# 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships

The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed for, with this competition replacing the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in the international sporting calendar. 140 athletes from 39 nations took part in the two races.
As well as individual honours, there is also a team event where the times of the first three runners home from each country are added together to produce the team standings. Only nations with at least three competitors entered in the race are eligible for this competition.
The race was notable for having the first disabled athlete to take part in a world championship athletics event. Mark Brown, who was competing for Gibraltar, lost his left arm in a traffic accident in 1981.
Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given both for the men's race and for the women's race.

## The course

The total race distance was 20 kilometres, and consisted of four laps around a 5000-metre course. The race started and finished in front of the main building of the University of Debrecen (pictured left) on the northern edge of the city, and travelled in a clockwise direction around nearby parkland.
The runners started on Egyetem Square, outside the university, before heading around the circular Nagyerdei Avenue. Most of the course followed Nagyerdei Avenue, with two detours onto the roads inside the circle, passing the thermal baths and the Aquaticum Thermal & Wellness Hotel, before rounding the boating lake, passing the Nagyerdõ Stadium and the Hunguest Nagyerdõ Hotel. The race then headed back to Egyetem Square to complete the lap.

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual |||||||
| Men | Zersenay Tadesse (ERI) | 56:01 | Robert Kipkorir Kipchumba (KEN) | 56:41 | Wilson Kiprotich Kebenei (KEN) | 57:15 |
| Women | Lornah Kiplagat (NED) | 1:03:21 | Constantina Diţă-Tomescu (ROU) | 1:03:23 | Rita Sitienei Jeptoo (KEN) | 1:03:47 |
| Team |||||||
| Team Men | Kenya | 2:51:18 | Eritrea | 2:53:19 | Ethiopia | 2:54:17 |
| Team Women | Kenya | 3:15:55 | Ethiopia | 3:18:50 | Japan | 3:19:00 |

## Race results

Complete results were published for the men's race, for the women's race, for men's team, and for women's team.

