Fast races set to impress this weekend

Two big road races are set to impress fans over the weekend.

On Saturday, March 29, the world half-marathon championships will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

On the men’s side, Zersenay Tadese is the man to beat in on Saturday. He has won the half-marathon championships five time and also owns six other medals from the same event. He is by far the winningest athlete in the race’s history. The Eritrean has alone won more medals at the event than all but three countries.

The most likely challenger to Tadese’s sixth victory will be Wilson Kiprop, who won the event in 2010 and represented Kenya over 10,000m at the 2012 Olympic Games.

In the women’s race, Lucy Wangui Kabuu of Kenya will be looking for a win after running 1:06:09 in 2013, the fastest women’s time of the year on a record-legal course.

Gladys Cherono, the world 10,000m silver medallist, and Mary Wacera Ngugi will be challengers to watch.

The Carlsbad 5000m, a race that has become a hotspot for fast, early-season 5Ks, will get off on Sunday, March 30.

The start list for this race seems to get better every year.

One of the biggest names is American Bernard Lagat, who has won five world championship gold medals over his career, but it will be far from an easy win.

Dejen Gebremeskel and Tariku Bekele, both of Ethiopia and both with an Olympic medal from 2012 in the 5000m and 10,000m

In the women’s race, the rematch showdown between Gabe Grunewald and Jordan Hasay will be one storyline and both could be competing for the win, but Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase could prove a problem.

Both races will be streamed online. You can watch the half-marathon championships here and the Carlsbad 5000m here.