Stefano Baldini, Hilda Kibet Win 2007 British 10k London Run by: Victah Sailer July 1, 2007
Over
24, 000 runners took to the streets of London , where only 48 hrs
earlier, some of the same streets were closed due to terrorists
activities. Most of the runners were more concerned with the rain that
has flooded England over the past week, as sun met the warm ups of most
running the British 10km. Olympic Champion, Stefano Baldini(ITA) and
Hilda Kibet(NED) ran thru the rain and wind to win their respective
divisions.
Right from the startline, Stefano dashed to the lead in the 64F(18C)
weather with a slight mist, manuevering thru Piccadilly Circus and
Trafalgar Square with Phil Wicks(GBR) and Simon Tanui(KEN) in tow.
Along the Victoria Embankment, they followed Stefano's lead, "I really
pushed the first 5km too hard, it was 14.12 thru 5k, and then I hit the
wind and at 8km, it was really tough going over the Westminister
Bridge". As Baldini approached Westminister Bridge, Phil Wicks ran
along side and actually took a slight lead, before recrossing the
bridge, Baldini put the hammer down and put a 15 gap over Wicks, which
he held to the finish line, where he crossed the finish line with an
Olympic Torch from the 1948 London Olympic Games.
The woman's event was an expected seesaw between World Cross Country
Champion, Lornah Kipligat(NED), World Marathon Champion, Catherine
Ndereba(KEN) and Kipligat's training partner, Hilda Kibet(NED). "This
will be my last competition prior to the World Championships", said
Lornah, just prior to the start. Kipligat ran straight to the lead as
usual, and within 600m had pulled off the course with a calf injury.
Hilda Kibet found herself in the lead, and led to the finishline never
being challenged by Ndereba. Ndereba had suffered a slight hamstring
injury back in May, causing her to start slowly in most events. Hilda
passed the 5km mark in 15.55, with Catherine passing the same location
10 seconds later. Ndereba will go back to Kenya before the Sapporo Half
Marathon next weekend in Japan.
