Haile Gebrselassie triumphs in the Big Apple. © www.photorun.net

In his first—but, organizers hope, not his last—race in New York City, Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie won Sunday’s New York City Half Marathon in 59:24. The race in New York was a perfect test for the 34-year-old during his training for the Berlin Marathon on September 30. After a successful return to track racing earlier this summer, during which he broke 27:00 for 10,000m, and broke world records for 20,000m and one hour, Gebrselassie showed that he still is a major force on the roads, where he wants to achieve his next great objectives: the world marathon record and the Olympic title.

The U.S.’s Abdi Abdirahman, third at the inaugural edition of this race last year, surged after 10K. Gebrselassie responded by matching the surge and then pulling away methodically. By 15K he had built a lead of more than 10 seconds; he maintained his pace of just over 4:30 per mile all the way to the finish and triumphed by more than a minute. “I felt good, so I broke away early,” explained Gebrselassie, who made a point of thanking Abdirahman and the Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot for maintaining a strong pace from the start. Behind Gebrselassie, Abdirahman, who will run the 10,000m at the World Championships in Osaka, finished in a personal best of 60:29. In third was Cheruiyot in 60:58; he leads the World Marathon Majors standings, and will now prepare for to defend his title in Chicago.

The women’s race was infinitely closer. Kenyan Hilda Kibet achieved her greatest success to date by outsprinting former marathon world record holder Catherine Ndereba, 70:32 to 70:33. New Zealand’s Nina Rillstone surprised with a national record of 70:35. In all, just less than 10,000 runners crossed the finish line by New York City’s Battery Park.

Martin Lel Wins in Sicily

As did Gebrselassie, London Marathon champion Martin Lel had a successful weekend en route to a fall marathon. The Kenyan, who is preparing for the New York City Marathon, won the Peppe Greco Memorial 10K in 29:02 in Sicily’s sweltering summer temperatures.

A strong finishing burst secured Lel’s victory in a high-quality international men’s race on Sicily’s south coast. In his first race since London, Lel finished in 29:02, only 2 seconds ahead of his compatriot Paul Kosgei. Third was the Ethiopian Eshetu Wondimu in 29:07, while Italy’s Olympic Marathon champion, Stefano Baldini, finished fifth (29:33).

Kibet, Talpos Take First Beach to Beacon Titles

Duncan Kibet wins a sprint finish at Beach to Beacon. © www.photorun.net

Less than a second separated the men’s winner from second place in the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Fresh off of victory at the Bix 7-miler the previous weekend, Kenyan Duncan Kibet outsprinted three others to win in 27:51 at this seaside founded by 1984 Olympic Marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson. She graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School, which the 5,000 entrants passed just past the 5K mark of Saturday’s race.

Entering Fort Williams Park with about half a mile to go, Kibet was in fourth, and had already been dropped twice. Once in the park, Evans Cheruiyot blasted up a short hill 600 meters from the finish. Kibet then came to life, and he and Cheruiyot pulled away from KIMbia’s John Yuda, who took third, and American Olympic Marathon medalist Meb Keflezighi. Kibet finally got away from Cheruiyot in the last 30 meters. Cheruiyot was 1 second back in 27:52, Yuda ran 27:55 and Keflezighi finished in a solid 27:58. The leading times were all the more impressive because the race started under high humidity that drenched the top competitors.

Kibet won Beach to Beacon in his first appearance at the race. The women’s winner, Romania’s Luminita Talpos, finally earned a Beach to Beacon victory after several runs here, including a second-place finish last year. She took the lead in the second kilometer and was never subsequently challenged en route to a time of 32:20. Second was Natalyia Berkut (Ukraine) in 32:29, while Jessica Ruth (New Zealand) was third in 32:40.

Irina Mikitenko Breaks Course Record in Berlin 10K

Irina Mikitenko confirmed her fine form in the build-up to her first marathon, which she will run in the fall. The German produced the highlight of the evening when she broke the seven-year-old course record at the 10K Berlin City Night Race. The 34-year-old runner clocked 32:11 on the famous boulevard Kurfürstendamm, improving the old mark by Claudia Dreher by 28 seconds.

Mikitenko left behind her strongest rival, Melanie Kraus, during the second part of the race. Kruas finished in 32:46, while Susanne Hahn clocked 33:05 for third. Mikitenko will now head for another high-altitude training stint at St. Moritz, Switzerland, where she had been doing training weeks of up to 120 miles recently. It looks very likely that she will then come back to Berlin on September 30 for the marathon.

There was a surprise winner in the men’s race. Germany’s Embaye Hedrit came back from injury to take the race in 29:40 minutes from his countrymen Alexander Lubina (29:46) and Stefan Koch (29:56). More than 8,300 athletes participated.

Paula Radcliffe to Skip World Championships, Lagat to Double

Paula Radcliffe will not compete at this month’s World Championships in Osaka, Japan. The world marathon record holder from England, who gave birth to a daughter in January and had hoped to run the 10,000m in Osaka, said that due to back problems she was unable to run the required qualifying time. Since she had won the gold medal in the marathon at the World Championships two years ago she would have been qualified for that race. But she was not able to get fit in time for a marathon.

Radcliffe said that she has not set herself a certain date regarding her comeback. “If all goes well, I will be back racing in early autumn,” she said. “I am not going to rush or take any shortcuts trying to get back competing. There is no way I am going to set off my back problem again by being impetuous.”

Meanwhile, after a victory at 1500m in England on Friday, the U.S.’s Bernard Lagat announced that he will run the 1500m and 5,000m in Osaka. A two-time Olympic medalist at 1500m, the Kenyan-turned-American faces a tough schedule at the World Championships. He will first run three rounds of the 1500m. Assuming he makes the 1500m final, he will have to run a qualifying round in the 5,000m the next day, and then the 5,000m final two days after that.