Ejigu Sentayehu Merga secures victory at ‘Semi-Marathon Christian Granger Boulogne-Billancourt’
Ejigu Sentayehu Merga secured a narrow win in a decent time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 38 seconds, at the 15th edition of the ‘Semi-Marathon Christian Granger Boulogne-Billancourt’, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on November 20, in Boulogne-Billancourt,
France.
The athlete, though not able to surpass the race record of 1 hour and 12 seconds, held by Kenyan athlete, Nicolas Manza, was more than enchanted to clinch the victory. The record not smashed since 2008, stayed untouched, but Merga was not disappointed on
not surging past the record.
Merga dominated his own personal best records with his finishing time in the race. Contributing to his win at the event, he seemed more likely to enjoy the fact of outdoing Eritrean athlete, Estifanos Tewelde.
Tewelde finished the course with a well-attained time of 1 hour, minute and 39 seconds, to secure second place on the podium. With a considerably competitive finishing time, he was able to knock one second from his personal best of 1 hour, 1 minute and 40
seconds, which was set at the World Half Marathon Championships last year, in Nanning, China.
Alfred Cherop of Kenya grabbed third position with a timeline of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 19 seconds. The athlete was way ahead of the rest of the field, which followed for the remaining spots in the race. A month ago, he clinched win at the Nancy Half Marathon
in a well-acquired time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 48 seconds.
Goitetom Haftu Tesema of Ethiopia cruised to victory in the women’s category, as she covered the distance in a comparatively decent time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 57 seconds. With her win, she also claimed a lifetime best score to her credit. Though, not
able to clear the race record of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 26 seconds, set by Dado Fireiwot in 2009, she was happy with the win.
Tesema was a clear pre-race favourite for Paris suburb’s macadam, as earlier this year she grabbed the second spot with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 21 seconds, at the Rome Marathon. The second spot in the race was won by another Ethiopian athlete,
Adhina Tsehay Desaleg, in a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes and 9 seconds. The third place was secured by Kenyan runner, Lucy Macharia, who finished the distance in a timeline of 1 hour 11 minutes and 16 seconds.
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