20071118 Spandoek Zevenheuvelenloop Nijmegen

Zevenheuvelenloop (''Seven Hills Run'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

) is an annual

15 kilometres Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album) ...

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance a ...

race held in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in the Netherlands;van Hemert, Wim & Turner, Chris (2008-11-03)
Bekele lines-up for 'first serious' road race at 25th anniversary edition of the Seven Hills

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-15. it attracted over 30,000 runners in 2008.

History

The inaugural edition of the race in 1984 featured only an 11.9 kilometre course as the Dutch

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

federation ( Koninklijke Nederlandse Atletiek Unie) would not allow new races to be longer than 12 km. The current undulating, hilly course begins in Nijmegen, follows a path to

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, whe ...

and then loops back towards Nijmegen to the finish line. Zevenheuvelenloop lends itself to fast times:

Felix Limo Felix Limo (born 22 August 1980) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner, who specialized in the marathon. Limo held the 15 Kilometres road running world record from November 2001 to November 2010, where he lost the record to Leonard Komon. Limo ...

broke the men's

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

in 2001 and, at the 2009 edition,

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...

broke the women's world record over 15 km. In 2010,

Leonard Komon Leonard Patrick Komon (born 10 January 1988) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner and was the world record holder in the 10 kilometres. His 10K world record in 2010 with a time of 26:44 is a 17 seconds improvement on the previous best ...

improved Limo's World Record by running 41:13. In 2018,

Joshua Cheptegei Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born 12 September 1996) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and silver medalist for the 10,000 metres, a two-time 10,000 m World champion from 2019 and 2022, Wo ...

won the Zevenheuvelenloop in 41:05, setting the current World Record for 15 km. In 2019,

Letesenbet Gidey Letesenbet Gidey ( Tigrinya: ለተሰንበት ግደይ, born 20 March 1998) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who holds three world records plus one world best. A 10,000 metres 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, at the World Athletics ...

won the Zevenheuvelenloop in 44:20, setting the current World Record for 15 km. A number of athletes have achieved victory at the Zevenheuvelenloop on multiple occasions; Tonnie Dirks,

Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 December 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously ...

, Mestawet Tufa,

Sileshi Sihine Sileshi Sihine ( Amharic: ስለሺ ስህኔ; born January 29, 1983 in Sheno) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner. Sileshi won silver medals in the 10,000 metres at both the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as ...

and

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champion ...

have each won the race three times, and

has won the race four times. The 2002 winner, South African Irvette Van Blerk won the race at the age of fifteen, having entered the race while holidaying in the Netherlands. The race was used as the test event for the development of the ChampionChip personal RFID timing system.Hetger, Colin (2002-11-17)
South African wins Netherlands Race
ChampionChip. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.

Winners

Haile Gebrselassie at Vienna City Marathon 2011

Key:

Statistics

''As of 7 October 2019''

Winners by country

Multiple winners

''bold italic'' = world record

References

;General *Krol, Maarten & van Hemert, Wim (2008-11-17)

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road recor ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-15. ;Specific {{reflist

External links

Official website
15K runs Recurring sporting events established in 1984 1984 establishments in the Netherlands Athletics competitions in the Netherlands Sports competitions in Gelderland Sports competitions in Nijmegen Sport in Berg en Dal (municipality)