Vincent Kiprop Chepkok secures win at 18th 'Cross Internacional de Soria' – Athletics news
Vincent Kiprop Chepkok confirmed the top spot with a brilliant time of 29 minutes and 49 seconds, at the 18th 'Cross Internacional de Soria' meet held in Soria, Spain, on November 20. The Kenyan athlete, Chepkok, dominated a tough field of contenders in the race to add another title to his accolades.
The men’s race started with an early pace set by Eritrea’s Adhanom Abraha. He carved out a reasonable gap over Chepkok through the first kilometre. Chepkok kept his ground and did not lose his pace in Abraha’s pursuit.
By the 3 km mark, passed in a time of 8 minutes and 46 seconds, Chepkok ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Abraha and both were 50m ahead the tandem of Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem and Uganda’s Simon Ayeko.
The leaders were depicting a slow momentum in the contention, of which Lamdassem took advantage and left Simon Ayeko behind to join the lead runners. The halfway point was covered in a time of 14 minutes and 47 seconds. By this time, Abraha was in the lead, with Chepkok and Lamdassem following him at a steady pace.
At the 7.2 km mark, a decisive move was made by Chepkok, as he made long strides to open up a 10 second margin over leading contenders, Abraha and Lamdassem. The picture was clear, as Chepkok, by this moment, looked to be a clear winner but the contenders also had the tendency to strike at any moment. The battle continued and Lamdassem looked strong to cover the loop holes, as he got closer to Chepkok.
Realizing the danger, Chepkok unleashed the pace to cruise towards the finishing line with a well-attained time of 29 minutes and 49 seconds. After winning the contest, Chepkok said, “I’m really satisfied since this is my first win at an IAAF permit. I didn’t panic at all when the Eritrean guy pulled away in the very beginning because I was sure I would be able to catch him and win.”
Chepkok attained a decent victory at the event and he was followed, with a narrow margin, by Lamdassem, who finished the course in a time of 29 minutes and 53 seconds. Abraha settled for third spot on the podium with a finishing time of 30 minutes and 1 second.
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