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The event held at the brand’s headquarters saw two world records and nine national records set
Since 2021 adidas have been bringing together some of the world’s fastest athletes on their campus in Herzogenaurach, Germany, to race in their adizero Road To Records event.
In 2021, two world records were broken as Agnes Tirop took 28 seconds off the 19-year-old women-only mark for 10km as she clocked 30:01, while Senbere Teferi ran a world record for 5km of 14:29.
On Saturday (April 27) the fourth edition continued the record-breaking legacy of the event as it saw 12 records set.
The one mile race made its debut at the weekend, as did the 800m road race. Off to a history-making start the mile saw a men’s world record set by Emmanuel Wanyonyi with 3:54.50.
The 19-year-old improved the previous world record of 3:56.13 set by USA’s Hobbs Kessler at the World Road Running Championships in Riga last October. Kessler also ran in Germany, chasing Wanyonyi over the finish line in 3:56.18 while Ryan Mphalele was third in a South African record of 3:56.45.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi (adidas)
Emmanuel said: “Coming away with a new world record is an amazing feeling.
“Being surrounded by all of my peers and seeing the determination from everyone to push beyond boundaries of what’s been achieved previously – it’s an indescribable sight to put into words.
“Today was a tough one and I was up against a lot of great athletes, so I’m pleased to be able to walk away with this win and hopefully be able to come back next year and uphold my title.”
In the same race, Collins Kibiwott Koech set an under-20 world record of 4:00.10 – finishing in fifth.
In the women’s one mile, Nelly Chepchirchir from Kenya took the lead to cross the finish in 4:30.90, as USA’s Addison Wiley was second in 4:31.90.
It was a close battle for third as Great Britain’s Alexandra Bell had to wait to find out her position after dipping over the line at the same time as Ethiopia’s Hawi Abera.
The Olympic 800m finalist was relieved to find out she made it on the podium with 4:32.60, telling AW: “I’ve never been so happy to get a third place spot, it definitely teaches me to run through the line for next time.”
In the 5km women’s race, Medina Eisa set a groundbreaking pace, maintaining the lead to break the under-20 world record with 14:38. The 19-year-old has now secured back-to-back victories in the 5km distance, winning the title last year.
Close behind was Ethiopia’s Melknat Wudu with 14:40 and Fotyen Tesfay in third (14:41).
Medina Eisa (adidas)
Aside from the world record, national records were broken too. Anastasia Marinakou set the fastest time for Greece, finishing in 15:50, taking 26 seconds off her PB.
Elsewhere in the men’s 5km race, Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia took the title in 13:00, ahead of Addisu Yihune in second (13:05) and Birhanu Balew from Brunei in third (13:12).
Thierry Ndikumwenayo set a Spanish record of 13:17 and Shim JongSub gained a Korean record of 15:29.
In the 10km women’s race, Agnes Jebet Ngetich took to the roads just weeks after having broken the world record in Valencia. The Kenyan was out to break the women’s-only world record of 30:01 which was set by Agnes Tirop at the 2021 event.
She took the lead from the start and ran majority of the race on her own out in front, but with the warm conditions on the day she finished two seconds off the record in 30:03.
Agnes Jebet Ngetich (adidas)
Margaret Chelimo (30:39) and Jesca Chelangat (30:46), both from Kenya, finished second and third respectively.
The women’s 10km also saw Karoline Grovdal set a Norwegian record of 30:52, while Joan Chelimo broke Romania’s national record in 30:52 – taking 29 seconds off her personal best.
Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir took the title in the men’s 10km race clocking 27:05 after taking the lead from Sabastian Sawe, who finished second (27:06) ahead of Rodrigue Kwizera from Burundi (27:07) as Yeman Crippa set an Italian record of 27:08.
The 800m men’s race was a different feel for the usual track athletes as they took to the competition on the road.
Canada’s Marco Arop took the lead from the beginning as he finished first in 1:44:36. Behind, USA’s Bryce Hoppel was runner-up (1:45.64) and Ben Pattison from Britain third (1:46.76).
Pattison lost the leading pack during the race but came back with a strong finish, giving him the bronze medal. He told AW: “Once my legs adjusted to the speed I managed to get through and finish well but I can’t keep getting away with giving athletes like Arop and Bryce 10-metre leads because I’m not going to win races like that.”
All athletes competed in the Takumi Sen 10, in a design inspired by one worn by the late Agnes Tirop when she broke the women-only 10km world record at Adizero: Road to Records in 2021.
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