Both event records fall in City of Brotherly Love; largest field in event's 33-year history with over 18,600 entrants
Philadelphia, PA -- September 19, 2010 - Kenya's Matthew Kisorio and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar wrote themselves into the record books with superb runs of 60:15 and 1:07:44 at the ING Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
In her half-marathon debut, Defar smashed the U.S. all-comers record, running the fastest time ever run by a woman on American soil for the distance. Her time bested Berhane Adere's previous of mark 1:07:52 set earlier this year at the Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon.
"My feeling is good with my first half marathon," Defar said after the race. "I won it. This is very big for me. I had the speed and knew that with the last 2K, I could push and win it."
Kenya's Lineth Chepkirui finished two seconds back in 1:07:46, followed by Ethiopian Werknesh Kidane in 1:08:30. American Shalane Flanagan finished 4th with a time of 1:08:36, one minute and two seconds off Deena Kastor's American Record.
On the men's side, Kisorio, a World junior 5,000-meter silver medalist, broke Khalid Khannouchi's 1997 event mark by 12 seconds. 2009 World Cross Country Champion Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia finished ten seconds back in second place with a time of 1:00:25. Brett Gotcher of Flagstaff, Arizona was the top American finisher in ninth place, running 1:02:50. Defending champion Ryan Hall finished a disappointing 13th in 1:03:55.
Top Ten Finishers
| Men |
| Pl | Name | Age | Hometown | Finish Time |
| 1 | Matthew Kisorio | 21 | Kenya | 1:00:15 |
| 2 | Gebre Gebremariam | 26 | Ethiopia | 1:00:25 |
| 3 | Abderrahim Goumri | 34 | Morocco | 1:01:33 |
| 4 | Peter Some | 20 | Kenya | 1:01:34 |
| 5 | Simon Bairu | 27 | Canada | 1:02:08 |
| 6 | Alistair Cragg | 30 | Ireland | 1:02:15 |
| 7 | Wesley Korir | 27 | Kenya | 1:02:40 |
| 8 | Shawn Forest | 27 | Australia | 1:02:44 |
| 9 | Brett Gotcher | 26 | Flagstaff, AZ | 1:02:50 |
| 10 | Boaz Cheboiywo | 32 | Kenya | 1:03:02 |
| Women |
| Pl | Name | Age | Hometown | Finish Time |
| 1 | Meseret Defar | 26 | Ethiopia | 1:07:44 |
| 2 | Lineth Chepkirui | 22 | Kenya | 1:07:46 |
| 3 | Werknesh Kidane | | Ethiopia | 1:08:30 |
| 4 | Shalane Flanagan | 29 | Portland, OR | 1:08:36 |
| 5 | Kim Smith | 28 | New Zealand | 1:08:39 |
| 6 | Caroline Rotich | 26 | Kenya | 1:10:24 |
| 7 | Katie McGregor | 33 | Minneapolis, MN | 1:12:04 |
| 8 | Stephanie Herbst Lucke | 44 | Atlanta, GA | 1:12:15 |
| 9 | Chaofeng Jia | 21 | China | 1:12:46 |
| 10 | Deratu Tulu | 38 | Ethiopia | 1:13:01 |
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