Under a splendid blue sky, the elite runners seemed decided to perform, taking off at a fast pace. The leading group including nine athletes continued at a decent rhythm making it to the 10km mark in 28 minutes 59 seconds.
After an attack of Issa Dghoughi at km13, only four runners remained in the lead. Deriba Mergia, Paul Kimugul and Joshua Chelanga managed to keep up with the attacking Moroccan.
One had to wait until km 16 to see a decisive duo take off with the likes of Mergia and Kimugul. The Ethiopian and the Kenyan started battling it out while Issa Dghoughi and Joshua Chelanga failed to keep up with the leading men.
With 300 metres to go before the finish line, Deriba Mergia broke away and clinched a fine victory beating the event record time in 1:00:45 (the former record of the event was until then of 1:00:50).
The Ethiopian had left his native land for the first time to come to Paris and compete on his first Parisian Semi-Marathon.

Paul Kimugul captured second spot in 1:00:50, while Isaa Dghoughi had to settle with a very good third spot (1:01:27).

Concerning the women’s race, Rita Jeptoo from Kenya also managed a fine performance with a final time of 1:09:56. Finishing just behind was Morocco’s Asmae Leghzaoui (1:12:02). Third spot on the podium went to France’s Zahia Dahmani (1:13:12).

The second race in France when it comes to the number of participants after the Paris Marathon, this 14th edition of the Paris Semi-Marathon proved to be a perfect preparation before the big date of the 9th of April when the runners will find themselves on the Champs-Elysées to celebrate the 30th edition of the Paris Marathon.