World Road Running Champs begin with thousands tackling mass 5km run before Beatrice Chebet and Hagos Gebrhiwet later storm to glory on same course

If Budapest was the most brilliant world championships of 2023, Bathurst the most brutal and Innsbruck-Stubai the most picturesque, then Riga proved the most inclusive with more than 13,000 runners rubbing shoulders with around 350 elite athletes on the streets of the Latvian capital.

The action began at 10am on Sunday (Oct 1) as recreational runners streamed across the Stone Bridge over the Daugava River at the start of the mass 5km race. And it continued later into the day with ordinary runners completing a one mile fun run or half-marathon with every finisher receiving a medal to say they had run in a world championships.

Taking place just 35 days after the floodlights were switched off in Budapest, there was always the danger that Riga would be little more than an afterthought at the end of a busy season. Yet anyone who has visited this charming city will know that visitors were in for a treat. Due to the fact the organising team is adept at staging the annual Rimi Riga Marathon in May as well, it meant things were destined to run smoothly.

Whats more, World Athletics decision to add the mile and 5km into the programme after years of staging a global half-marathon championships ensured the event was historic. The mile is a distance pretty much everyone can manage, whereas 5km is surely the most popular running distance of all right now, certainly in the UK where it has grown hand in hand with the rise of parkrun.

After fears of race-day drizzle, runners woke up to blue skies and, pardon the pun, Baltic temperatures. Temperatures soon began to rise, however, making it pleasant for all the races, although some elites complained that a wind occasionally whipped up from the Daugava. Mass race runners were not complaining, though, as they watched the championship races in ideal conditions.

Often the performances of the elite athletes are of little interest to recreational runners as they struggle to relate to them. But on this occasion the speed of the 5km winners Beatrice Chebet and Hagos Gebrhiwet is likely to have struck a chord with the thousands who ran the same course several minutes slower.

Kenyas Chebet, the world cross-country champion in Bathurst in February, won the womens race in 14:35 from fellow Kenyan Lilian Rengeruk as Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia was third.

I had to be confident, said Chebet. It was not easy, but the last time I ran the 5000m in Oregon (runner-up at the Diamond League final), I saw I could deliver and today I delivered. It was just an amazing race, something amazing.

Nadia Battocletti of Italy, in fifth, was just outside the European record with 14:45, while Britains Verity Ockenden finished a fine eighth in a PB of 15:18.

Its the best end to my season that I could hope for, especially after the start that I had, Ockenden said. Im thankful that they brought the 5km into these championships as its a great opportunity to show what I can do.

Gebrhiwet, 29, led an Ethiopian one-two as he beat Yomif Kejelcha by three seconds in 12:59, while Nicholas Kipkorir of Kenya was third in 13:16.

Coming to this race, I was thinking about Budapest, said Gebrhiwet. I was sick in Budapest and I could not perform well at the World Championships, so I am very proud of what I achieved right now. It is a historic moment for me and for my country to become the first road running world champion. One year ago, maybe I would not even think of running here but now, I am very glad I managed to come and take this victory.

The top-class line-up gave Britains Scott Beattie a chance to measure himself against the best and he ran a PB of 13:32. To be able to run that kind of time today gives me confidence going into next year, he said. I want to push on and try to get down close to that Olympic standard on the track if I can.

It was a day when thousands of ordinary runners could measure themselves against the very best too.

Womens 5km: 1 Beatrice Chebet (KEN) 14:35; 2 Lilian Rengeruk (KEN) 14:39; 3 Ejgayehu Taye (ETH)  14:40

Mens 5km: 1 Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH) 12:59; 2 Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) 13.02; 3 Nicholas Kipkorir (KEN) 13:16