Bitola ran with 1,500 people from 18 countries: Kenyan Waweru broke the course record with 1:04:40

More than 1,500 competitors from 18 countries ran through Bitola. The eighth edition of the "Trčaj be" race also brought a new course record - Kenyan John Chege Waweru covered 21 kilometres in 1:04:40.

The start was at 8:30 by the Clock Tower, with three races at once - over 5, 10 and 21 kilometres. The half marathon doubled as the national championship of Macedonia.

Who won

In the men's 21-kilometre race, second behind Waweru was Tiron Mamusha from Kosovo with 1:11:38, and third Dimitar Iliev from Macedonia with 1:12:16. Among the women, first place went to Kenya's Nancy Gitanga Waigumo with 1:16:05, second was Esther Chesang Kakuri, also from Kenya, with 1:16:38, and third Marinela Nineva from Bulgaria with 1:19:58.

The national half marathon champions are Dimitar Iliev of AK Olimp among the men and Adriana Pop Arsova Rašić from the same club among the women.

The seven-minute gap

The figure between first and second place in the men's race is worth a look: seven minutes over 21 kilometres. That is an enormous distance in running, and it explains why Kenyan runners keep turning up on start lists across Europe - they do not come to take part.

What is interesting is that the home national champion finished just 38 seconds behind the runner-up. So the gap between the regional top and the Macedonian top is small. It is the gap to the world's best that gets measured in minutes.

On the start line there were athletes, professors, business owners, students and people who run for the pleasure of it. Companies entered teams, and residents filled the streets to cheer. That is the part that never makes the results sheet, and it is actually the reason a 1,500-person race works eight years running in a city the size of Bitola.