Kenenisa Bekele, seen here in action last year in Germany, showed great fitness in Spain. © www.photorun.net
Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and Mozambique’s Maria Mutola ran world-leading times for 5,000m and 800m, respectively, at a meet on Saturday in Zaragoza, Spain. With their times of 12:49.53 and 1:58.21, the two veterans showed that they’re in familiar, world-beating form leading up to the World Championships in a few weeks.
Bekele’s performance was notable for several reasons. It’s the first time someone has run under 13:00 this year. It makes Bekele the only person to have broken 12:50 five times. (Haile Gebrselasie and Daniel Komen each did so four times.) Most important, it came on a hot, windy night, with temperatures in the mid 80s, and in an almost entirely solo effort, as Bekele was alone after 2,000m, and the second-place finisher wound up 38 seconds back.
Between this race and his two recent sub-7:30 3,000m victories, any concern that Bekele had suffered irreparable damage when he dropped out of the World Cross Country Championships with heat exhaustion has been erased. Also of note is that Bekele, who had earlier said he would contest only the 10,000m at the World Championships, has now stopped saying so, leaving open the possibility that he will also run the 5,000m in Osaka, Japan.
There’s no doubt what event Mutola will run in Osaka. The 34-year-old 800m specialist easily defeated Olympic and World Championship silver medalist Hasna Benhassi of Morocco, 1:58.21 to 1:59.31. Mutola last won an outdoor world title in 2003, and also has seven world indoor titles to her credit.
First-Timers Win Bix
Despite their unfamiliarity with the course, Duncan Kibet (Kenya) and Wude Alayew (Ethiopia) triumphed at Saturday’s Bix 7-miler in Davenport, Iowa. Alayew, who won the Peachtree 10K on July 4, finished 20 seconds ahead of Romania’s Luminita Talpos, 36:57 to 37:17. Kibet had a tighter time of it, finishing in 32:15, just five seconds ahead of KIMbia’s Tom Nyariki. Olympic marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi was fourth in 32:26.
Kibet, Nyariki and Keflezighi will face each other again on Saturday at the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The race is run in the town where Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Samuelson grew up. Still thriving at age 50, Samuelson won her age division at Bix with a time of 43:07.
Kibiwott and Adere Take 10K in Cardiff
Kenya’s Francis Kibiwott and former 10,000m world champion Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) won an international 10K in Cardiff, Great Britain). There were a number of prominent former athletes among the 3,500 runners, including Britain’s former world marathon record holder, Steve Jones.
Kibiwott won convincingly with a time of 28:36, 14 seconds ahead of countryman Patrick Ivuti; Portugal’s Alberto Chaica was third in 29:04. In his first serious race this year Britain’s Jon Brown finished 14th in 30:32. After his long break due to an injury Brown was satisfied with his result, saying, “The first race is always the hardest one. My aim is to run the Olympics next year.”
There was a nice symmetry to Adere’s victory. She had injured her hip during the London Marathon in April, and returned to Britain to win in 32:22. She was 5 seconds ahead of Natasha Berkut (Ukraine). Zhor El Khamch (Morocco) took third in 32:34. “This was a really great race for me since I had no problems with my hip,” said Adere. “I will now prepare for defending my title in the Chicago Marathon.”
Another Meet, Another Personal Best for Alan Webb
At the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden, Belgium, Alan Webb ran his third personal best of the month. His winning time in the 800m, 1:43.84, was a new personal best by almost two seconds, and it put him a decent interval ahead of 800m specialist Gary Reed, of Canada, who took second in 1:44.01. With his new 800m speed, plus his earlier clockings of 3:30.54 for 1500m and 3:46.91 for the mile, Webb looks increasingly like a medal threat in Osaka.
One interesting stat to ponder: With his new 800m best, Webb now joins Moroccan Olympic champion and former world record holder Said Aouita in a highly exclusive club: They are the only people in history to have broken 1:44 for 800m (Aouita’s best was 1:43.86) and 27:40 for 10,000m. (Last year, Webb debuted in 27:34.72, while Aouita ran 27:26.11 in his one serious attempt at the distance.)
Other Americans performed well in Heusden. Lisa Galaviz set an American record in the 3,000m steeplechase with her fourth-place finish of 9:28.75. New KIMbia runner Chris Solinsky continued a solid debut professional season by placing fourth in the 5,000m in 13:12.24, a personal best by 15 seconds.
