Kiplangat, Chesang shine at the Source of The Nile Half Marathon

Doreen Chesang and Hosea Kiplangat braved the early Sunday Morning heat in Jinja to win the 2023 Source of The Nile Half Marathon.

The race sponsored by MTN and Health First Gym was the second event in the Uganda Athletics Federation calendar.

In the men’s category, Kiplagat overcame the trauma of a year-long injury to break the course record in 1 hour, 1 minute and 28.2 seconds in his debut in the half marathon. He bettered Ali Chebures’s 1:02:00 set last year.

“This was the best way to come from an injury,” he told Daily Monitor.

“I missed several races because of the foot injury but I’m glad that is now in the past. My focus is now on this year’s calendar as I look forward to the World Half Marathon in October. Personally, I feel good that my body is now in good shape because I enjoyed the race,” he added.

His Uganda Prisons’ teammate Levi Kiprotich shed off over two minutes from his 7th place finish last year to take the second place as Ben Somikwo completed a 1-2-3 finish for the warders.

Chesang reigns

Chesang who is fresh from the World Cross Country cross the tape in a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 24.0 seconds to better her third-place finish last year. Her time also improved by 35 seconds as compared to a year ago.

Annet Chelangat also from Uganda Wildlife Authority finished second while Rebecca Cheptegei grabbed the only podium finish for UPDF. The winners were awarded shs2m while the first and second runners up took shs1m and shs700,000 respectively

The race attracted 135 runner with only fifteen ladies present, about 20 less than last year's.

2023 Source of the Nile Half Marathon

Results

Men

Hosea Kiplangat – 1:01:28.2

Levi Kiprotich – 1:03:11.5

Ben Somikwo – 1:03:22.6

Women

Doreen Chesang - 1:12:24.0

Annet Chelangat - 1:12:43.6

Rebecca Cheptegei - 1:13:19.3