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Kibet, Talpos Win 10th TD Northbank Beach to
Beacon 10K Whatever the reason, one of the biggest packs in the 10-year history of this event, founded by hometown heroine, 1984 Olympic Marathon champ Joan Benoit Samuelson, stuck together through the opening miles. Indeed, even some half-hearted surges past 4K and the first significant climb leading to halfway could only whittle the leaders down to less than two full hands of fingers to count. Then, as the course headed through the short section of "downtown" Cape Elizabeth, Meb Keflezighi, who won his own silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens, decided to give the fans a treat and show them what an American in the lead looked like. After passing 5K in a conservative 14:02, Keflezighi, 32, began to push hard through town, and by the time the leaders made the turn onto Shore Road, only a half dozen remained in contention. |
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The pace stayed hot on the downhill seventh and eight kilometers, with a major move by William Chebon halving the pack just after four miles. Keflezighi and Duncan Kibet, an easy winner at Bix 7 the week before, were the only two who could match Chebon's surge. Last week in Davenport, Kibet, 29, had used his typically irrepressible front-running style to notch the win; here, he was playing it far cagier, letting everyone else do the work. By the time the leaders made the final turn into Fort Williams for the final half mile, the cast had changed, with John Yuda and Evans Cheryiout replacing Keflezighi and Chebon, with Kibet still following. "I didn't catch them until we climbed the last hill," he recounted. "I was confident in my kick." Kibet's speed over the final hundred meters justified that faith, as he caught Cheryiout meters before the tape then blew by for a one-second victory, 27 minutes, 52 seconds to 27:53. "He knew I was there and was coming, but he couldn't do anything about it," said the slyly grinning victor afterward. Yuda followed three seconds back for third. Keflezighi found himself in the same fourth place position as he had at Bix the week before, but the Team Running USA athlete was more pleased in his 27:58 run (by Americans, only Mark Nenow and John Gregorek have run faster 10Ks on non-downhill courses), and the fact that he'd been a mid-race leader, rather than following the entire time. After dropping out of the Flora London Marathon with a severe blister in April, Keflezighi took more than a month to let the skin heal, and only had a week of solid training at his home base of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. before embarking on a three-race tour of America designed to work on his speed under competitive conditions. That the UCLA grad was racing in Maine at all was an accomplishment as he and his family missed their flight connection in Chicago by four minutes, and didn't arrive until after midnight on Thursday. Smartly, they'll stay in Maine and Massachusetts before the third leg of his training triple crown next weekend at Falmouth. The women's race brought together many of the same characters from Bix as well, but this time the outcome was quite different. Like the men, there was a large pack of women together through the opening miles, but it was clear that Luminita Talpos, second in Davenport last week, was in control from the gun. "My mind was more focused at the start," she said. "I wanted to push all the way." That strategy resulted in a gradual attrition over the first half of the course. "By the time I reached 5K, I couldn't hear any other women near me, so I thought I could win," said Talpos, 34, who did just that in 32:21. Her chances got a boost when Wude Yamir Ayalew, who had bested her easily on the hills of Iowa, was jostled by a male runner near the midpoint and stumbled badly, almost falling and completely breaking her rhythm. That allowed Natalya Berkut and Jessica Ruthe to get by her for second and third. Right behind was two-time Olympian Elva Dryer for fifth, in her first race since Bolder Boulder in May. "I'm a little rusty right now, and sort of in the middle of a marathon build-up [for ING New York City], but I'm pleased with my run." Another American coming back from a long layoff was Blake Russell, who placed 10th. "I can tell I haven't raced in a while," she said. "But I felt better the second half than the first, so that's a positive sign." Dryer and Russell figure to be among the favorites at next April's Olympic Team Trials women's marathon in Boston. Perhaps while they were in Cape Elizabeth, they got some tips from Benoit Samuelson, who ran her race for the second time, this time in the company of 1980 Boston Marathon champ Jacqueline Gareau. The pair finished in 41:59 and 42:00, taking second and third in the women's 50-54 division. "Running today I really got a renewed sense of what this race is all about and what it means to the runners, the volunteers and the spectators," said Benoit Samuelson, one of Maine's most admired athletes. "I can't say enough about all the effort put in by so many people who make this a true community event." Thousands of spectators lined the course to cheer as 4,839 runners from 21 countries and 41 U.S. states finished the winding, ocean-hugging 6.2-mile course. 10th TD Northbank Beach to
