Selemon Barega on his way to Seville Marathon victory (© Organisers)
Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega and Wede Kefale top the entry lists for the Bank of China Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Half Marathon on Sunday (15).
The event has been elevated to World Athletics Platinum Label road race status this year, becoming the first race in Hong Kong and only the fifth half marathon globally to hold top-tier status.
Barega headlines the men’s field as he returns to action after finishing fifth in the Berlin Marathon in a PB of 2:04:58 in September.
The 26-year-old, who won the Olympic 10,000m title in 2021, also finished seventh in the Tokyo Marathon in March and set a 10km PB of 27:37 to win the Great Manchester Run in May. His half marathon PB of 57:50 from Valencia in 2023 makes him the fifth-fastest half marathon runner of all time and he returned to run 58:57 in the Spanish city the following year.
Now he heads to Hong Kong to contest the fifth half marathon of his career, forming part of a field that features another global gold medallist in Alphonce Simbu.
The Tanzanian 34-year-old won the world marathon title in Tokyo last year and went on to finish second in Boston in 2:02:47. His most recent performance was 2:04:57 for a fourth-place finish at the Sydney Marathon at the end of August, while he ran a half marathon PB of 59:30 to finish third in Dubai in February.
Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena was the champion in Sydney and he also runs in Hong Kong – his first race since that triumph. The 22-year-old finished seventh in the London Marathon in April and has a half marathon best of 59:17 set in 2025.
His compatriot Getaneh Molla was one place and three seconds ahead of Barega in the Berlin Marathon, finishing fourth in 2:04:55, and they meet again.
Other sub-60:00 athletes in the first include Kenya’s Ezra Tanui and Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri.
Kefale is fastest in the women’s field thanks to the 1:05:21 she ran when finishing third on her half marathon debut in Copenhagen a year ago. The 26-year-old has raced another four half marathons since then, all this year, and she went close to her best with 1:05:54 to finish second in Cardiff last month. The 2024 All-African Games 10,000m silver medallist also set a 10km PB of 29:55 in Valencia in January.
Kefale might be the quickest on paper but she faces an athlete with the benefit of experience – defending champion Grace Loibach Nawowuna of Kenya.
The 23-year-old won in a course record of 1:07:56 last year, when the race was in January, and went on to improve her PB to 1:06:31 when finishing second in the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon the following month. She has only raced once so far this year, finishing 14th on her return to Meishan in 1:11:37.
Her compatriot Miriam Chebet adds further strength to the field. The 24-year-old beat fourth-place finisher Kefale by more than a minute when winning the Yangzhou Half Marathon in March in 1:06:27 but was three places behind her over 10km in Valencia in January. Chebet then finished seventh in the Commonwealth Games 10,000m and set a half marathon PB of 1:05:39 during her most recent race in Valencia last month.
Ethiopia’s Aynalem Desta, runner-up in the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:06 last month, contests the third half marathon of her career and is joined by her compatriots Fantu Worku, Netsanet Desta and Asmarech Anley, who have all run 1:07:30 or faster. Worku, the 2019 world 5000m sixth-place finisher, was fifth in the Berlin Marathon last year.
The field also features South African marathon record-holder Glenrose Xaba and Fatima Ezzahra Birdaha who set a Moroccan half marathon record of 1:07:33 when finishing ninth at the World Road Running Championships in September.
Leading entries
Women
Wede Kefale (ETH) 1:05:21
Miriam Chebet (KEN) 1:05:39
Grace Nawowuna (KEN) 1:06:31
Asmarech Anley (ETH) 1:07:01
Glenrose Xaba (RSA) 1:07:03
Netsanet Desta (ETH) 1:07:26
Fantu Worku (ETH) 1:07:30
Baraky Redae (ETH) 1:07:31
Fatima Ezzahra Birdaha (MAR) 1:07:33
Priscah Jepleting Cherono (KEN) 1:08:35
Zewudie Wudu (ETH) 1:09:32
Tigist Dejene (ETH) 1:10:22
Daisy Jepkemei (KAZ) 1:10:51
Aynalem Desta (ETH) 1:12:19
Alemitu Assefa (ETH) debut
Men
Selemon Barega (ETH) 57:50
Addisu Gobena (ETH) 59:17
Ezra Tanui (KEN) 59:20
Alphonce Simbu (TAN) 59:30
Getaneh Molla (ETH) 59:52
Othmane El Goumri (MAR) 59:53
Adisu Tesfahun Tafere (ETH) 1:01:15
Mamo Hachalu (ETH) debut
Aliyi Kasim (ETH) debut
Abel Kiplimo Kimeli (KEN) debut
Alex Lenalepisho (KEN) debut
