAF website.
Nearly 200 international athletes &ndash; including Kenya&rsquo;s defending men&rsquo;s champion Geoffrey Kamworor &ndash; are expected to be in action in the Welsh capital as 189 athletes (98 men and 91 women) have been confirmed as entered by 49 IAAF Member Federations.
They will be joining about 20,000 runners who will also be in the mass participation race on the same course.
The complete lists, as at 23 March 2016, are available to download as a PDF file in the &lsquo;related documents&rsquo; panel on the right-hand side of this page.
Full coverage of the championships, including live results, multimedia and event information including previews and reports, will be available <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-half-marathon-championships" target="_blank">here</a>.
NB: official start lists will only become available after the technical meeting, which takes place on Friday March at 4pm local time (same time GMT).
IAAF

The final entry lists for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 are now available.

 Final entries for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 now available

Kenya&rsquo;s Sammy Kitwara improved his personal best by one second when he won the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 59:47 on Sunday (20).
Kitwara has an 11-second advantage over his compatriot Kenneth Kipkemoi&nbsp;coming into the final kilometre, after passing 20km in 56:38, and he extended that advantage all the way to the line.
Kipkemoi came home second in 1:00:05 with another Kenyan, Paul&nbsp;Lonyangata, third in 1:00:11.
 In&nbsp;the women's race,&nbsp;Ethiopia&rsquo;s&nbsp;Ruti Aga&nbsp;won in 1:09:16, winning a three-way battle over the final kilometre.
Her countrywoman Wude&nbsp;Ayalew&nbsp;was seven seconds in arrears while Kenya&rsquo;s 2009 10,000m world champion Linet&nbsp;Masai&nbsp;was third in 1:09:33, an improvement of more than two minutes on her only previous race over the distance.
More to follow

Kenya’s Sammy Kitwara improved his personal best by one second when he won the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 59:47 on Sunday (20).

