Micah Kogo triumphs in Cape Cod. © www.photorun.net
The pre-race favorites won Sunday’s Falmouth road race, which runs just more than 7 miles along Cape Cod in Massachusetts, from Woods Hole to Falmouth. In a rare U.S. road appearance, Kenya’s Micah Kogo won the men’s race, while his compatriot, Catherine Ndereba, took her fourth women’s title in seven tries, clocking 36:31 minutes.
Kogo surged ahead after 5 miles, leaving behind his closest pursuer, American Meb Keflezighi. By the finish, Kogo had stretched his lead to 20 seconds. Still, his winning time of 31:53 was well off the course record of 31:08 set three years ago by KIMbia’s Gilbert Okari. Keflezighi, running a high-quality road race for the third consecutive weekend, ran 32:13 to hold off third-place finisher Nelson Kiplagat, who ran 32:21. KIMbia’s Tom Nyariki, second here last year, took sixth place in 32:39.
Ndereba made her decisive move at about the same point as Kogo. Running the final two miles alone, the 2003 world marathon champion finished 9 seconds ahead of Romania’s Luminita Talpos (36:40), who had won the Beach to Beacon 10K a week earlier. Kate O’Neill (USA) came in third with 36:52. Both winners received $10,000.
Kogo is one of the most talented young long-distance runners worldwide. Last year, at age 20, he ran the fastest 10,000m of the year, clocking 26:35.63 at Brussel’s Golden League Meeting. Because he has not qualified for the World Championships in Osaka, Kogo will now focus on defending his Brussels title on September 14, where he’ll face Keflezighi again.
Gebrselassie Reveals Marathon Goal: 2:03
“I am here for my next goal,” said Haile Gebrselassie during a press conference in Berlin. The 34-year-old Ethiopian will defend his title at September 30th’s real,- Berlin Marathon. His goal is obvious: Gebrselassie wants to break the world record, held by his long-time rival Paul Tergat, who ran 2:04:55 four years ago in Berlin.
“I have chosen Berlin, because this is the best course and there are incredible spectators—Berlin is great,” said Gebrselassie, who is a two-time Olympic 10,000m champion and has broken 23 world records so far. Last year he won the Berlin Marathon in what remained the fastest time of the year, 2:05:56. “I had problems in the final three kilometers last year. But now I have a feeling that I can achieve something outstanding in Berlin,” said Gebrselassie, who had run his last test race at the New York City Half Marathon a week earlier, winning in a world-class time of 59:24. “Taking into account the tough course, it was a great time,” said Gebrselassie. “The first 11 kilometers are hilly in Central Park. Honestly, if it would have been a flat course, I would have run 58 minutes flat.” (The half marathon world record stands at 58:33.) “Fortunately, Berlin is not like Central Park,” said Gebrselassie, who has increased his weekly mileage to more than 150. If Gebrselassie run another year’s best in Berlin, and if his isn’t beaten by the end of the year, he would accomplish another notable achievement – he would then be the world’s fastest marathon runner for three consecutive years. This feat was last achieved by the Russian Sergey Popov in the years 1957 to 1959.
During much of the press conference, Gebrselassie remained cautious regarding a time goal. But at the end he was asked to show his motivation for running by a drawing. Gebrselassie did a line drawing, showing himself and then wrote underneath it: “2:03:00—I will show you.” Then he said, “You always have to aim high.”
Dibaba to Double Again at World Championships, Bekele Won’t
Tirunesh Dibaba will go for the double again, trying to win the 5,000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Osaka, which begin at the end of next week. The 22-year-old Ethiopian already achieved this novelty at these championships in Helsinki two years ago, when she became the first to take these two events at global championships. She also won the 5,000m four years ago in Paris at an age of only 18 years and 90 days; that feat made her the youngest world champion ever. In Osaka Tirunesh Dibaba will meet her national rival Meseret Defar in the 5,000m. Dibaba improved the world record to 14:16.63 this year in Oslo, so this should become another thrilling duel between the two.
While Dibaba announced she’s going for the double, it doesn’t look like Kenenisa Bekele will run the two events. The Ethiopian, who holds both world records, definitely wants to defend his 10,000m title. Bekele already tried twice to win both distances; he always won medals, but so far has not won twice. In Paris 2003, he finished third in the 5,000m after his 10,000m victory, and at the 2004 Olympic Games he was second in the 5,000m after earlier winning the longer distance.
