Harbert Kibet wins the 10K Facsa Castellón (© Sportmedia)
Harbert Kibet and Caroline Gitonga both moved into the top 10 on the world all-time lists while Yann Schrub and Megan Keith set European records at the 10K Facsa Castellón, a World Athletics Label road race, on Sunday (22).
Making his 10km debut, Uganda’s 20-year-old Kibet won the race in a world-leading 26:39, a time that makes him the fifth-fastest 10km runner in history – just one second slower than his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei, the multiple global gold medallist and world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder.
Kibet won by four seconds ahead of Schrub of France, who clocked 26:43 to beat Sweden’s Andreas Almgren by two seconds and improve his rival’s European record in the process. Almgren ran 26:45 in Valencia last month to improve his own European record and the world 10,000m bronze medallist matched that mark in Castellón.
Kenya’s Gitonga improved her PB by more than a minute to win the women’s race in 29:34 and move to joint ninth on the world all-time list.
She won by 11 seconds ahead of her compatriot Nelvin Jepkemboi, while Ethiopia’s Chaltu Dida was third in 29:50 and Great Britain’s Keith was fourth in 30:07, taking one second off the European record set by her compatriot Eilish McColgan in Valencia. McColgan ran 30:35 on this occasion to finish sixth, one place behind Purity Gitonga (30:25), twin sister to winner Caroline.
The pacemaker Mike Foppen led a seven-strong leading men’s pack through 5km in 13:23 and Almgren and Schrub remained to the fore as the group passed the 7km mark.
Kibet, contesting the longest race of his career so far, started to make a move with around 1.5km remaining and he strode ahead, glancing over his shoulder.
But Almgren and Schrub didn’t respond and Kibet won clear in 26:39. Schrub won the battle for the runner-up spot and the European record, moving to sixth on the world all-time list, and he and Almgren were followed over the finish line by Kenya’s Silas Senchura (26:58).
In the women’s race, Jepkemboi and Caroline Gitonga ran together through the 5km mark in 14:32. Jepkemboi then pushed ahead but she could not maintain that lead and Caroline passed her with what ended up being a winning move.
Caroline built an 11-second lead by the finish line, crossing clear in 29:34 to improve on the PB of 30:46 she set when finishing eighth in Castellón last year.
Keith, meanwhile, beat the two athletes who had previously held the European record – McColgan and Belgium’s Jana Van Lent, who ran 30:10 in Nice last month and clocked 30:50 in Castellón. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter’s 30:05 from Tilburg in 2019 remains the fastest time achieved by a European athlete but that mark was not ratified as a European record.
Leading results
Women
1 Caroline Gitonga (KEN) 29:34
2 Nelvin Jepkemboi (KEN) 29:45
3 Chaltu Dida (ETH) 29:50
4 Megan Keith (GBR) 30:07
5 Purity Gitonga (KEN) 30:25
6 Eilish McColgan (GBR) 30:35
Men
1 Harbert Kibet (UGA) 26:39
2 Yann Schrub (FRA) 26:43
3 Andreas Almgren (SWE) 26:45
4 Silas Senchura (KEN) 26:58
5 Biniyam Melak (ETH) 27:10
6 Bereket Nega (ETH) 27:39