### Men's

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Zersenay Tadesse | Eritrea | 56:01 | CR |
| | Robert Kipkorir Kipchumba | Kenya | 56:41 | NR |
| | Wilson Kiprotich Kebenei | Kenya | 57:15 | |
| 4 | Wilson Busienei | Uganda | 57:21 | NR |
| 5 | Wilfred Taragon | Kenya | 57:22 | |
| 6 | Deriba Merga | Ethiopia | 57:27 | |
| 7 | Tadesse Tola | Ethiopia | 57:27 | |
| 8 | Mubarak Hassan Shami | Qatar | 57:33 | NR |
| 9 | Dieudonné Disi | Rwanda | 57:42 | NR |
| 10 | Yonas Kifle | Eritrea | 57:49 | |
| 11 | Ryan Hall | United States | 57:54 | |
| 12 | Dickson Marwa | Tanzania | 58:19 | |
| 13 | Martin Toroitich | Uganda | 58:26 | |
| 14 | Essa Ismail Rashed | Qatar | 58:31 | |
| 15 | Cuthbert Nyasango | Zimbabwe | 58:43 | |
| 16 | Jamal Bilal Salem | Qatar | 58:55 | |
| 17 | Fred Mogaka | Kenya | 59:07 | |
| 18 | Lusapho April | South Africa | 59:09 | |
| 19 | James Theuri | France | 59:11 | |
| 20 | Demssew Tsega | Ethiopia | 59:23 | |
| 21 | Tesfayohannes Mesfen | Eritrea | 59:29 | |
| 22 | Iván Hierro | Spain | 59:29 | |
| 23 | Migidio Bourifa | Italy | 59:37 | |
| 24 | James Kibet | Uganda | 59:40 | |
| 25 | Antonello Petrei | Italy | 59:45 | |
| 26 | Patrick Musyoki | Kenya | 59:54 | |
| 27 | Kazuo Ietani | Japan | 59:56 | |
| 28 | Stephen Rogart | Tanzania | 1:00:03 | |
| 29 | Sultan Khamis Zaman | Qatar | 1:00:07 | |
| 30 | Andrew Carlson | United States | 1:00:12 | |
| 31 | Moulay Ali Ouadih | France | 1:00:15 | |
| 32 | Masayuki Tomura | Japan | 1:00:24 | |
| 33 | Enos Matalane | South Africa | 1:00:25 | |
| 34 | Max King | United States | 1:00:26 | |
| 35 | Masatoshi Ibata | Japan | 1:00:30 | |
| 36 | Ibrahim Fouliyeh | France | 1:00:43 | |
| 37 | Juan Vargas | Mexico | 1:00:45 | |
| 38 | Henryk Szost | Poland | 1:00:51 | |
| 39 | Iván Galán | Spain | 1:00:55 | |
| 40 | Sergey Rybin | Russia | 1:00:57 | |
| 41 | Francis Kirwa | Finland | 1:00:57 | |
| 42 | João de Lima | Brazil | 1:00:59 | |
| 43 | Rafael Iglesias | Spain | 1:01:00 | |
| 44 | Adriano Fortes | Brazil | 1:01:05 | |
| 45 | Martin Dent | Australia | 1:01:15 | |
| 46 | Jussi Utriainen | Finland | 1:01:24 | |
| 47 | Kahsay Kidane | Eritrea | 1:01:34 | |
| 48 | Norman Dlomo | South Africa | 1:01:37 | |
| 49 | Fabio Mascheroni | Italy | 1:01:38 | |
| 50 | Elson Gracioli | Brazil | 1:01:53 | |
| 51 | Pablo López | Spain | 1:01:56 | |
| 52 | Juan Carlos Romero | Mexico | 1:01:57 | |
| 53 | Gian Marco Buttazzo | Italy | 1:02:00 | |
| 54 | Tamás Tóth | Hungary | 1:02:04 | |
| 55 | Joseph Driscoll | United States | 1:02:11 | |
| 57 | Cian McLoughlin | Ireland | 1:02:22 | |
| 58 | Ernesto Zamora | Uruguay | 1:02:23 | |
| 59 | Tomonori Michikata | Japan | 1:02:29 | |
| 60 | Mphuthumi Ngedle | South Africa | 1:02:34 | |
| 61 | Balázs Csillag | Hungary | 1:02:45 | |
| 62 | George Mofokeng | South Africa | 1:02:59 | |
| 63 | Simon Munyutu | France | 1:03:00 | |
| 64 | Mohamed Abou Serea | Egypt | 1:03:01 | |
| 65 | Kazuyoshi Shimozato | Japan | 1:03:03 | |
| 66 | Alex Malinga | Uganda | 1:03:06 | |
| 67 | Christian Pflügl | Austria | 1:03:07 | |
| 68 | Igor Teteryukov | Belarus | 1:03:14 | |
| 68 | Rik Ceulemans | Belgium | 1:03:14 | |
| 69 | Martin Beckmann | Germany | 1:03:19 | |
| 70 | Joe McAlister | Ireland | 1:03:36 | |
| 71 | Solomon Tsige | Ethiopia | 1:03:48 | |
| 72 | Fernando Cabada Jr. | United States | 1:03:52 | |
| 73 | Aleksandr Moh | Kyrgyzstan | 1:04:31 | |
| 74 | Roland Kedves | Hungary | 1:04:52 | |
| 75 | András Juhász | Hungary | 1:05:18 | |
| 76 | Dániel Soos | Hungary | 1:07:18 | |
| 77 | Wilson Aquiro | Dominican Republic | 1:07:49 | |
| 78 | Mark Brown | Gibraltar | 1:12:11 | |
| 79 | Badboni El-Safadi | Palestine | 1:41:15 |
| — | Paulo dos Santos | Brazil | DNF | |
| — | Yared Asmeron | Eritrea | DNF | |
| — | Lishan Yegezu | Ethiopia | DNF | |
| — | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar | DNF | |
| — | Martin Hhaway Sulle | Tanzania | DNS | |

