Gladys Yator, winner of the Corrida de Langueux (© Organisers)
Kenya’s Gladys Yator won the 25th edition of the Corrida de Langueux, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, covering the two-lap 10km course around the Breton town in a course record of 31:40 on Saturday (13).
Compatriot Simon Cheprot won the men's race in 28:05, meaning a Kenyan double was achieved for the second year in a row.
The women’s race was a close affair. Ethiopia's Bekelech Daba ran with the Kenyan pair of Yator and Priscah Cherono until the later stages of the race when Yator broke away.
Yator won in a course record and personal best of 31:40, taking eight seconds off Christelle Daunay’s three-year-old mark.
Cherono, the 2007 world 5000m bronze medallist who was competing in her first race for two years, was second in 32:05 with Daba, second 12 months ago, having to settle for third this time with 32:10.
In the men's contest, Cheprot took control of the race after the leading pack went through the first 5km in 13:55.
He was out on his own for most of the second lap before clocking the third-fastest winning time in the history of the race and the quickest time since Ethiopia’s Atsedu Tsegay set the current course record of 27:46 in 2011.
“I’m really happy to have won the race," said Cheprot. "I felt great today so I made sure I gave the race everything from start to finish and it paid off."
Ethiopia’s Getachew Jemaneh, the Strasbourg Half Marathon winner last month, was a distant second in 28:36, just holding off Kenya’s Peter Lemuya who was one second in arrears.
Denis Mayaud was the first French runner to cross the line, finishing 11th in a time of 29:25.
“This is a somewhat surprising result, but nevertheless I’m delighted with it," said Mayaud. "I started with a good, steady pace, and although I slowed down in the second part of the race, I still managed to hold on to my position until the end of the race, which I’m very pleased with."
Much to the disappointment of the 15,000 local spectators – twice the population of the town – lining the route, two-time European cross-country medallist Hassan Chahdi again struggled and finished outside the top 20, another poor race in the wake of his two most recent outings which have seen him drop out of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the French 10,000m Championships.
Miriam Walker-Khan for the IAAF
