Tom Nyariki and Alevtina Ivanova Surprise at 2006 TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10k By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
CAPE
ELIZABETH, Maine (05-Aug) -- With surprisingly strong performances,
Kenyan Thomas Nyariki and Russian Alevtina Ivanova won today's ninth
edition of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10-K, as over 5000 runners
enjoyed a warm and cloudless morning running along the New England
coast. Both athletes won $10,000 in prize money.
Nyariki, 34,
executed a patient race plan to upset compatriots Gilbert Okari, the
three-time defending champion, and Lawrence Kiprotich, last weekend's
Quad City Timex Bix 7 winner, to snatch the victory in 27:48, equalling
the fourth-fastest time ever on this course.
"I was not
expecting to win," said Nyariki who only has vision in his left eye.
"I came to better my time. As you know these guys are young. I'm the
oldest in the field."
It was his training partner, Okari, whom
the rest of the field was watching early in the race and with good
reason. He had not only won the last three times here, but had also
run the three fastest times ever recorded in the Beach to Beacon.
Indeed,
it was Okari who made the first serious move of the race, slicing the
lead pack down to six contenders during the second mile (4:30/9:01).
But Okari wasn't satisfied with the pace, nor was he happy with how
closely his rivals were shadowing him. He began Zig-zagging across the
roadway and continued to up the pace in order to shake them, running
the third --and mostly downhill-- mile in 4:23. He quickly opened a
two meter lead.
"I wanted some space," explained the six-foot, two-inch Kenyan, who is coached by Dieter Hogen.
Kiprotich
and another Kenyan, Evans Cheruiyot, were the only athletes who seemed
to be within striking distance of Okari, but Nyariki realized that
Okari was probably tiring himself by weaving and surging at the same
time. He saw an opportunity.
"It is one of the tactics," said Nyariki of Okari's moves, "but you use a lot of energy. I see that he was getting tired."
Okari
continued to lead into the fourth mile, but when he hit the four mile
mark in 17:51, Nyariki had passed Kiprotich and Cheruiyot and was now
just half a step behind Okari. Bad fortune had struck: Okari pulled
his left hamstring in the fourth mile.
"No. I wasn't surprised," said Okari when he turned and saw his training partner was challenging him. "It's my teammate."
His
effort better paced than Okari's, Nyariki led the rest of the way to
the finish in Fort Williams overlooking Casco Bay. Kiprotich got past
Okari in the final mile to take second in 28:04, while Okari just held
off Cheruiyot's kick to take third; both athletes were timed in 28:09.
The veteran John Korir rounded out the top five in 28:36.
For
Nyariki his return to form is no less than a miracle. In 2003, while
driving his car in Nairobi, he was carjacked by a gang of five
criminals who were fleeing the police. They shoved Nyariki out of the
driver's seat, eventually driving the car into a ditch. Nyariki hit
his forehead and eye on the dashboard, and the blow was so severe
surgeons had to remove his right eye (he now has a glass one which he
prefers to keep hidden behind sunglasses). He finds running much more
difficult now, but still has the heart which produced a 5000m personal
best of 12:55.94 and a bronze medal at that distance at the 1997 IAAF
World Championships in Athletics.
"It is difficult in the balancing," said Nyariki of having to run now with impaired vision.
Ed
Moran was the top USA finisher in 28:43 in his debut at the distance on
the road. "My inexperience at 10-K really showed at three miles," said
Moran, a former William & Mary star who finished sixth at the
recent USA Championships in the 5000m. He added: "I still consider
myself to be a 5000m runner. This is long for me."
RECORD FOR IVANOVA
Alevtina
Ivanova, better known as a marathoner, completely dominated the women's
race, hammering the course in 31:26 to take down Catherine Ndereba's
2001 record by seven seconds.
"It is my best time for 10-K,"
said the compact Ivanova as Tatiana Chulakh, who finished seventh,
translated for her. "I'm very happy."
Ivanova, 31, from
Cheboksary, has a marathon personal best of 2:29:05, but she is
focusing only on shorter distance races this year to improve her speed.
She ran as a pacemaker in the Nagoya International Ladies Marathon
last March, then won the Uptown 5-Miler in Dallas in a course record
25:16, and was second at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile last
April in 52:39.
"This year, I'm training only fast," she said. "I have no marathons."
Edna
Kiplagat of Kenya finished second in 32:23, Luminita Talpos of Romania
was third in 32:27 while pre-race favorite Susan Chepkemei was a
distant fourth in 32:40. Chepkemei complained of being tired after
cancelled flights made her trip from Denver to nearby Portland take
some 20 hours, including an 11 hour wait at Washington Dulles airport.
She arrived on Friday morning after one o'clock and never felt like
she had gotten her legs under her.
Elva Dryer was the top American, finishing sixth in 33:00.
