Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw took third victory in the women’s Antrim Coast Half Marathon, while Kenya’s Alex Nzioka Matata took victory in the men’s event.

Yehualaw, who won the 2022 London Marathon, had a comfortable lead at the halfway point and finished in 65 minutes and 34 seconds in wet and windy conditions, one minute and 16 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Loice Chemnung.

Joyciline Jepkosgei, the winner of the 2021 London Marathon, was expected to be Yehualaw’s closest challenger, but had to settle for third place, one minute and 33 seconds behind.

Despite poor weather on the 21km course in and around Larne, Yehualaw’s winning time was well off her personal best of 63:51.

Yehualaw, 25, thought she had set a new world record in her first run at the 2021 Northern Ireland event by crossing the finish line in 63:44. However, that time was not confirmed after it emerged the course was 54 metres too short.

In the men’s race, 27-year-old Nzioka Matata put in a fantastic performance despite the harsh weather conditions, running under 60 minutes with a time of 59 minutes and 48 seconds.

The Kenyan’s time was just 11 seconds off his personal best when he won the Padua Half Marathon in Italy earlier this year.

Nzioka Matata’s winning time left her 41 seconds ahead of compatriot Hillary Kipkoech (60:29), with Ethiopia’s two-time Tokyo Marathon winner Birhanu Legese a further second behind in third.

The winner managed to beat the sixth fastest marathon runner in the world, Legese, after only half of the race and was never threatened again.

Nzioka Matata’s compatriot Hillary Chepkwony was the fastest man in the field with a personal best of 58:53, set in Valencia last October. However, he quickly lost track of the leaders and was unable to rejoin the battle for victory. He eventually finished in sixth place, two minutes and ten seconds behind.