Posted: June 28, 2007

Athletics (RRW): Tufa Runs World Leading 10,000M In Valkenwaard

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com By Win van Hemert VALKENWAARD, NED (26-Jun) -- On a cool (13°C) evening with little wind, Ethiopian Mestawot Tufa ran the fastest 10,000m for women of the season here in the south of The Netherlands with a time of 31:00:27. Holland seems to be a good country for women's races over 25 laps on the track. On June 17 Florence Jebet Kiplagat of Kenya ran 31:06:20, the previous world leader for this season in Utrecht. In the local meet at Valkenswaard, seven Ethiopian women tried to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in August in Osaka. The women went for the qualifiing time of 31:10:00 set by the Ethiopian Federation. Tufa, 23, was the only one to reach that fast standard. In the beginning the group stayed together, but after four kilometres the stronger Tufa broke away. She ran a steady pace of 73 seconds per lap and finally won by over a half minute over Etalemahu Kidane who finished second in 31:33:49. Three-time Olympic medalist, Gete Wami, who was the pre-race favourites, lost contact with the leaders in the beginning and did not finish, just as Maroccan Zhor El Kamch. Tufa knows what winning is in The Netherlands. In 2003 (49:06) and last year (47:22) she won the Zeuvelenloop (15 kms) at Nijmegen. The less competitive men's 10,000m was won by Kenyan Allan Masai Ndina in 29:58:00. RESULTS - Women: 1. Mestewat Tufa (Eth) 31:00:27 2. Etalemahu Kidane (Eth) 31:33:49 3. Bizunesh Bekele (Eth) 31:45:98 4. Alemu Deriba (Eth) 31:58:44 5. Genet Getaneh (Eth) 32:09:50 6. Rian van de Burgt (Ned) 37:31:86 d.n.f: Gete Wami (Eth) and Zhor el Kamch (Mar) Men: 1. Allen Masai Ndina (Ken) 29:58:00 2. Menno Beck (Ned)31:35:31 3. Wilbert van Vliet (Ned) 32:06:03 Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest