Swedish half-marathon record of almost two minutes and second in Europe all-time – Andreas Almgren’s venture into longer distances is nothing short of a success. “I’m in very good shape so I wanted to go under 60 minutes,” says Andreas Almgren.
Andreas Almgren’s new investment in longer distances is paying off. After breaking the Swedish 10-kilometer road record in mid-January, on Sunday morning he broke the Swedish record at the Barcelona half-marathon when he came in second, in a time of 59.23. It is a reduction of the Swedish record by a full minute and 54 seconds. It is also only ten seconds off the European record and Andreas Almgren enters as second in Europe all-time.
– Maybe I didn’t think that I would lower the record by almost two minutes, but I felt that I am in very good shape, so I wanted to go under 60 minutes. I started even a little faster and felt strong, so I thought I’ll continue and we’ll see how it goes, says a smiling Andreas Almgren.
He continues:
– I had a good feeling the whole race and it’s always fun to be able to finish strong. It was very windy but I ran smart and handled it well.
Debut at the distance
Andreas, who made his debut at the distance in Barcelona, stayed well ahead of the field throughout the race, and had enough power to take several places at the end, despite difficult wind conditions. After nine kilometers he was at the back of the pack and from there he started to take place after place. With one kilometer to go, he put in a long sprint that took him up to victory.
A very happy Andreas Almgren eventually finished second, only two seconds behind Kibiwott Kandie from Kenya. In the finish area, he was given a Swedish flag to celebrate with and was photographed together with race winner and third Roncer Kipkorir Konga, also from Kenya.
With two cannon races on road races over longer distances, one wonders what the plan is for the rest of the year. Andreas Almgren promises that there will be a bit of each, but we definitely haven’t seen the last track race from him.
– It will hopefully be a good combination of distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters this summer. At the same time, I feel that I have a lot to catch up on the longer distances.
Top 3 Barcelona Half Marathon
Men
1
Kibiwott Kandie
59.21
2
Andreas Almgren
59.23
3
Roncer Kipkorir Konga
59.28
1
Joyciline Jekosgei
1:04:28
2
Senebre Teferi
1:04:40
3
Gladys Chepkirui
1:06:34
