Former marathon world record holder Kosgei headlines EDP Lisbon Half Marathon

Everything is ready in Lisbon for another edition of the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, the fastest half marathon in the world scheduled for tomorrow.

For this year, the Portuguese race will have another stellar elite field - with the Kenyan Brigid Kosgei as the main contender. Former marathon world record, Kosgei will be in Lisbon to prepare the upcoming London Marathon and has plans to run fast in Portuguese soil.

" I am really happy to be here again. I wanted to run this race because I want to test my speed for London Marathon in April. I am here to see how my body responds... The course is very fast and I hope to have a good race. If the weather is good, I will try to break my personal best in half marathon,” said the 30 year-old Kenyan, who has a personal best of 1:04:49.

Right by her side was the American Leonard Korir, third in the last month's US Olympic Marathon Trials. In that race, Korir achieved the needed spot in the podium, but not the time to guarantee the place in Paris.         

"I heard so many good things about the race; I heard that it's super fast… I wanted to run something faster, and I told myself 'let me try Lisbon'.  I just want to see if I can run a quick time, to see how my body feels before running a marathon in the near future,” said the 37-year-old American.

EDP Lisbon Half Marathon will have some strong contenders - all of them with their sights on the €150.000 bonus for new world records. The times to beat are 57:31, set by Jacob Kiplimo in this same race in 2021 and 1:02:54 set by Letesenbet Gidey in in Valencia.