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Shadrack Kipchirchir and Erika Kemp Win USATF 15 km Championships - DyeStat Road Race Round-Up - 3/10/19Published by
Kipchirchir Wins Again, Kemp Earns First USATF TitleBy Adam Kopet of DyeStat The USATF Running Circuit returned to the roads Saturday at the USATF 15 km Championships in Jacksonville, Fla. as part of the Gate River Run. Shadrack Kipchirchir carried on after his USATF Cross Country title last month, winning again for his first 15K title. Erika Kemp joined Kipchirchir in the winner’s circle, winning her first USATF national title. Kipchirchir ran his final mile of the race, which was downhill, in 3:59 to take a one-second victory over teammates Leonard Korir and Stanley Kebenei in 43:41. It was Kipchirchir’s second USATF title this year and his win gives him a commanding lead in the USATF Running Circuit standings. All three men will represent the U.S. at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in three weeks. Martin Hehir pushed the early pace. He led the lead pack through four miles in 19:07. He would remain in the lead pack until the final mile when the trio of Kipchirchir, Korir and Kebenei began to kick. Hehir held onto fourth place, running 43:59. The women’s race featured a large pack of women who stayed together through 10 kilometers, including Kemp, Bridget Belyeu, Alia Gray, Katy Jermann, Kate Landau, Maggie Montoya, Bethany Sachtleben, Rachel Schneider and Bria Wetsch. They reached the 10K mark in 34:19. Sachtleben made the first move. She pushed the pace and blew up the large pack. Kemp followed along with Montoya and Landau. Kemp was able to use the speed that carried her to a runner-up finish at last year’s USATF 5K Championships to outpace Sachtleben, who placed sixth at the 2018 USATF Marathon Championships in December. Kemp crossed the finish line in 50:54, 14 seconds clear of Sachtleben. Montoya finished third in 51:23 and Landau was fourth in 51:35. The USATF 15 km Championships also featured an equalizer bonus. The women started the race six minutes ahead of the men. The overall winner earned an extra $5,000 in prize money. This year, the men caught the lead women at eight miles, giving Kipchirchir the equalizer win. Roma-Ostia Half MarathonGuye Adola of Ethiopia and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel won Sunday at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon. The race begins in Rome and works its way toward the coastal town of Ostia. Adola used a strong final three kilometers to win the race for the second time in three years in 1:00:17. Last year, when Adola was dealing with injuries, Galen Rupp won with a time of 59:47. Kenya’s Geoffrey Yegon was the only athlete able to stay close to Adola in his final push to the finish. He finished second, five seconds back. Cornelius Kangogo of Kenya was third in 1:01:07. Salpeter entered Sunday’s race with her eye on the course record. She came close, missing it by two seconds with her time of 1:06:40. She was well clear of Kenya’s Diana Kipyokei, who finished second in 1:07:13. The race also marked the return of Jordan Hasay, who last raced one year ago. Injury forced Hasay to withdraw from three races last year, including the Boston and Chicago Marathons. Hasay finished sixth Sunday, running 1:11:06. She described feeling “race rusty” on Instagram after the race. She has five weeks before the Boston Marathon.
Lake Biwa Mainichi MarathonThe finish of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon proved exciting as Salah Eddine Bounasr of Morocco sprinted past Asefa Tefera of Ethiopia in the final 200 meters to win in 2:07:52. Tefera held the lead as he entered the track stadium for the finish, but Bounasr was close on his heels. Adding further excitement, South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka closed the distance on Tefera on the track, but was unable to pass the Ethiopian. Tefera ran 2:07:56 and Mokoko finished two seconds back. Kenji Yamamoto helped to push the pace in the middle of the race. He remained the top Japanese finisher, crossing the line seventh in 2:08:42. Finishing eighth in 2:09:21, Yuki Kawauchi possibly sealed his opportunity to represent Japan at the 2019 IAAF World Outdoor Championships. Nagoya Women’s MarathonThe Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan featured two national records and qualified five more women for Japan’s Olympic Trials the Marathon Grand Championship in September, bringing the total to 14. Helalia Johannes set the Namibian national record with her winning time of 2:22:25. She managed to be the only athlete to maintain the set pace once the pacemakers dropped out of the race. Finishing second and third were the Kenyan duo of Visiline Jepkesho and Valary Jemeli Aiyabei who ran 2:22:58 and 2:23:01, respectively. Running her second marathon, Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar finished fourth in a personal-best 2:23:33. Rachel Cliff broke the Canadian national record with her 15th place finish in 2:26:56. Barcelona MarathonNear-ideal conditions helped the top-four athletes in the men’s and women’s races set personal bests as Bahrain’s Alemu Bekele and Ethiopia’s Kuftu Tahir notched surprise victories in Barcelona. This year’s edition of the race featured a course change, eliminating a difficult section in the early stages of the course. That change meant the event record was on the line for the men. There were 10 men in the lead pack that reached halfway in 1:03:14, which put them on pace to break the event record of 2:07:30. Bekele used a strong final four kilometers to pull away to win in 2:06:04. Abebe Negewo of Ethiopia and the defending champion Anthony Maritim of Kenya finished second and third, running 2:06:49 and 2:06:54, respectively. Tahir scored an almost seven-minute personal best to not only take the women’s victory in Barcelona, but to break the event record by 18 seconds with her time of 2:24:44. Josephine Chepkoech and Joy Kemuna, of Kenya, finished second and third in 2:25:20 and 2:25:35, respectively. Bernard Lagat started the race. However, his participation lasted 15 miles. He dropped out after the 24-kilometer point, having averaged 5:12 per mile.
Vitality Big HalfElite runners took to the streets of London Sunday for a half marathon that served as Mo Farah’s tune-up for next month’s London Marathon. Farah, of Great Britain, beat back the duo of Bashir Abdi of Belgium and Daniel Wanjiru of Kenya to win the windy race in 1:01:14. Abdi, a training partner of Farah’s, finished second in 1:01:16 and former London Marathon winner Wanjiru finished third in 1:01:17. The women’s race proved to be an all Great Britain affair with Charlotte Purdue earning the win in 1:10:38. Steph Twell, who led the race early, finished second in 1:11:33. Charlotte Arter was third in 1:11:44. National University Men’s Half Marathon ChampionshipsThree university students broke 1:02 for the half marathon in Japan, with Akira Aizawa of Toyo University getting the win in 1:01:45. Taisei Nakamura of Komazawa University finished second in 1:01:51 and Tatsuhiko Ito Tokyo Kokusai University was third in 1:01:52. The top 10 athletes all broke 1:03. Paris Half MarathonHiskel Tewelde of Eritrea and Nancy Kiprop of Kenya came away winners in the French capital Sunday. Tewelde, a member of the NN Running Team, won the men’s race in 1:04:20, eight seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Derara Hurisa. France’s Florian Carvalho finished third in 1:05:47. Kiprop won the women’s race in 1:09:12, ahead of fellow Kenyan Lydia Mathati, who finished 13 seconds back. France’s Clemence Calvin finished third in 1:10:15. More news |
