IAAF World Halfmarathon 2005 Championships in Edmonton

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 2005 in Edmonton

Joseph Fabiano Naasi wins after dramatic finish!

October 1, 2005
Mubarek Hassan Shami of Quatar thought he had it, started raising his arms and slowing down just meters from the finish, when Tanzania's Joseph Fabiano Naasi came through with a strong finish and passed, just inches from the finish line. I bet the Quatar runner will be thinking about that one for a while. Naasi is only 19 years old, and very talented. His winning time on this rainy and cold day was 1:01:08.

The women's race turned out very differently from the men's race. It was dominated by Romania's Constantin Tomescu, who destroyed the field early on and won in 1:09:17, quite a bid ahead of favourite Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands (1:10:19) and Kenya's Susan Chepkemei (1:10:20). Very impressive running by the Romanian. Pre-race favourite Derartu Tulu was not 100% recovered from the flu, and had a tough day, not placing among the top 10 this time.

It was only 6 degrees Celsius when the men's race started at 11:30, and the rain kept coming down. As spectators, we got soaked and cold, but it was all worth it to see such world class running on Canadian soil.

The race was very well organized, and all the participants felt that Edmonton had done a wonderful job in taking care of all details of such a high caliber event. The only dissapointment was the weather.

I must say that Hawrelak Park was a great place for this race, as the spectactors were able to see the runners many times during the race. 4 laps with several spots to see the runners as they "poured it on" made for a fantastic show!