Uganda’s Ezekiel Mutai made his debut memorable when he ran away with men’s title at the 24th edition of the Lille half marathon on Sunday (17) in Lille, France.
The 23 year-old who is a specialist in the water and barrier race beat a strong elite field that included the 2019 All-Africa Games 5000m bronze medallist, Richard Yator Kimunyan, the 2019 Africa U20 10,000m bronze medallist, Samuel Kibet and former European U23 10,000m bronze medallist, Valentin Gondouin.
Mutai beat the experienced field as he won the race in 1:00.43 with Kimunyan coming home in second in 1:00.47 with his compatriot, Kibet sealing the podium three places in 1:00.49.
Gondouin and Raphael Kolian from Kenya finished in fourth and fifth place in respective time of 1:00.59 and 101.02
The race course record of 59:05 set twelve years ago by Kenya’s Ezekiel Chebii remains standing.
