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U.S. Olympians Keflezighi 4th and Dryer 5th
By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire
CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine - (August 4, 2007) - Maybe it was the weather - humidity so thick it was like a fog in some places, cooked to a simmering soup by the early Saturday morning sun. Or perhaps all the top contenders had studied the splits from previous editions of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K, and discerned that the slowest opening two miles had resulted in the fastest time.
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.
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 Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K -Cape Elizabeth, ME, Saturday, August 4, 2007
MEN
1) Duncan Kibet (KEN), 27:52, $10,000
2) Evans Cheryiout (KEN), 27:53, $5000
3) John Yuda (TAN), 27:56, $3000
4) Meb Keflezighi (USA / CA), 27:58, $2000
5) William Chebon (KEN), 28:14, $1000
6) Nicholas Kamakya (KEN), 28:19, $900
7) Mohammed Amyn (MAR), 28:23, $800
8) Thomas Nyariki (KEN), 28:26, $700
9) Charles Monyeki (KEN), 28:33, $600
10) El Hassan Lashimmi (FRA), 29:13, $500
WOMEN
1) Luminita Talpos (ROM), 32:21, $10,000
2) Natalyia Berkut (UKR), 32:29, $5000
3) Jessica Ruthe (NZL), 32:40, $3000
4) Wude Yamir Ayalew (ETH), 32:42, $2000
5) Elva Dryer (USA / CO), 32:54, $1000
6) Galina Aleksandrova (RUS), 32:57, $900
7) Diribe Alemu (ETH), 33:00, $800
8) Genet Getnah (ETH), 33:02, $700
9) Susan Chepkemei (KEN), 33:15, $600
10) Blake Russell (USA / CA), 33:17, $500
Full results at: Beach2Beacon.org.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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