Masai Set for Half-Marathon Debut

Published by WorldRunning on October 15, 2014

Former world 10,000m champion Linet Masai from Kenya is due to make her half-marathon debut at the Bupa Great Birmingham Run, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday (19).

As well as her vast success on the track, Masai is also a polished cross-country runner with four medals from the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships to her name but the 24-year-old hasn’t been in this sort of shape in recent years.

Masai accounts a major calf injury for her lack of form over the past couple of seasons, but a dominant win over ten-miles in windy conditions at the Dam tot Damloop in the Netherlands last month in 53:09 bodes well for her debut at the half-marathon on Sunday.

While better known for her track exploits, her past credentials on the roads are also impressive. Masai, who is a renowned front-runner, set a world ten-mile record of 50:39 in 2009, and she also boasts a fast 10km PB of 30:48.