PuraVida Sports

Istanbul

A unique twin brothers’ triumph in a major international road race produced the unexpected highlight of the Türkiye Is Bankasi Istanbul Half Marathon: Kenya’s 27-year-old defending champion Alex Matata won the race in 60 minutes, 01 seconds, just a step ahead of his twin brother Charles Matata who crossed the line in the same time. 

Ali Kaya was third with a personal best of 60:12 and won the Turkish Half Marathon Championships. In the women’s race Purity Gitonga of Kenya – whose twin sister Caroline is also an elite athlete – triumphed with 66:50 while Ethiopia’s pre-race favourite Ftaw Zeray had to settle for second in 66:57. Glenrose Xaba of South Africa took third with 67:03.

Race organiser Spor Istanbul registered a record number of over 19,000 runners for the 21st edition of the Türkiye Is Bankasi Istanbul Half Marathon, which is a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race. 

This figure includes athletes who competed in the 10k race staged parallel.

In the men’s race a big leading group passed 10k in 28:32 in fine weather conditions. 

A group of seven runners then formed during the next 5k section: Defending champion Alex Matata and his brother Charles, who was entered as a pacemaker but was given the option to finish the race, were running besides fellow-Kenyans Benard Murkumen, Moses Cheruiyot, Solomon Yego and debutant Robert Keter. 

Turkey’s Ali Kaya completed the group. 

While the 59:15 course record was out of reach the Matata twins put on a memorable show. Taking the lead before the 18k mark they moved well ahead and were then unchallenged. In a close finish Alex Matata added another victory to his impressive half marathon record. Over the past two years he has run the distance 14 times, winning a dozen of those races. 

World Half Marathon Championships

“I am happy to have defended my title. However, I competed slightly injured. During a training run I twisted my ankle yesterday, so it was not an ideal race for me,“ said Alex Matata, who had originally hoped to break the Istanbul course record. 

“My next goal is to run in the World Half Marathon Championships in September. There are no plans yet regarding a marathon debut.“ 

His second-placed brother Charles Matata improved his three-year-old personal best by four seconds. “It was great running together, I will continue competing at the half marathon distance,“ said Charles Matata. 

The women ran a consistent pace throughout the race. 

After a 10k split time of 31:40 a group of five athletes passed 15 kilometres in 47:31: Ftaw Zeray, who was the fastest runner on the start list with her 65:12 PB, and fellow-Ethiopians Asmarech Anley and Zimam Redae were together with Kenya’s Caroline Gitonga and South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba. 

With less than three kilometres to go Purity Gitonga moved ahead while Ftaw Zeray could not close the gap in the final section of the race. 

“It was a good race, but it was not easy,“ said the 29-year-old winner, who had entered the race with a PB of 67:31 and improved this by 41 seconds. 

Incidentally, Purity’s twin sister, Caroline Gitonga, is also an elite runner.

 “I will now run some races at shorter distances and also compete on the track in the summer. May be I will run another half marathon in the autumn, but there are no plans for a marathon debut yet,“ said Purity Gitonga, whose twin sister Caroline originally was on the Istanbul start list as well. With 66:26 she has a slightly superior PB than Purity. But Caroline Gitonga had to cancel her trip to Türkiye due to an illness.

In 10th position Nursena Ceto became the Turkish Champion with a personal best of 71:27.

Results, Men:

1. Alex Matata (KEN) 60:01

2. Charles Matata (KEN) 60:01

3. Ali Kaya (TUR) 60:12

4. Benard Murkomen (KEN) 60:21

5. Robert Keter (KEN) 60:40

6. Moses Cheruiyot (KEN) 60:48

7. Teresa Nyakola (ETH) 60:51

8. Mengistu Bekele (ETH) 60:56

9. Solomon Yego (KEN) 61:13

10. Shura Kitata (ETH) 61:20

Results, Women:

1. Purity Gitonga (KEN ) 66:50

2. Ftaw Zeray (ETH) 66:57

3. Glenrose Xaba (RSA) 67:03

4. Asmarech Anley (ETH) 67:14

5. Zimam Redae (ETH) 67:31

6. Evaline Chirchir (KEN) 68:49

7. Beriha Gebreslasie (ETH) 69:21

8. Vivian Cheuriyot (KEN) 69:23

9. Stella Lokhiri (S.SUD) 71:17

10. Nursena Ceto (TUR) 71:27