### Women's

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Lornah Kiplagat | Netherlands | 1:03:21 | WR |
| | Constantina Diţă-Tomescu | Romania | 1:03:23 | NR |
| | Rita Sitienei Jeptoo | Kenya | 1:03:47 | AR |
| 4 | Dire Tune | Ethiopia | 1:05:16 | NR |
| 5 | Edith Masai | Kenya | 1:05:21 | |
| 6 | Kayoko Fukushi | Japan | 1:05:32 | NR |
| 7 | Yurika Nakamura | Japan | 1:05:36 | |
| 8 | Natalya Berkut | Ukraine | 1:05:42 | |
| 9 | Souad Aït Salem | Algeria | 1:06:11 | |
| 10 | Teyba Erkesso | Ethiopia | 1:06:15 | |
| 11 | Anikó Kálovics | Hungary | 1:06:20 | |
| 12 | Gulnara Vygovskaya | Russia | 1:06:30 | |
| 13 | Natalya Kurbatova | Russia | 1:06:33 | |
| 14 | Eunice Jepkorir | Kenya | 1:06:47 | |
| 15 | Irina Timofeyeva | Russia | 1:07:10 | |
| 16 | Luminița Talpoș | Romania | 1:07:11 | |
| 17 | Ashu Kasim | Ethiopia | 1:07:19 | |
| 18 | Anna Thompson | Australia | 1:07:23 | |
| 19 | Ryoko Kizaki | Japan | 1:07:52 | |
| 20 | Masami Sakata | Japan | 1:08:13 | |
| 21 | Olesya Syreva | Russia | 1:08:14 | |
| 22 | Simona Staicu | Hungary | 1:08:17 | |
| 23 | Alina Ivanova | Russia | 1:08:27 | |
| 24 | Beáta Rakonczai | Hungary | 1:08:38 | |
| 25 | Mulu Seboka | Ethiopia | 1:08:59 | |
| 26 | Gloria Marconi | Italy | 1:09:05 | |
| 27 | Susan Partridge | Great Britain | 1:09:17 | |
| 28 | Lidia Șimon | Romania | 1:09:22 | |
| 29 | Adriana Pirtea | Romania | 1:09:30 | |
| 30 | Silvia Sommaggio | Italy | 1:09:33 | |
| 31 | Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu | Norway | 1:09:37 | |
| 32 | Justyna Bąk | Poland | 1:09:48 | |
| 33 | Paula Todoran | Romania | 1:09:57 | |
| 34 | Živilė Balčiūnaitė | Lithuania | 1:10:10 | |
| 35 | Ivana Iozzia | Italy | 1:10:27 | |
| 36 | Selma Borst | Netherlands | 1:10:37 | |
| 37 | Lisa Weightman | Australia | 1:10:51 | |
| 38 | Wendy Nicholls/Jones | Great Britain | 1:10:55 | |
| 39 | Hafida Gadi-Richard | France | 1:11:07 | |
| 40 | Annie Bersagel | United States | 1:11:25 | |
| 41 | Ann Alyanak | United States | 1:11:48 | |
| 42 | Erin Nehus | United States | 1:11:51 | |
| 43 | Desireé Davila | United States | 1:11:56 | |
| 44 | Lauren Shelley | Australia | 1:12:22 | |
| 45 | Maria Rodrigues | Brazil | 1:12:26 | |
| 46 | Yodit Mehari | Eritrea | 1:12:27 | |
| 47 | Merel de Knegt | Netherlands | 1:12:32 | |
| 48 | Sonja Friend-Uhl | United States | 1:12:41 | |
| 49 | Stefania Benedetti | Italy | 1:12:57 | |
| 50 | Susana Díaz Escobar | Mexico | 1:13:09 | |
| 51 | Petra Teveli | Hungary | 1:13:24 | |
| 52 | Maria Silva | Brazil | 1:14:13 | |
| 53 | Rosa Barbosa | Brazil | 1:14:30 | |
| 54 | Antonia da Silva | Brazil | 1:15:16 | |
| 55 | Zsuzsanna Vajda | Hungary | 1:18:56 | |
| 56 | Sara Abou Hassan | Egypt | 1:19:55 | |
| 57 | Maria Laura Bazallo | Uruguay | 1:20:58 | |

