Portugal Half Marathon

[doug091463]

bezunesh bekele ran a good race in winning the womens race in 1 hour 10 minutes and 20 seconds, her nickname is china because she is so small about 4 foot 6 inches and 80 pounds, i hope "china" gets to run in the olympics in china. i have become a fan of hers.

[26mi235]

Won in 61:54

"...Emmanuel Mutai, a 29-year-old Kenyan, taking the victory after a strong finish sprint took him from a long way back past the leaders, fellow Kenyan Robert Kipkoech Cheruyiot and Morocco's Jaouad Gharib, to finish victorious in 61:54."

The weather (25º and 66% humidity, at 11 a.m.), conditioned all the runners to be cautious, and so despite the new flat course the race was not that fast.

So, a long distance race in Lisbon in September and they start at 11am? Under the assumptions that the event looks better with a faster time, why was it not finished long before 11am (like 9:15).