Geoffrey Kamworor Returns to Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon 2026 | Elite Field Preview

Geoffrey Kamworor has endured more than his share of setbacks. Thirteen years after claiming his first senior international victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, the Kenyan star returns to the flat, fast roads of Al Marjan Island on Saturday, February 14 looking to continue the resurgence that has restored him among the world’s elite distance runners.

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His victory here in 2013 launched a golden era. The former world junior cross country champion went on to win back-to-back senior World Cross Country titles, claim three consecutive world half marathon crowns, set a half marathon world record of 58:01, and capture the New York City Marathon twice.

Perhaps his most memorable triumph came at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff. After slipping on the wet start line and being trampled in the opening chaos, Kamworor rose from the pavement, chased down the field, and stormed to victory. It was a fall that only strengthened his resolve.

A far more serious setback followed.
“In Cardiff it was wet and I slipped at the start — nobody tripped me,” he recalled. “It was hard running through the crowd, but the fall made me more determined. In 2020, during Covid, I was training alone and one morning before light a motorbike hit me from behind. I fractured my tibia and couldn’t run for six months. When I returned, my body was out of balance and I kept getting injured. It took over three years to run properly again.”

Kamworor surprised even himself when he finished second at the 2023 London Marathon in a personal best 2:04:23. Further injury interruptions followed before he finally returned to the top step of the podium with victory in Rotterdam last year, just ten seconds slower than his London best.

Now 33 and a father of five — including six-year-old triplets — Kamworor continues to live and train in Eldoret, Kenya’s high-altitude distance running stronghold.

“I’m training as well as ever,” he said on Friday. “I remember this flat, fast course from 2013. I’m just grateful to be back running without problems.”

Thirty-three is hardly old in marathon terms — Carlos Lopes won Olympic gold at 37 in 1984, and Constantina Dita triumphed in Beijing at 38 — but the competition is fierce.

Compatriot Brian Kibor (58:39) and Ethiopia’s Jemal Mekonen (58:33) boast more recent sub-59 performances than Kamworor’s 58:01. Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn (58:40) also enters as a major contender.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Wede Kefale leads the field with a 65:21 personal best from Copenhagen four months ago, ahead of Kenya’s Gladys Chepkurui (65:46) and Jesca Chelangat (66:13).

Since its inception in 2007 — when the mercurial Sammy Wanjiru ran a world best 58:53 — the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon has been dominated by Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes. The women’s race, however, has delivered some of the sport’s greatest performances, including world records by Mary Keitany (65:50) in 2011, Peres Jepchirchir (64:52) in 2017, and Ababel Yeshaneh (64:31) in 2020.

With the famously flat layout around Al Marjan Island and cool early-morning conditions, fast times are once again expected on Saturday.

Men’s Elite Field

• Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) – 58:01
• Jemal Mekonen (ETH) – 58:33
• Brian Kibor (KEN) – 58:39
• Amedework Walelegn (ETH) – 58:40
• Antenayeh Dagnachew (ETH) – 59:17
• Yismaw Dillu (ETH) – 59:23
• Birhanu Balew (BRN) – 59:41
• Enos Kales (KEN) – 60:17
• Bayelign Teshager (ETH) – 60:22
• Mao Ako (TAN) – 60:28
• Benson Kiplangat (KEN) – Debut

Women’s Elite Field

• Wede Kefale (ETH) – 65:21
• Gladys Chepkurui (KEN) – 65:46
• Jesca Chelangat (KEN) – 66:13
• Magdalena Shauri (TAN) – 66:37
• Gete Alemayehu (ETH) – 66:37
• Cynthia Chepkwony (KEN) – 67:20
• Bertha Gebreslasie (ETH) – 67:26
• Orba Chemurgor (KEN) – 67:56
• Wudinesh Alemu (ETH) – 68:08
• Debash Kelali (ETH) – 68:10
• Annet Chelangat (UGA) – 68:12
• Melknat Wudu (ETH) – 68:53