Bizuneh takes title at USA Men's 10 Mile Championship

FLINT - Fasil Bizuneh (Flagstaff, Ariz.) pulled away from 2010 USA Half Marathon champion Antonio Vega (Minneapolis, Minn.),  just after seven miles to win the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship Saturday in Flint, Mich.  The championship was hosted by the Crim Festival of Races.  Bizuneh ran 47 minutes, 29 seconds to finish fourth overall in the open field.

With near perfect conditions greeting a record field of over 10,000 runners at the 34^th annual event, the field opened with a fairly relaxed first mile of 4:42 with Robert Letting, Julius Kogo and Kiprotich Kirui of Kenya leading the charge.  Vega led the U.S. contingent of Bizuneh and Justin Young (Superior, Colo.) in the lead pack.

Shortly after two miles, Letting dropped a 4:32 mile to lead a break with Kogo and Kirui.  Vega and Bizuneh led the chase pack about six seconds back.

Maintaining a pace between 4:32 and 4:35 from three to five miles, Letting and Kogo pulled away from Kirui while Vega looked to be in charge of the chase pack about 30 seconds back. 

After seven miles, Kogo tested Letting with a short surge while Bizuneh made his move for the U.S. title.  Over the final three miles, Kogo was clearly in charge of the overall race and Bizuneh increased his lead over Vega.

In the final mile, Kogo pulled away for the overall win in 47:06 with Letting and Kirui taking second and third in 47:15 and 47:24 respectively.

Crossing the line in fourth, Bizuneh celebrated his first USA title, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Vega.  Young easily took third in 47:49 while Fernando Cabada (Alamosa, Colo.) and Sergio Reyes (Los Osos, Calif.) rounded out the top-five in 48:30 and 48:32 respectively.       

Video highlights

Highlights of the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship are available in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com at www.USARunningCircuit.com.