Beacon 10K MEN WOMEN Full results at: Beach2Beacon.org |
Return to top / Return to main page Gebrselassie Wows, Kibet Wins
at NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE NEW YORK - (August 5, 2007) - Haile Gebrselassie, the double Olympic gold medalist and multiple record-holder from Ethiopia, won the second annual NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on Sunday morning, clocking 59 minutes, 24 seconds, the second-fastest time half-marathon time ever on North American soil. Kenyan Hilda Kibet triumphed for the women, edging her countrywoman and the defending champ, Catherine Ndereba, 1:10:32 to 1:10:33. The pace was quick from the start as "Geb," USA 10K and 10,000 meter champion Abdi Abdirahman and defending Boston Marathon and LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon champ Robert K. Cheruiyot opened with a 14:11 5K (4:33-per-mile pace) despite the hilly Central Park terrain. "It wasn't what I was expecting, those first few miles," said Gebrselassie, 34, who thanked Abdirahman and Cheruiyot for setting a fast early pace. "I thought maybe we'd just run easy in a big pack, then start to run hard later." An unexpected break in the warm, humid weather of the past week made for near-ideal summer racing conditions. As the lead trio exited the park onto Seventh Avenue at 7.5 miles (12K), Cheruiyot reached for a drink at a fluid station. Abdirahman, a two-time Olympian, seized the opportunity to bolt into the lead. Gebrselassie covered the move. "When I caught him, he asked me to go," he recounted, flashing his trademark smile. "I thought maybe he wanted me to be the rabbit, but I felt good, so I went. He didn't catch me again." The runners continued south through the heart of Times Square, past the giant NASDAQ screen flashing WABC Channel 7 race coverage, west onto 42nd Street and then south again at 15K (9.3 miles) onto the West Side Highway for the drive to the finish just north of historic Battery Park. Gebrselassie maintained his lead with apparent ease, cruising to victory more than a minute in front of Abdirahman, 30, who ran a personal-best 1:00:29. Abdirahman will compete in the 10,000 meters at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka later this month. Only Gebrselassie has run faster in North America - he clocked 58:55, a then world record, in Phoenix early last year - and collected his eighth half-marathon victory in as many attempts over the distance. Cheruiyot, 28, was third in 1:00:58 and was transported to a hospital for observation due to dizziness; he was later released. Kibet, a 26-year-old cousin of IAAF World Cross Country champion Lornah Kiplagat, scored the biggest win of her career with her down-to-the-wire victory. She was part of a tight women's pack that also included Ndereba and Yuri Kano of Japan, with Nina Rillstone of New Zealand not far off the back. Aided by a tailwind, the quartet ran hard through the final miles; Kibet pulled ahead only in the final meters. "I only knew I had it won when I crossed the finish line," said Kibet, who nonetheless was not surprised by her victory. "I have been training well and having good results all year." Rillstone's third place in 1:10:35 broke her own national record. She will run the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Osaka on September 2. "I didn't get the practice running in heat and humidity today that I was expecting," she said, "but I'm really happy to get a national record." Just under 10,000 runners finished the race, which is put on by New York Road Runners, whose premier event is the ING New York City Marathon. 2nd NYC Half-Marathon Presented
by NIKE MEN WOMEN Complete results at: NYRR.org Return to top / Return to main page "Ask Team Running USA" Debuts with Ryan Hall at Youthrunner.com Youthrunner.com has launched a new on-line section called "Ask Team Running USA" which will feature U.S. half-marathon record holder and rising star Ryan Hall as its first athlete. "We began featuring U.S. and Team Running USA athletes in Youthrunner over three years ago. Ryan was one of the first so we're excited to be back in touch and to have Ryan be the first "over the top athlete" to come on board and answer some questions from our users," said Dan Kesterson, Youthrunner.com. Since joining Team Running USA, an athlete development program, in the fall of 2005, Hall, 24, has set two U.S. records, won three USA titles and produced the fastest U.S. debut marathon with his 2:08:24 at London last April. To learn more about Ryan Hall or to ask him a question about training, racing and more, visit his Youthrunner.com page at: www.youthrunner.com/coach/ryan-hall.htm Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director |
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