Geoffrey Kamworor, Peres Jepchirchir Lead Strong Fields at the Copenhagen Half Marathon

By Adam Kopet

When Geoffrey Kamworor last raced in Copenhagen, he won his first IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Since then, the Kenyan has won two more, but Sunday will mark his second time racing over the half marathon distance in Denmark's capital.

ENTRIES

Kamworor has been tremendous as a distance runner in recent years. That first World Half Marathon win came in 2014. In 2016, he fell at the start, but still managed to win. He added a third title in 2018.

Additionally, Kamworor has twice won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2015 and 2017. His one blemish in recent years was this year. Competing in Aarhus, Denmark, Kamworor finished third.

Despite the hardware Kamworor has won, his personal best goes back to 2013 when he ran 58:54 at the RAK Half Marathon. When he toes the line Sunday, he will not be the fastest man in the field. Kamworor's compatriot Solomon Kirwa Yego has run 58:44.

Nonetheless, Kamworor is not a runner to be overlooked, especially at the half marathon distance. His last loss came at the 2014 New Delhi Half Marathon.

The Copenhagen Half Marathon will be a chance for Kamworor to test his speed ahead of the New York City Marathon in November. The course is fast. Last year Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set a European record in the women's race, running 1:05:15.

The rest of the men's field in Copenhagen is strong with 11 men having run inside 60 minutes in the past. Included in that group is Norway's Sondre Nordstad Moen, who owns a personal best of 59:48.

The women's field is also strong, featuring nine women who have run under 1:08 before. However, sitting atop the entries list is former world record holder Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya. She ran 1:05:06 to set a world record at the 2017 RAK Half Marathon. That was before Joyciline Jepkosgei twice broke the world record later that year.

Since Jepchirchir's world record run in 2017, she has struggled to find the same form. She did not race again in 2017 and she missed 2018 as well. Jepchirchir finished sixth at this year's RAK Half Marathon, running 1:07:36.