Kiplagat Defends Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K Title

NEW YORK - (June 10, 2006) - Lornah Kiplagat does not like to look back, but as the dominant Dutchwoman led virtually every step of Saturday's 35th Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K, she allowed herself three quick glances at the women-only field behind her.

Kiplagat's first look backward came roughly 2.5 miles into the race as she coyly gauged the status of the small pack of four runners who had tucked behind her wake.

After turning up the pace, Kiplagat, 32, stole her second glance roughly a mile later and found that the pack of four had dwindled to just one lone challenger on her shoulder, Ethiopian Gete Wami. a multi Olympic medalist.

From that point, Kiplagat's cool gaze, hidden behind slick silver and orange sunglasses, stared forward until just before the six mile mark when she allowed herself a third and final check of the competition. This time the 2004 Olympian found that she was all alone and free to cruise the final 400 meters to the finish line in 31 minutes, 27 seconds, seven seconds ahead of hard charging Latvian Jelena Prokopcuka who finished second for the second consecutive year.

Prokopcuka, the 2005 ING New York City Marathon champion, had hung gamely in third place for the majority of the race before catching and passing Wami, who, paying the price for sticking with the defending champion thru the opening miles, faded to third in 31:56.

The victory was Kiplagat's third New York Mini 10K title in the past four years and she now sits third on the all-time win list at the New York Road Runner's event behind Grete Waitz and Tegla Loroupe who have both won the race five times. Her 2006 victory also earned her $10,000 plus a $1000 bonus for running under 32 minutes (it was also her record 27th sub-32 10K clocking).

"You can win your first and second, but to win a race the third time is always very hard," a proud Kiplagat said post-race. "I prepared myself very hard for this race."

NYRR's president Mary Wittenberg had predicted that the trio of Kiplagat, Prokopcuka and Benita Johnson would be neck-and-neck as they reached the 8K mark in the race. Kiplagat, however, had different ideas.

Under near ideal running conditions on an unseasonably cool June morning, the elite field strung out along the long opening stretch of the race down Central Park West in an opening mile of 5:02. Six runners were in contention as the pack moved thru the second mile in 5:03, but Kiplagat used a long winding downhill just before the three mile mark to break the race open. After reaching the 5K mark in 15:38, Kiplagat hit mile splits of 5:11, 4:59 and 5:04 while the rest of field, outside the top three, fell out of sight.

Johnson, who beat Kiplagat the week before at Freihofer's Run for Women 5K, stayed in contention thru the halfway point, but Kiplagat's pace proved to be too much for her as she placed fourth in 32:14.

Natalia Berkut of the Ukraine finished just behind Johnson in fifth place at 32:17 and she was followed by top U.S. finishers Amy Rudolph and Jen Rhines who finished sixth and seventh in 32:34 and 32:39 respectively.

35th Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K
New York, NY, Saturday, June 10, 2006

1) Lornah Kiplagat, NED, 31:27, $11,000
2) Jelena Prokopcuka, LAT, 31:34, $6000
3) Gete Wami, ETH, 31:56, $4000
4) Benita Johnson, AUS, 32:14, $3000
5) Natalia Berkut, UKR, 32:17, $2000
6) Amy Rudolph, USA / RI, 32:34, $1000
7) Jen Rhines, USA / CA, 32:39, $850
8) Yumi Sato, JPN, 32:42, $750
9) Yuri Kano, JPN, 32:55, $600
10) Fatima Ayachi, MAR, 33:13, $500
11) Samia Akbar, USA / VA, 33:14, $400
12) Nicola Aish, USA / CO, 33:22, $300
13) Kate O'Neill, USA / CA, 33:32, $250
14) Marie Davenport, IRL, 33:51, $200
15) Yasuko Hashimoto, JPN, 34:00, $150

Find full results, race photos and more at: NYRR.org

Source RunningUSA