Late entrant Amanal Petros smashed his German record in windy conditions in the Berlin Half Marathon on Sunday (6) morning.
Petros took the national record under the one hour-barrier for the first time, lowering his record from 60:09 to 59:31 to finish third in a race won by Ethiopia’s Gemechu Dida in 58:43.
Petros also moves to fourth on the European all-time list behind Julien Wanders (59:13), Andreas Almgren (59:23) and Yeman Crippa (59:26) to signal he is in fine shape ahead of the London Marathon on 27 April.
"I am very happy, all the effort was worth it. But the wind was tough," said Petros, who has been training at high altitude in Kenya in preparation for the London Marathon in three weeks’ time.
Behind Petros, 2022 European marathon champion Richard Ringer also ran a lifetime best of 60:51 to finish in fourth.
In the women’s race, Germany’s Esther Pfeiffer was the leading European finisher in a lifetime best of 69:15 to finish seventh.
Pfeiffer is due to contest the same distance at the inaugural European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven, which will be streamed live and without restrictions on the European Athletics website next weekend on 12-13 April, and a similar time is likely to put the German in contention for an individual medal.
Ethiopia’s Foyten Tesfay took the victory in the women’s race in a world lead of 63:35, the fifth fastest time in history as well as a German all-comers’ record.
Fitwi and Mayer land German titles in Hannover Marathon
German record-holder Samuel Fitwi won his national marathon title at the Hannover Marathon on Sunday (6) in 2:06:29.
Fitwi was inside 2:06-pace through halfway in 62:49 but slowly slightly in the closing stages. However, his winning time of 2:06:29 was still the second fastest time of his career.
Fellow Paris 2024 Olympian Domenika Mayer won the women’s race in 2:24:22 by almost three minutes from Laura Hottenrott in 2:27:06.
Fast 5km times for FitzGerald and Almgren
Two-time European U20 cross country champion Innes FitzGerald clocked a fast road 5km at the Bristol Track Club 5K on Sunday (6).
FitzGerald stopped the clock at 15:08, the fastest ever road 5km recorded by a British or European U20.
In Drammen, Norway on Saturday (5) Andreas Almgren set another Swedish record with 13:05 to win the 5km. He moves to third on the European all-time list behind the French duo of Jimmy Gressier (12:57) and Yann Schrub (13:00), both of whom will be competing in next week’s European Running Championships.
Reigning European U23 5000m champion Charles Hicks won the Cherry Blossom 10-Miles in Washington, United States in 45:14 on Sunday (6).