“The legs were still very heavy”he slipped at the finish after making the difference in the last two kilometers and winning in 1h05’28. “I thought I would have it easier today but, in the end, I had to fight given the surprise presence of the Burundian Patrick Nimubona to finish at more than 21 km/h. It was a great tactical battle.”
The Hervien, who will take part in the Remembrance Race in Ploegsteert on Monday November 11, enjoyed returning to Brussels. “Here, it was a first experience for me, even though I won the Brussels 20 Km three times. The course was really magnificent, with many passages in front of beautiful buildings. It was different from the 20 Km but everything so pleasant.”
All results from the Brussels Marathon & Half Marathon 2024
Photos from the Brussels Marathon&Half Marathon
Among the ladies, it was Namur’s Valentine Mathy who won in 1h16’29, almost 5 minutes ahead of Lotte Vonck (1h21’12) and Mathilde Deswaef (1h21’56).
“It wasn’t planned for me to come here today. I only decided at the end of the week”indicated the winner. “But I loved the course, varied and with many restarts but also quite a crowd. It’s always nice to race in the capital.”
Victorious a year ago, Brussels resident Mathile Deswaef, who ran under the colors of Run for Justine in tribute to her friend Justine Dejemeppe who died 18 months ago in a car accident in Argentina, truly gave everything. “For Justine, I wanted to get this place on the podium. I gave everything at the end and you could say that I really drew on my reserves.”
Benoît Haegeman under 2h30 in the marathon
Solomon Belayneh, third twice in the Brussels 20 Km, was the fastest in the marathon, reaching the Place des Palais after 2h22’53, ahead of Sam Gabriëls (2h26’14).
Behind, in 3rd place, the emotion was strong for Nivellois Benoît Haegeman, for the first time under 2h30 over the distance. “I promised myself I would do less than 2h30 one day. I get up every morning for that and I did it today. It’s incredible”he indicated, on the verge of tears.
Among the women, the American Liz Romo won in 2h51’28, ahead of the British Helena Sixton (3h07’34) and Stéphanie Garnier (3h09’07).
In addition to the participants in the marathon and the half, we can add the 2000 runners present for the 7km, 300 children for the 1km Kids Run and 3200 people for the Race for the Cure by Think Pink. That’s a total close to 18,000 participants.