Kitwara wins Lisbon Half Marathon in 59:47

In two weeks&rsquo; time, runners from around the world will compete at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on 26 March.
The championships will be returning to the country that hosted the first edition in 1992. During the 24 years that has passed since then, the essence of the event &ndash; a celebration of the world&rsquo;s best road runners &ndash; has remained the same. But there have also been some changes along the way, as shown by these selected highlights.
&nbsp;
<h4>1992 South Shields &ndash; a strong start</h4>
Held simultaneously with that year&rsquo;s Great North Run, a total of 204 athletes took part. The race started in Newcastle upon Tyne and ended in South Shields. Along with the senior races, there was also a race for junior men.
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Benson Masya on his way to winning the 1992 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships</div>
 Fittingly for the host nation, the first senior athlete to be crowned champion was women&rsquo;s winner Liz McColgan. The late Benson Masya of Kenya took the senior men&rsquo;s title moments later, leading his team to gold, while Ethiopia&rsquo;s Kassa Tadesse won the junior men&rsquo;s race. Britain earned silver medals in both of the senior team races.
&nbsp;
<h4>1993 Brussels &ndash; more home success</h4>
For the second year in a row, a runner from the host nation took an individual senior gold medal as Belgium&rsquo;s Vincent Rousseau won the men&rsquo;s race.
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Vincent Rousseau (119) on his way to winning the 1993 world half-marathon title</div>
 Conceicao Ferreira of Portugal won the women&rsquo;s title, with South Africa&rsquo;s Meck Mothuli won the junior men&rsquo;s race. It was the last time a junior race was held at the World Half Marathon Championships.
&nbsp;
<h4>1995 Montb&eacute;liard-Belfort &ndash; first sweep</h4>
Although Kenya had taken team gold in the men&rsquo;s race at the first three editions, they still only had one individual title to their name. But in 1995 they took a clean sweep of the medals in the men&rsquo;s race with Moses Tanui leading the way.
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Moses Tanui (462) on his way to winning the 1995 world half-marathon title</div>
 With 243 athletes taking part, this remains the best-attended World Half Marathon Championships to date.
&nbsp;
<h4>1997 Kosice &ndash; records fall</h4>
All four championship records were broken in 1997. Kenya dominated once again with Shem Kororia leading a medal sweep in the men&rsquo;s race with a championship record of 59:56. Not only was it the first winning time within an hour, but the Kenyan team&rsquo;s aggregate time of 2:59:54 was also a championship record.
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The 1997 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Kosice</div>
 New ground was also broken in the women&rsquo;s race as Tegla Loroupe won Kenya&rsquo;s first women&rsquo;s title &ndash; and contributed to their first team medal &ndash; with a championship record of 1:08:14. Romania won the women&rsquo;s team event with a championship record of 3:27:40.
&nbsp;
<h4>1999 Palermo &ndash; closest finish</h4>
With just one second separating the top three, the senior men&rsquo;s race from 1997 remains one of the closest in World Half Marathon Championships history. Paul Tergat&rsquo;s victory would have been more decisive had an official not accidentally blocked his path in the closing stages. But he still managed to win by a stride as second-placed Hendrick Ramaala was given the same time, 1:01:50.
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Paul Tergat wins in Palermo</div>
 One week after setting a marathon world record, Tegla Loroupe won the women&rsquo;s race in 1:08:48.
&nbsp;
<h4>2001 Bristol &ndash; significant stepping stone</h4>
Before breaking world records at the marathon, former track specialists Paula Radcliffe and Haile Gebrselassie first tested the waters at the half-marathon distance.
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Paula Radcliffe on her way to winning the 2001 world half-marathon title in Bristol</div>
 Radcliffe successfully defended her title from one year prior, winning on home soil with a championship record of 1:06:47. Gebrselassie, in his sole World Half Marathon Championships appearance, won from fellow Ethiopian Tesfaye Jifar.
&nbsp;
<h4>2004 New Delhi &ndash; new territory</h4>
The 13th edition of the championships was held for the first time outside of Europe.
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The women's lead pack at the 2004 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in New Delhi</div>
 While Kenya bagged the most medals, Asia also enjoyed some success with China&rsquo;s Sun Yingjie winning the women&rsquo;s race and Qatar&rsquo;s Ahmed Hassan Abdullah taking bronze in the men&rsquo;s race.
&nbsp;
<h4>2005 Edmonton &ndash; lessons learned</h4>
One of the first rules of athletics is &lsquo;never ease up before the line&rsquo; but that was forgotten by Qatar&rsquo;s Mubarak Hassan Shami after 13 miles of running in the Canadian city of Edmonton, North America's first World Half Marathon Championships.
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Fabiano Joseph slips past Mubarak Hassan Shami to take the 2005 world half marathon title in Edmonton</div>
 He had broken away in the final stages and believed he had secured the victory as he coasted towards the finish line. But with just metres remaining, Tanzania&rsquo;s Fabiano Joseph sprinted past to take gold.
&nbsp;
<h4>2006 Debrecen &ndash; time for a makeover</h4>
In 2006, the event&rsquo;s name changed to the IAAF World Road Running Championships and was held over 20km. The half-marathon distance was reinstated in 2007, followed one year later by the event name.
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Lornah Kiplagat in action at the 2006 IAAF Road Running Championships in Debrecen</div>
 This edition marked the beginning of Zersenay Tadese&rsquo;s and Lornah Kiplagat&rsquo;s reign. Tadese won the men&rsquo;s race by 40 seconds, while Kiplagat clocked a world record of 1:03:21 for the rarely run distance. Tadese went on to win four more titles, while Kiplagat won again in 2007 and 2008.
&nbsp;
<h4>2010 Nanning &ndash; Kenyans conquer</h4>
For the first and only time in the history of the event, one nation took all of the gold medals on offer at the 2010 edition in Nanning.
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Wilson Kiprop ends Zersenay Tadese's reign in Nanning</div>
 Kenya&rsquo;s Wilson Kiprop ended Zersenay Tadese&rsquo;s string of victories by winning in 1:00:07 and leading his country to team gold. Compatriot Florence Kiplagat was a convincing winner of the women&rsquo;s race and picked up a second gold in the team event.
&nbsp;
<h4>2014 Copenhagen &ndash; lucky number 13</h4>
Kenya put in another overall strong performance in the Danish capital. They achieved the first ever medal sweep of the women&rsquo;s race by any nation, while Geoffrey Kamworor won the men&rsquo;s title in 59:08.
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The Eritrean team receive their team gold medal at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen</div>
 But despite Kenya&rsquo;s strength, Eritrea produced the best team performance in the men&rsquo;s race with five of their runners finishing within the top eight. Among them was Zersenay Tadese who, despite finishing just outside the individual medals in fourth, earned his sixth gold medal at the championships, increasing his career tally to 13 medals.
&nbsp;
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

