Posted: May 22, 2006

Athletics: Mottram Defends Healthy Kidney 10K Title in Central Park

Australian just misses course record

By Jeff Watson, Running USA wire

NEW YORK - (May 20, 2006) - Halfway thru Saturday's Healthy Kidney 10K, Australian Craig Mottram's calm gaze began to crack under the intense effort he was putting in, but by that point it was already too late for any competitor looking to dethrone the defending champion.

With a fluid stride that incorporated every inch of his six-foot-two frame, Mottram used a 4:19 third mile to break away from an international field and run alone to his second consecutive victory at the New York Road Runner's Club event in 28 minutes, 13 seconds.

While Mottram, 25, was able to dispatch the rest of the elite field, he was just three seconds short as he raced against the clock in pursuit of the Central Park 10K record of 28:10, and the $10,000 bonus that came with it.

"At five miles I knew it was still on," said Mottram on his attempt to break Kenyan Paul Koech's 9-year-old record. "But it's a long way to go around Central Park on your own and I came up just short."

Mottram's near record-setting performance earned him a prize of $7500 and was capped by an all out charge up the race's final 400 meter incline that left him stumbling into the finish line.

"You want to get [the record] so bad," Mottram said. "But you're losing your coordination as you go up that last hill. You're not hurting any more, but you just can't get your legs moving."

The exhaustion and disappointment that came with just missing the course record was soon wiped away from Mottram's face as he turned around at the finish line just in time to see his friend and training partner, British athlete Mohamed Farah, sprint past Anthony Famiglietti to claim second place in a time of 28:37. Famiglietti, a native New Yorker, was third in 28:40 and Kenyan Linus Maiyo captured fourth in 28:46.

Farah himself seemed shocked when he heard his official finish time. A quizzical: "Seriously," was all he could muster when it was confirmed that he had run a personal best by 21 seconds.

"I guess training has been going really well," he said.

The 2nd annual Healthy Kidney 10K started under nearly perfect conditions for the 6,049 participants who came to participate in the event to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.

The elite field moved thru a conservative first mile in 4:42 and a pack of nearly 15 runners stayed together as they reached two miles in 9:15. It was then that Mottram made his made his move and broke the race open as he hit the 5K mark in 14:05.

Famiglietti and Maiyo gave chase over much of race, but they never closed the gap to fewer than 15 meters. The duo raced near each other in second and third place until 800 meters to go when Farah pulled even with the pair and kicked past them with 400 meters to go. Farah made up nearly 11 seconds on Famiglietti and Maiyo in the final 5K, and was the only elite athlete in the field to record a negative split.

Although Famiglietti was disappointed with his race on Saturday, the 2004 Olympic steeplechaser was optimistic about the benefits racing Mottram in his own backyard would have on the rest of his season and his career.

"I'm looking forward to hanging out with Craig after the race and just picking his brain," Famiglietti said. "It's different to hear a coach's opinion, someone who maybe hasn't run that fast, compared to an athlete who has and who has done all the work to get there."

Mottram admitted that Webb, Ritzenhein and Famiglietti's 10,000m race at Stanford (the trio went sub-27:40) motivated him to do well on Saturday and solidified his feeling that there is no secret to breakthru performances. He credited his success to a weekly running volume of roughly 93 miles and training stints at high altitude.

Mottram and Farah had just come off on such stint in Boulder, Colo., while Famiglietti spent extensive time at the U.S. Center for High Altitude Training in Flagstaff, Ariz. over the winter and early spring.

"Distance running is a sport that takes persistence and patience and a lot of hard work," Mottram said. "You can't get that in just 6 to 12 months. It takes a long time to get it, but if you're persistent and you just keep plugging away… it just happens. You won't show any form for a long period of time during training and you get frustrated, but once it happens you make a big breakthru."

2nd Healthy Kidney 10K - New York, NY, Saturday, May 20, 2006

1) Craig Mottram, AUS, 28:13, $7500
2) Mohamed Farah, GBR, 28:37, $5000
3) Anthony Famiglietti, USA/NY, 28:40, $3000
4) Linus Maiyo, KEN, 28:46, $2000
5) Mohamed Amyn, MAR, 29:01, $1000
6) Jason Hartmann, USA/CO, 29:05, $750
7) Alene Reta, ETH, 29:16, $500
8) Yvgeny Bozhko, UKR, 29:18, $250
9) Viktor Rothlin, SUI, 29:23
10) Andrew Letherby, AUS, 29:29

Full results, photos and more at: NYRR.org.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.

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