Posted: November 20, 2005

Athletics: Gebrselassie Cruises To Seven Hills Win

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands -- Breaking from Zersenay Tadesse in the ninth kilometer, Haile Gebrselassie cruised to a comfortable win at the 22nd Zevenheuvelenloop (Seven Hills) 15-K today in this eastern Dutch city.

Competing just five weeks after his 2:06:20 victory at the ING Amsterdam Marathon, the year's fastest performance, the Ethiopian star stopped the clock in 41:57, 20 seconds ahead of Tadesse, the fourth fastest performance ever. Besides Gebrselassie, who won here in 1994, only Kenyan Felix Limo (41:29) and last year's winner Sileshi Sihine (41:38) have run the rarely-contested distance faster. In 2001, Gebrselassie finished second to Limo's world record, also clocking 41:38.

"Some people ask why I competed again so soon after Amsterdam," said Gebrselassie, who was added to the field only a week ago when the race suddenly found room in its budget after the withdrawal of Paula Radcliffe. "It's really just up to the athlete. Some athletes don't need a long recovery. Sometimes if you take too long a break, it's difficult to come back. The best is just to continue."

So, the 32-year-old did just that, right from the gun.

Leading a small chase pack of three, Gebrselassie never trailed. Tadesse, competing in his first road race since his 59:05 half marathon win at September's Great North Run, the fastest-ever, ran on the Ethiopian's shoulder while Kenyan Bernard Kipyego and Ethiopian Tessema Abshiro, stayed in contention through the first four kilometers. After fairly steady 2:49 to 2:54 splits during the challenging first 10 kilometers of the course, Gebrselassie left Tadesse behind before upping the pace to cover the final five kilometers in 13:36.

"He gave me a lot of hard work," Gebrselassie said. "It was very good through the race to run side-by-side with him. It really was a fantastic race."

Tadesse, the reigning Olympic bronze medallist at 10,000 meters from Eritrea, gave a more succinct analysis.

"Haile's strong," he said with a smile, adding that a pain in his lower back, perhaps brought on by the cool temperatures, made the latter third of the race particularly difficult. Race time temperatures hovered around 6 C. (40 F.)

The 19-year-old Kipyego, who was the first to be dropped from the top twosome's pace, rallied back to overtake Abshiro, who is not yet 19, to finish third in 43:26. Abshiro, who trains with Gebrselassie and was a pacemaker in his Amsterdam race, was a distant fourth (43:40).

Tadesse, who took a four week break after the Great North Run, said a road race in Spain next weekend was next on his schedule, while Gebrselassie said a half-marathon soon in January would most likely be his next outing.

While Radcliffe's withdrawal derailed talk of a world record assault on Elena Meyer's 46:57 standard, Berhane Adere did admit that the prospect was on her mind. In the end though, she said, conditions were a little too cold for her tastes, but she still won handily in 47:48, the eighth fastest performance ever.

In her first race since finishing fourth at the Great North Run, Adere broke from Rose Cheruiyot with kilometers to go. "I tried, but I couldn't catch her," said Cheruiyot, whose 48:00 knocked 40 seconds from her previous best over the distance.

Mestawat Tufa, fifth here last year, was third in 49:00, well ahead of Kenyan Hilda Kibet (50:38).

21,350 started the race, one of the largest annual running events in The Netherlands.