In two weeks’ time, runners from around the world will compete at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on 26 March.

Timeline of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

British Athletics has announced a 10-strong team for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on 26 March.
Mo Farah will headline the men&rsquo;s team later this month as he makes his debut at these championships. The double world, Olympic and European champion last competed in the UK over 3000m at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix and is excited at the prospect of racing in front of another home crowd in South Wales.
&ldquo;I am looking forward to running on the British team,&rdquo; said the European record-holder at the half-marathon distance. &ldquo;It will be my first time to compete at this championships but I have been training hard and hope to perform well.
&ldquo;I always enjoy racing in front of a home crowd and I&rsquo;m sure they will give me and the rest of the British team fantastic support as they line the streets of the city.&rdquo;
Five-time Welsh cross-country champion Dewi Griffiths will get a rousing reception around the course as he joins Callum Hawkins, who set a half marathon personal best of 1:02:36 in Paris last weekend. Trials winner Ryan McLeod and Matthew Hynes occupy the other spots on the men&rsquo;s team.
Gemma Steel leads the women&rsquo;s team. The 2014 European cross-country champion will be looking to improve upon her seventh-place finish at the 2012 edition in Kavarna.
Alyson Dixon, who finished 18th at the last edition in Copenhagen, and Charlotte Purdue take their places in the squad while Rachel Felton and Jenny Spink will make their international championship debut. Jess Coulson, who won the trial race in Cardiff last October, was not available for selection.
&ldquo;There is some great British history in these championships with Paula Radcliffe and Liz McColgan winning at previous editions,&rdquo; said team leader Spencer Duval. &ldquo;I am really looking forward to seeing the team tackle the course. It is a great opportunity for the team to contest a major championship on home soil and I have every faith that they will take advantage of the support from the British public on the route.
British Athletics for the IAAF
<h3>British team for Cardiff</h3>
Men: Mo Farah, Dewi Griffiths, Callum Hawkins, Matthew Hynes, Ryan McLeod
Women: Alyson Dixon, Rachel Felton, Charlotte Purdue, Jenny Spink, Gemma Steel

British Athletics has announced a 10-strong team for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 which will be held on 26 March.

Farah headlines host nation’s team for Cardiff

The ABW (Athletics for a Better World) 500 initiative, which is geared towards the IAAF / Cardiff University World Half Marathon&nbsp;Championships Cardiff 2016, hosted its second community training session in the Welsh town of Aberfan on Sunday (28).More than 50 runners enjoyed an afternoon helping them prepare and get race ready for the championships in Cardiff on Saturday 26 March. The event attendees received training hints and tips from local inspirational speaker and author Hannah Phillips, as well as Welsh personal trainer&nbsp;Adam Jones, who has recently appeared on the&nbsp;BBC Wales series Run for Your Life.&nbsp; After the talks, the group was taken on a short training run around the Aberfan area to continue their preparations for the big day. Launched in November, the ABW 500 scheme is aimed at helping novice runners or even those who have never run before to experience what a world championship is like and use the training to improve their health and well-being. &nbsp;Athletics for a Better World, the IAAF social responsibility programme, has distributed 500 free running spaces among the Welsh communities who have previously not benefited from such opportunities. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a wonderful afternoon and fantastic to see so many local people from the Merthyr area getting active," said Phillips. "I started running four years ago and it has completely changed my life and from what I have seen today the ABW 500 scheme has already made a real difference to those involved.&rdquo;ABW 500 runner Sean Cooke from Merthyr said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really grateful for the opportunity to run in such a special event. I haven&rsquo;t had the chance to be involved in anything quite like this before and it is definitely inspiring me to continue with my journey back to fitness.&ldquo;While 13.1 miles is not going to be easy, I&rsquo;m determined to finish the race in a decent time and have already started looking into what my next running challenge can be after Cardiff. For me this is a life change.&rdquo; An estimated 20,000 runners will take part in the mass participation race on the same course as the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016.Cardiff 2016 for the IAAF

