William Amponsah Sets New National Half Marathon Record in 1:03.15s
ECOWAS CAA Region II Championships half marathon reigning champion and Ghana’s most favourites distance athlete William Amponsah has broken his own national half marathon record in 1:03.15 seconds on Sunday, 11th September 2022 at the 41st Great North Run in Newcastle, Great Britain.
Amponsah had the opportunity to start with the elite field and he was confident in himself. He broke his own 5000m record at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and placed 13th out of 20 professional runners. He clocked 13:51.63s to break his 5000m record in Birmingham.
Although Ishmael Arthur from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) also run 1:02:05 in the 2022 Millennium Marathon, the route was not certified and we can’t confirm if officials of timekeepers are also not certified by World Athletics, but it is regarded as the fastest time to run by a Ghanaian Athlete and in Ghana.
Amponsah was the record holder and he achieved this milestone at the 2019 Onitsa Half Marathon, Nigeria in 1:05.38 seconds.
At the Great North Run 2022, he has run a new personal best (PB) and season-best time of 1:03.15 taking 2 minutes and 23 seconds off the previous record. He also finished eighth overall with over 60,000+ runners.
He has set two new national records in 5000m on the track at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Great North Run (half marathon) in Newcastle on the road all in Great Britain.
TOP RESULTS ELITE MEN
- Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) – 59:32
- Selemon Barega (ETH) – 1:00:39
- Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) – 1:01:01
- Suguru Osako (JPN) – 1:01:05
- Brett Robinson (AUS) – 1:02:06
- Marc Scott (GBR) – 1:02:28
- Yohei Ikeda (JPN) – 1:02:42
- William Amponsah (GHA) – 1:03:15
- Calum Johnson (GBR) – 1:03:16
- Kazuya Nishiyama (JPN) – 1:03:57
Rectify: William Amponsah Did Not Set New National Half Marathon Record in Great North Run – Reason
William Amponsah the current Half Marathon Record in Ghana did not set a new national half marathon record in the 2022 Great North Run but he run a personal best and season-best time.
He clocked a time of 1:03.15s in the Great North Run on Sunday, 11th September 2022 in Newcastle, United Kingdom.
The previously certified record 1:05.38s was set in 2019 at the Onitsa Half Marathon in Nigeria.
The reason why his 1:03.15 is not a national record is that the Great North course, though certified, is not eligible for records, with an elevation loss of 30.5m and a start/finish separation of more than 75%.