Eritrea&rsquo;s world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie will try to take his personal best for the half marathon under one hour at the eDreams Mitja Marat&oacute; de Barcelona on Sunday 14 February.Organisers for the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race in the Catalan city announced the participation of the 20-year-old Eritrean, one of the most surprising winners of a title at the World Championships in the Chinese capital last August, on Tuesday (2)."I want to show the world that my victory at the world championships was no flash in the pan,&rdquo; said Ghebreslassie.Barcelona will be Ghebreslassie&rsquo;s first race since his triumph in Beijing."I have heard lots of very good things of the eDreams Half Marathon ​​and, of course, I am aware that Kiplagat twice got the world record here. I am very happy because I will come to Barcelona with my training partner Merhawi Kesete, so my goal is the podium and get my personal best at this distance.&rdquo;Ghebreslassie has a personal best of 1:00:09, actually clocked three years ago when he was incredibly just 17 and which is one of the fastest times over the distance ever run by a teenager.In addition to Ghebreslassie, the men&rsquo;s race will feature Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hunegnaw Mesfin, who has a half marathon best of 59:39, his compatriot Abera Kuma (best of 1:00:19), Kenya&rsquo;s Josphat Kiprono Menjo (1:01:43) and Eritrea&rsquo;s Kesete (1:01:43). A large group of European athletes, led by Italy&rsquo;s European marathon champion Daniele Meuccci, will be using the race as a part of their preparations for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 on Saturday 26 March. In addition to Meucci, who has a half marathon best of 1:01:06, the European contingent also includes Italy&rsquo;s Simone Gariboldi, Sweden&rsquo;s Mustafa Mohamed and the French pair of Nicolas Navarro and Dejamel Bachiri.Phil Minshull and organisers for the IAAF

Eritrea’s world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie will try to take his personal best for the half marathon under one hour at the eDreams Mitja Marató de Barcelona on Sunday 14 February.

Ghebreslassie looking to prove he's no 'flash in the pan' in Barcelona

For the second week in succession on the Czech roads, Kenya&rsquo;s 21-year-old Peris Jepchirchir has delivered proof of her remarkable talent in IAAF Gold Label Road Race events, this time winning the Mattoni Usti nad Labem Half Marathon in 1:07:17 on Saturday (12).Following in the footsteps of her world-leading 10km in 30:55 in Prague a week ago, Jepchirchir clocked the seventh fastest time in the world this year to break the women&rsquo;s record by more than two minutes, the previous record being 1:09:08 by her compatriot Josephine Chepkoech two years ago.For good measure, the Iten-based runner improved her personal best by almost two minutes.Jepchirchir confessed afterwards that she would have been happy to run 68 minutes but once the mayor of Usti nad Labem, Vera Nebychova, had fired the starting gun, Jepchirchir displayed the same direct approach that had served her so well in the Birell Prague Grand Prix 10km the week before: run hard and let the opposition worry. Her compatriot Linah Cheruto was briefly in attendance as Jepchirchir went through 5km in 15:32. With Cheruto one second adrift, Jepchirchir just kept on running as remorselessly as ever.The 10km checkpoint was passed in 31:48, with Jepchirchir 42 seconds inside the course record pace.By 15km, the clock showed 47:32 and she was still flying, more than a minute inside the required target and the question was not whether the course record would be broken, but by how much.After crossing the line, she gave credit to her training partner and role model when she was a schoolgirl, former half marathon world record-holder Mary Keitany.&ldquo;When I was in school, I ran track and I read about Mary and her achievements," said Jepchirchir. "I&rsquo;m still surprised to think that I train with her, I learn from her and I am now running these times. I didn&rsquo;t expect to run 67 but hoped for 68 minutes today."Jepchirchir added that this was her last road race of the season. Her attention will switch to gaining a place on the Kenyan Olympic team for the 10,000m in Rio next year.Bahrain's Shitaye Eshete finished a distant second in 1:10:14 on her half marathon debut while Cheruto was third in 1:10:48.Merhawi Kesete of Eritrea sprang a surprise to win the men's title, beating better-known rivals with a winning time of 1:00:58, 20 seconds outside the course record.Kenyan pair Barselius Kipyego and Eliah Tirop were second and third in 1:00:59 and 1:01:12 respectively.With just over two kilometres remaining, the three men who eventually filled the podium positions were bunched together, Kesete taking his turn to push the pace with Kipyego, while Tirop was a stride behind. At one kilometre remaining, Tirop had drifted slightly away from the leading pair. Having taken third in the Birell Prague Grand Prix 10km the week before, Kipyego might have been expected to have the required finishing speed but, instead, it was Kesete who produced a final surge for a narrow win.Men&rsquo;s race favourite Daniel Chebii, unlike Jepchirchir, could not reproduce his form over the shorter distance from a week ago in the Czech capital and despite being well placed at 10km, fell away and finished eighth in 1:03:27.Andy Edwards (organisers) for the IAAF

For the second week in succession on the Czech roads, Kenya’s 21-year-old Peris Jepchirchir has delivered proof of her remarkable talent in IAAF Gold Label Road Race events, this time winning the Mattoni Usti nad Labem Half Marathon in 1:07:17 on Saturday (12).

Ghebreslassie looking to prove he's no 'flash in the pan' in Barcelona

Jepchirchir shatters course record at Usti nad Labem Half Marathon