AFRICANS DOMINATE FREIHOFER'S RUN FOR WOMEN
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
May 30, 2009
Athletes from Africa dominated this morning's Freihofer's Run forWomen, a 5 km invitational road race in Albany, N.Y. African women,
led by Ethiopia's Teyba Erkesso, filled the first five positions and
eight out of the top-10.
For Erkesso, 26, it was her fourth road racing victory of the year in
North America, good for a $10,000 payday. She clocked 15:27 (15:26.1)
to finish three seconds ahead of compatriot Mamitu Daska, last Monday's
Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 10-K champion. Kenya's Rose
Kosgei was third in 15:39. Three-time defending champion, Benita
Johnson of Australia, finished sixth.
Tera Moody was the top American finisher in 13th place (16:25), and 45 year-old Colleen De Reuck won the masters title in 16:39.
The depth of the field at Freihofer's was noteworthy. Thirty-five
women broke 18 minutes, and 54 women broke 19 minutes, according to Bob
Teschek of Granite State Race Services, who timed the race. In all,
there were 3685 finishers, up from 3097 last year.