## Team results
### Men's

| Rank | Country | Team | Time |
| | Kenya | Robert Kipkorir Kipchumba Wilson Kiprotich Kebenei Wilfred Taragon | 2:51:18 |
| | Eritrea | Zersenay Tadesse Yonas Kifle Tesfayohannes Mesfen | 2:53:19 |
| | Ethiopia | Deriba Merga Tadesse Tola Demssew Tsega | 2:54:17 |
| 4 | Qatar | Mubarak Hassan Shami Essa Ismail Rashed Jamal Bilal Salem | 2:54:59 |
| 5 | Uganda | Wilson Busienei Martin Toroitich James Kibet | 2:55:27 |
| 6 | United States | Ryan Hall Andrew Carlson Max King | 2:58:32 |
| 7 | France | James Theuri Moulay Ali Ouadih Ibrahim Fouliyeh | 3:00:09 |
| 8 | Japan | Kazuo Ietani Masayuki Tomura Masatoshi Ibata | 3:00:50 |
| 9 | Italy | Migidio Bourifa Antonello Petrei Fabio Mascheroni | 3:01:00 |
| 10 | South Africa | Lusapho April Enos Matalane Norman Dlomo | 3:01:11 |
| 11 | Spain | Iván Hierro Iván Galán Rafael Iglesias | 3:01:24 |
| 12 | Brazil | João de Lima Adriano Fortes Elson Gracioli | 3:03:57 |
| 13 | Hungary | Tamás Tóth Balázs Csillag Roland Kedves | 3:09:41 |

### Women's

| Rank | Country | Team | Time |
| | Kenya | Rita Sitienei Jeptoo Edith Masai Eunice Jepkorir | 3:15:55 |
| | Ethiopia | Dire Tune Teyba Erkesso Ashu Kasim | 3:18:50 |
| | Japan | Kayoko Fukushi Yurika Nakamura Ryoko Kizaki | 3:19:00 |
| 4 | Romania | Constantina Diţă-Tomescu Luminița Talpoș Lidia Șimon | 3:19:56 |
| 5 | Russia | Gulnara Vygovskaya Natalya Kurbatova Irina Timofeyeva | 3:20:13 |
| 6 | Hungary | Anikó Kálovics Simona Staicu Beáta Rakonczai | 3:23:15 |
| 7 | Netherlands | Lornah Kiplagat Selma Borst Merel de Knegt | 3:26:30 |
| 8 | Italy | Gloria Marconi Silvia Sommaggio Ivana Iozzia | 3:29:05 |
| 9 | Australia | Anna Thompson Lisa Weightman Lauren Shelley | 3:30:36 |
| 10 | United States | Annie Bersagel Ann Alyanak Erin Nehus | 3:35:04 |
| 11 | Brazil | Maria Rodrigues Maria Silva Rosa Barbosa | 3:41:09 |

## Participation

The participation of 140 athletes (83 men/57 women) from 39 countries is reported.
* Algeria (1)
* Australia (4)
* Austria (1)
* Belarus (1)
* Belgium (1)
* Brazil (8)
* Dominican Republic (1)
* Egypt (2)
* Eritrea (6)
* Ethiopia (9)
* Finland (2)
* France (5)
* Germany (1)
* Gibraltar (1)
* Hungary (10)
* Ireland (2)
* Italy (8)
* Japan (9)
* Kenya (8)
* Kyrgyzstan (1)
* Lithuania (1)
* Mexico (3)
* Netherlands (3)
* Norway (1)
* Palestine (1)
* Poland (2)
* Qatar (5)
* Romania (5)
* Russia (6)
* Rwanda (1)
* South Africa (5)
* Spain (4)
* Tanzania (2)
* Uganda (4)
* Ukraine (1)
* United Kingdom (2)
* United States (10)
* Uruguay (2)
* Zimbabwe (1)