Micah Kogo and Aheza Kiros clinch titles at the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race
As the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race concluded in Cape Elizabeth Maine on Saturday, August 6, Micah Kogo, the long distance runner from Kenya and Aheza Kiros, the long distance runner from Ethiopia bagged the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively.
In the Men’s competition, Kogo, who marked a finish of 27:48 minutes, decided to pull away from rest of the lot right from the gun. The way he went on to build his pace right from the beginning, it seemed that he was on the spree to observe a new course
record.
However, as the race lingered on, the building heat resulted in him receding to harsh weather conditions and only settling for a top position in the grapple. The course record which stood at 27:28 minutes was missed by a difference of 20 seconds.
Kogo’s countryman, Lucas Rotich, who observed a finish of 27:56 minutes was the second runner on the podium, while with the difference of a second, Ed Muge, the third Kenyan clinched the bronze finish in the event. For Ed Muge, the winner of the 2008 and
2009 events, finishing for a third place of course did not bring a happy moment, however, the way both Kogo and Rotich ruled the course during the run, he could not help but settle for a lower rank in the meet.
Among American runners, the 25-year-old Patrick Smyth was the first to cross the finishing line. He stopped the clock in 28:39 minutes and for doing so, ended the race for a ninth position.
The race which was the depiction of a fast contest, observed the 21-year-old Kogo leading a pack of about eight runners soon after the gun was shot. The long distance runner, who was aiming at clocking a prominent finish, remained undeterred by the weather
for the initial few kilometres of the race. He clocked the fastest first two-mile finish in the history of the race for hitting the stone in eight minutes and 47 seconds.
In the Women’s competition, it was the 25-year-old Ethiopian long distance runner, Aheza Kiros, who took the privilege for crossing the tape in 32 minutes and 9 seconds. She was the first Ethiopian to bag the Beach to Beacon 10k title. The second finish
of the run was claimed by 25-year-old Kenyan runner, Jelliah Tinega, who stopped the clock in 32:35.5 minutes.
For clocking an identical time, Buzunesh Deba, another Ethiopian runner succeeded in observing a third finish in the run. Among American runners, it was the 29-year-old Sara Slattery from Boulder, Colo., who marked the first finish among her countrywomen
and stopped the clock in 33.36 seconds. Slattery ended the race for an overall sixth position in the respective meet.
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