The ABW (Athletics for a Better World) 500 initiative, which is geared towards the IAAF / Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016, hosted its second community training session in the Welsh town of Aberfan on Sunday (28).

Merthyr runners get ready for IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

Bedan Karoki and Mary Wacera warmed up for next month&rsquo;s IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 with wins at the World&rsquo;s Best 10K, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan on Sunday (28). The Kenyan pair, who both won in 2014, each prevailed in two of the closest finishes in the history of the race, held for the first time in the morning with the gun going at 7:00am local time rather than the usual late afternoon start until 2015.A large group of African runners, fronted by Titus Kipchumba, led the proceedings in the men&rsquo;s race, going through the first 5km in 13:55. Five-time winner and defending champion Sammy Kitwara initially stayed in the large leading pack, but then lost contact with the leaders about 20 minutes into the race and soon afterwards dropped out. But Karoki always featured in the lead group. With the pace suggesting a winning time under 28 minutes, the pack began to shrink over the final three kilometres.Into the last kilometre, three men were still in contention: Karoki, Leonard Barsoton and 2015 world leader Stephen Sambu, who finished third in 2015.Barsoton tried to break away with less than 500 metres to go but Karoki found an extra gear in the sprint finish to overtake him and prevail in a photo finish. Both were men were timed at 27:42, the fastest time in the Puerto Rican race since 2011."I am very happy," said Karoki. "I was not really expecting to win such a tough race, but I'm very happy for the win. This year, there was so much wind, the humidity remains high, but the difference is the wind. The competition was rather hard. There are many strong runners, I know them all and knew I had to run very hard to win."Sambu repeated his third place finish with 27:48, ahead of Philip Langat and 2015 runner-up John Mwangangi, who were fourth and fifth respectively and both given 28:00. In the women&rsquo;s race, the duel was between the champions from the past two editions: Ethiopia&rsquo;s defending champion Belaynesh Oljira and Wacera, the latter wanting to bounce back from her disappointing seventh-place finish last year.The pair were part of a nine-woman group that passed 3km in 9:12, sub 31-minute pace. The rhythm eventually settled down slightly, which allowed Canadian marathon record-holder Lanni Marchant to move to the front, followed by eight African women.As the race progressed, the lead group shrank to six women and it was only in the last 500m that Wacera found an extra gear to secure victory in 31:48, two seconds ahead of Oljira. "Obviously it feels good," said Wacera. "It's really good, I feel happy. The competition was tough, but I was in good condition. Running here is always difficult because the weather is very hot, but I came for the victory and I got it."Veronica Nyuarai finished third in 31:55, one second ahead of fellow Kenyan Linet Masai.&nbsp;Merchant eventually finished eighth in 32:15 but her performance led Canada to win the inaugural NACAC Road Race Cup, together with Geoff Martinson who was 11th in the men&rsquo;s race.Beverly Ramos got almost as a big an ovation as Wacera as the Puerto Rican finished 10th in a national record of 33:19.Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

Bedan Karoki and Mary Wacera warmed up for next month’s IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 with wins at the World’s Best 10K, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan on Sunday (28). 

