At the World Road Running Championships held in Copenhagen (Denmark) on September 19–20, the Lithuanian national team featured many memorable performances. Simas Bertašius became the first Lithuanian record holder in the 5 km road race, while Danielė Šatikaitė and Vaida Žūsinaitė-Nekriošienė improved their personal records. In total, 7 runners represented the country at the championship.

A growing collection of records

On Saturday, the streets of Copenhagen were dominated by the world’s best mile and 5 km runners. Last month, competing in the 5000 m run at the European Championships, S. Bertašius made a successful debut in road races as well. The track and field athlete completed the distance in 13 minutes 51 seconds, becoming the country’s first record holder in this event. Until now, records for the 5 km road run were not registered in Lithuania at all. The previous unofficial best result belonged to Giedrius Valinčius – earlier this year in Valencia, running on the 10 km road, he completed the first five kilometers in 14 minutes and 11 seconds.

For S. Bertašius, this is already his eighth record event. The athlete’s collection also includes Lithuanian records in the 1000 m, 1500 m, 1500 m short course, mile, 3000 m, 3000 m short course, and 5000 m short course. Altogether, S. Bertašius has improved these records 18 times.

On the same day, D. Šatikaitė also competed in the 5 km race. The Lithuanian runner finished in 16 minutes and 52 seconds. This is the personal best of the 18-year-old athlete.

A large ranks of half marathon runners

On Sunday, the runners moved to the half marathon course. The most striking Lithuanian highlight there was the performance of V. Žūsinaitė-Nekriošienė . The Lithuanian runner completed the 21.095 km distance in 1 hour 14 minutes 43 seconds, and improved her personal record by almost a minute. Until now, the fastest half marathon for the athlete had been completed in 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 35 seconds. In 2023, at the World Road Running Championships held in Riga.

The half marathon also featured the decorated runner Loreta Kančytė and championship debutant Laura Jegelevičiūtė. L. Kančytė crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 11 seconds, while L. Jegelevičiūtė completed the course in 1 hour, 21 minutes, and 1 second.

In the men’s competition, Lithuania was represented by the national record holder in this event, G. Valinčius, and Lukas Tarasevičius. G. Valinčius completed the distance in 1 hour 3 minutes 40 seconds. – just 13 seconds slower than the Lithuanian record he owned, also set a year ago in Copenhagen. L. Tarasevičius crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 10 seconds.

Photo by Dainius Virbickas.