by John Nepolitan
MARCH 30 - Day 2 of the IAAF World XC Champs - Lausanne, Switzerland
If yesterday was looked upon as warm today was just plain hot.
With temps
well into the 70's and races starting at 1:30, the weather was going
to play
a factor.
MENS JR CHAMPIONSHIP - 8km(4.9 miles)
What seems to be a common theme of the World XC meet is that right
from the
gun it was a dual meet between Kenya and Ethiopia. Each 800m seem
to bring
a different runner to the front trying to push the pace. For those
who do
not know, these races are taken out fast - first 400m of a 5 mile
race in sub
60 is not uncommon. After a day dominated by Ethiopia the Kenyan
team was
looking for some revenge and got it when Eliud Kiphoge blasted away
from
Boniface Kiprop of Uganda over the last 300m to win in a time of
22:47. By
putting all 6 of its runners (6 start, 4 score in all races) in
the top 9 from
the start, the Kenyan team walked away with the team title. As for
the
Americans it would be a very difficult day at the race track. Former
Footlocker Champ (now at Notre Dame) Tim Moore was out nice early
but seemed
to be affected by the heat and hard fast pace and looked to be struggling
home in 34th place. The US top finisher was William Nelson (Univ
of
Colorado) who kept moving up throughout the race and finished 26th.
The
final team place was 8th out of 20 full teams.
Sr Women Short Course (4km - 2.5 miles)
The Kenyan team continued the return to domination as Edith Masai
held off
Werknesh Kidane by 1 sec (12:43) to lead the Kenyan women to the
team title.
I was happy to see my friend Una English of Ireland out with the
main group
early and hang on to finish in 16th place. The US team only placed
5
runners on the line and placed 13th out of 16 teams. The top US
finisher
was Sarah Toland crossing the line 39th.
After a fast bite to eat (they had food stands out on the course
not just in
the main stands) and a short rest in the shade (man it was hot out
there),
it was time for the feature event of the weekend- the Sr Mens Long
Course
12km(7.25 miles)
Sr Mens Long Course
Before these championships the Kenyan coach had boasted in the
press that
Bekele (Ethiopia) would be made to hurt on Sat in the short course
race and
unable to defend his long course title. Man was he way off. The
Kenyans
and the Ethiopians went at it one more time flying right to the
front and
pushing the pace. Different Kenyan runners were attacking and each
time
Bekele would respond. In fact on one move going uphill not only
bridged the
gap, but took the lead as if to say - is this all you got? The course
was 7
loops so great to see the action of strike, counter strike. The
team race
was all but over after 2 laps, but it was the individual crown the
Kenyans
wanted. They will have to wait yet another year to claim that. With
2 laps
to go Bekele and teammate Gebre-egziab Gebremariam broke away and
there
would be no catching Bekele. In the end Patrick Ivuti would run
down
Gebremarian, but nobody was cathing Bekele. Crusing away to win
by 13
seconds Bekele did for the 2nd year in a row what many felt wold
be very
difficult for any man to do just once. Some were heard to say that
his
effort yesterday was worth 12:55 for 5000m on the track and todays
display
was worth sub 26:30 for 10,000m It is just a matter of time before
the
10,000 world record is his. The US race was highlighted by an 11th
place
finish by Meb Keflezighi. Out with the top group and putting himself
in the
race, Meb made the USA proud. Others members of the team attacked
and tried
moving up but were not as successful. The final team place was 7th
out of
16 teams.
Tonight it is off to the meet reception then the long trip home
tomorrow.
From: "John Nepolitan" <[email protected]>
World Cross Country Championships
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