The Corrida de Houilles never ceases to shatter records. This 10 km race, founded in 1972 by Alexandre Joly and ranked in the top 5 of world competitions, has been marked over the last two years by the performances of the French-Swiss Julien Wanders who, after having beaten the French record in 2017, had pulverised the European record in 2018, by setting an event record of 27'25'', i.e. 7 seconds better than the previous time.
But the Wanders era is already being challenged, as 24-year-old Kenyan Daniel Simiu Ebenyo has just broken the same event record, by a further 13 seconds, in just 27'12''.
It must be said that the race started very fast. From the first few hundred meters, a leading trio of Ebenyo, his compatriot Felix Kipkoech, and the Frenchman Jimmy Gressier, who did a very good race by finishing third in 27'43''. If the trio was joined by two other riders, among them the Ethiopian Haftu Teklu who finished second in 27'43'', Jimmy Gressier, white cap screwed on his head, set the tempo of the race for a long time, with a regular and ambitious stride, marked by the good recoveries of this cross-country rider (European U23 champion in 2018 and 2019), very useful in this race marked by numerous curves.
An ambitious strategy that had worked for Julien Wanders. But perhaps too ambitious: questioned at this stage of the race, the former 1978 world cross-country champion Radhouane Bouster judged that Jimmy "does too much" and "should let the others work".
In fact, if Gressier's contribution to the pace of the race is undeniable, it was Daniel Simiu Ebenyo who put it in orbit by surprising everyone, exactly halfway through the race, with an acceleration that gave him an advance rarely seen in this event.
In fact, far from the sprint finishes, the Kenyan finished the race with a 31 seconds lead on his competitors... Jimmy Gressier, who nevertheless pulverized his personal record (first Frenchman of the event last year in 28'13''), seemed confident for the next part of the race, since he indicated that he had never "been in the hard" of the whole race, which he appreciates for his public.
The record of the event was also broken in the women's category, by the powerful Kenyan Norah Jeruto (30'32'') ahead of the Ethiopians Nigsti Haftu Tesfay (30'52'') and Gete Alemayehu (31'08''). Liv Westphal, and this is a nice surprise, set a new French record for the 10 km road race.
The popular race was won by Sébastien Nordest (31'24''), Nicolas Mariani and Franck Nardi Colome, and on the women's side by Jane Mbogo (35'18''), Mathilde Chachignon and Sarah Moreno Layani. The Malinowski challenge for the best team was won by the team from Chesnay 78.
Jean-François Mourtoux, for the organising committee of the Corrida pédestre internationale de Houilles
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