Karoki and Wacera regain World’s Best 10K titles in San Juan

One month from now, the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 will be welcoming the world&rsquo;s top road runners, some of whom will have the opportunity to establish themselves among the all-time greats of the event.In the 24-year history of the event, no athlete has been more successful than Zersenay Tadese. The Eritrean won four successive individual titles between 2006 and 2009, settled for silver in 2010 and then returned to the top of the podium in 2012 to take his fifth individual gold medal.Although he missed an individual medal two years ago in Copenhagen, he still collected another gold medal as Eritrea won the team competition. It brought his World Half Marathon Championships medal tally to 13, six of which are gold.Only one other man, Kenya&rsquo;s 1999 and 2000 winner Paul Tergat, has won more than one individual title at the World Half Marathon Championships. Including team medals, Tergat and compatriot Moses Tanui each have four gold medals.If Geoffrey Kamworor successfully defends his title in Cardiff, he would join Tadese and Tergat as just the third man to win back-to-back titles at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.Three women have each won a trio of world half-marathon titles.Kenya&rsquo;s Tegla Loroupe was the first to achieve the feat, winning successive titles in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Adding in her three team titles, her 1993 individual bronze and 1997 team silver, Loroupe is the most successful woman in the history of the championships.Marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe succeeded Loroupe as the world half-marathon champion in 2000 before going on to win again in 2001 and 2003. Her 2001 winning time of 1:06:47 broke Loroupe&rsquo;s championship record from 1997.After taking silver in 2005, Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands went one better in 2006 when the event was renamed the IAAF World Road Running Championships. Held over 20km, Kiplagat took gold in a world record of 1:03:21.She followed it with another gold in 2007, setting a championship record of 1:06:25 with the distance having returned to the half marathon, and triumphed again in 2008.The Kenyan team for this year&rsquo;s edition features the winners from 2009, 2010 and 2014: Mary Keitany, Florence Kiplagat and Gladys Cherono, respectively. Like their compatriot Kamworor in the men&rsquo;s race, they each have a good chance of joining the exclusive club of multiple winners at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.Unsurprisingly, Kenya is the most successful nation in the history of the event. With 40 gold medals, 21 silver and 16 bronze, their overall medal haul of 77 is more than the combined total of the next two top nations, Ethiopia (43) and Japan (22).And all three of those countries could add to their medal tallies in Cardiff on 26 March.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

One month from now, the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 will be welcoming the world’s top road runners, some of whom will have the opportunity to establish themselves among the all-time greats of the event.

History’s top IAAF World Half Marathon Championships performers

Mo Farah has urged runners not to miss their chance to run with the double Olympic champion at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on 26 March.Registration for the mass-participation race &ndash; when up to 20,000 runners will get to race alongside the elite athletes &ndash; closes on Monday 29 February.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships, it&rsquo;s going to be exciting and I urge everyone to make sure they are there,&rdquo; said Farah.&ldquo;You can join me on the famous, flat and fast Cardiff course but you need to get in quick because registration closes soon.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be great to have so many people running in the mass race and hopefully I&rsquo;ll get chance to meet a lot of people and cheer them on as well, because a half marathon is a great achievement.&rdquo;Farah is an official ambassador for the event and has made himself available for selection for the British team due to be announced on 8 March. It will be the first time the double world and Olympic champion has competed at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.The 32-year-old is aiming to add an eighth global gold medal to his collection and to become the first male British winner of the event in its 24-year history.Cardiff will become the fourth UK city to host the event, following South Shields in 1992, Bristol in 2001 and Birmingham in 2009.Places in the mass participation race are still available. Visit <a href="http://www.cardiff2016.co.uk/register" target="_blank">www.cardiff2016.co.uk/register</a> before midnight on Monday 29 February. Use the code MOFIVE to get &pound;5 off the price of a general entry.

Mo Farah has urged runners not to miss their chance to run with the double Olympic champion at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on 26 March.

WORLD ATHLETICS HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS

In victory and defeat, Kamworor and Farah now shift focus to Rio rematch

By luck or by design, Jepchirchir is now a global champion

Report: men's race – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016

Report: women's race – IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016

IAAF Road Running Seminar takes place in Cardiff