Meseret Defar breaks the 30-minute barrier for 10,000m in Birmingham, England. © www.photorun.net

For the second consecutive week, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia didn’t let the rain get in her way. Despite torrential downpours, she ran 29:59 for 10,000m at the UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England—good for a World Championships qualifying time. This was the second time in her storied career that Defar has run under 30 minutes for the distance. Eight days before, Defar ran 14:36.38 for 5,000m at the Oslo Golden League meet, which was also in rainy conditions.

Defar’s first serious 10,000m (31:07:04) was at the beginning of June in Stockholm. After that race, the former 5,000m world-record holder and 2004 Olympic champion wasn’t completely happy with her performance. “I want to run both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Berlin, but won’t be able to do that with that kind of time,” she had explained. At that time, three Ethiopian women had run faster than she had and it was possible that she wouldn’t make the Ethiopian team for the World Championships. 

This all changed in Birmingham.

After the gun went off, Dacia Perkins of Britain set the early pace for Defar. By the 3,000m mark, the Ethiopian had taken the lead. Proving her strength, Defar closed the final kilometer in an amazing 2:47.65!

Defar’s sub-30 put her in second place on this year’s world rankings behind fellow Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu who ran an African record of 29:53.80 in Utrecht.

The 10,000m final in Berlin is looking to be a contest between Tirunesh Dibaba, who as defending champion has a guaranteed place, and Defar. Meselech Melkamu is also in the hunt for the gold.

Bekele On Track to Share Big Jackpot

Halfway through the Golden League schedule, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is still in the race to win a share of the million-dollar jackpot. His possible share increased at the Golden League Gala in Rome, when the six winning athletes in the series so far were reduced to four. If these four win their events at the next three Golden League Meetings in Paris, Zurich and Brussels, each would receive $250,000.

Bekele showed in Rome that his form continues to improve. The 27-year-old double Olympic champion from Beijing (5,000m and 10,000m) suffered a stress fracture in his foot last autumn and was only able to start racing again at the beginning of June.

At the 5,000m race in Rome, the leaders went out slower than expected. But the Kenyan, Mark Kiptoo, increased the tempo in the second half. Bekele stuck with him. Six hundred meters from the finish, Bekele took charge and never looked back. The world record holder’s time was 12:56.23—the fastest time in the world this year.

Behind Bekele in Rome were three Kenyans: Mark Kiptoo who finished second in 12:57.62, followed by Leonard Komon (12:58.24) and Lucas Rotich (12:58.70). Ethiopians Bekana Daba (12:59.22) and Imane Merga (12:59.75) also went under 13 minutes in the high quality race.

The women’s events in Rome’s Olympic stadium contained just one long distance race: the women’s steeplechase. Olympic champion Gulnara Galkina (Russia) improved her own world best for the year from 9:13.70 to 9:11.58, which was the eleventh-fastest performance of all time. Fellow Russian Yekaterina Volkova (9:17.40) and the Kenyan Ruth Bisibori (9:17.85) placed second and third respectively.

Nderebas Reign at the British 10K

A wonderful day for the Ndereba family—Catherine and Cirus Ndereba won the British 10K. © www.photorun.net

The Asics British 10K in London on Sunday turned into a family affair as the women’s world marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba, (Kenya) ran 33:54 to win the 10K road race held in the heart of the capital while her brother, Cyrus, took the men’s title in 30:19. Over 27,000 runners participated in the event that took place in extremely warm temperatures.

In the women’s race, Catherine Ndereba was pitted against the Romanian, Constantina Dita who won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Ndereba ended up winning handily in 33:54. British duathlete Kate Grimmitt finished second in 34:19, while Dita was third in 34:30.

Cyrus Ndereba was an even more clear-cut winner of the men’s race. The Kenyan finished in 30:19 with Ryan McKinlay of Britain taking second in 32:06 and the Italian, Luca Tassarotti, finishing third in 32:15.