The triple world half-marathon champion recorded his second fastest ever time over 13.1 miles to take the victory in the United Arab Emirates.

Geoffrey Kamworor believes he can be even better in the latter stages of his career. The 33-year-old has an illustrious CV which includes three titles at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, two wins at the New York City Marathon, two gold medals at the World Cross Country Championships and a world 10,000m silver medal from Beijing.

Back in 2019 Kamworor also set a world half-marathon record of 58:01 in Copenhagen, which he held for over a year. Since then the Kenyan hasn't got within 20 seconds of that mark, but at this year's Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon he clocked 58:13 and once again proved he is one of the world's best 13.1 milers.

Kamworor's victory at the 19th edition of the Rak Half (February 14) came 13 years after he achieved his breakthrough at the same event, smashing his then personal best by over half a minute with 58:54.

The stand-out man in the elite men's field, Kamworor ran sensibly in ideal conditions of 14C, with athletes starting at 6.15am GST due to the heat. The leading pack went through 5km in 13:50 and 10km in 27:42 but it was around the 15km mark – which they passed in 41:25 – when Kamworor made his move and pulled away from Bahrain's Birhanu Balew and Kenya's Gideon Kipkertich Rono.

He never looked back. Courtesy of his metronomic running style, Kamworor eased his way to the line and lifted his hands aloft, knowing that he not only took the victory but that it was the perfect performance ahead of his next marathon in London. He will now go back to Kaptagat, where he trains with Eliud Kipchoge, with even more belief he can run well in the British capital in April.

"To run my second fastest half-marathon time is special and it gives me a lot of confidence in my preparation ahead of the London Marathon," he told AW. "It was emotional as I wanted to win after 13 years. My dream came true here. My personal best is 2:04:23 [from London 2023] and I strongly believe I have great potential to run a really good time in the distance.

"Looking ahead, I'm still missing a very important medal at the Olympics, so I want to make the podium in the marathon at the LA 2028 Olympics."

With no Ababel Yeshaneh, the former world marathon record-holder, in the elite women's field, it became quite an open contest.

The fastest entry was Wede Kefale Belew, who had a half-marathon best of 65:20 and arrived in the United Arab Emirates off the back of running 29:56 for fourth at last month's Valencia 10km.

However it was her compatriot Asmarech Anley, in her very first race over 13.1 miles, who triumphed in a tactical race with 67:21. The leading pack passed through 5km in 16:31 and 10km in 32:45, so it wasn't surprising the latter half of the race was quicker and Anley, who holds the world 10km under-20 best with 30:23 and has clocked 14:41 for 5km, had the necessary turn of speed to secure the victory.

The Rak Half course has seen several world records over the years. In 2007 Sammy Wanjiru ran a men’s world record of 58:53 in the RAK Half. Since then there have also been three women’s world records with Mary Keitany clocking 65:50 in 2011, Peres Jepchirchir running 64:52 in 2017 and Yeshaneh with her 64:31 six years ago.

In 2022, Jacob Kiplimo and Girmawit Gebrzihair ran course records of 57:56 and 64:14 respectively, while Eilish McColgan clocked a British record of 66:26.

Set in the heart of Al Marjan Island in the United Arab Emirates, the Rak Half also featured four different race distances – 2km, 5km, 10km and half-marathon – with 11,000 people taking part.

The 2026 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is also sponsored by ASICS, Channel 4 Radio Network. ITP Media Group, Bisleri and Vitamin Well.

Top three elite athletes 

Men

Geoffrey Kamworor (58:13)
Birhanu Balew (58:21)
Gideon Rono (58:36)

*First seven men were under one hour

Women 

Asmarech Anley Yeseneh (67:21)
Melknat Wudu Sharew (67:26)
Magdalena Shauri (67:30)

You can watch the highlights here.