DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 6:34 p.m. July 04, 2009
On a mild day, Kenyans sweep AJC Peachtree
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Unfortunately for the pack, it couldn’t catch Kitwara on Saturday in the 40th Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
Phil Skinner/pskinner@ajc.com
The wheelchair races take off at the beginning of the AJC Peachtree Road Race Saturday morning.
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Amid mild weather conditions, the Kenyan ran a personal best 27:22 to win the 6.2-mile race, blistering the field by 40 seconds.
Results won’t be made official until Monday because of a protest over an act of sportsmanship on the course filed against fourth-place finisher Tadese Tola of Ethiopia by one of the top-10 finishers. Another runner said Tola elbowed him as they approached the finish line.
But the protest, believed to be the first in Peachtree history, didn’t dampen the mood of the 55,000 people who ran and mostly seemed glad that the weather was cool and that the race finished in Piedmont Park again after a one-year hiatus.
“I like the course,” said the 22-year-old Kitwara, who was making his debut in Atlanta. “Not used to running [alone]. I pushed myself.”
Kitwara’s previous best in a 10k was 27:26. With the win, he took home the $15,000 first-place prize as well as splitting a $35,000 prize from the Professional Road Running Organization with the women’s winner, Lineth Chepkurui.
Also a Kenyan and the top seed in her debut, Chepkurui, 21, ran a personal best 31:31, beating by one second Ethiopia’s Meseret Mengsitu. Chepkurui’s previous best was 32:08.
Though temperatures were in the low 70s with 63 percent humidity when the race started, both winners said conditions were hot and very humid — prompting smiles from those standing around them, who then described how stifling it usually is in Atlanta in July.
Both runners said they would be returning to defend their titles.
“It was very tight,” Chepkurui said. “But I’m very happy. Very excited.”
The top U.S. finishers on the men’s and women’s sides were Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz., who finished sixth (28:11), and New York’s Ilsa Paulson, who finished 86th (33:09) overall and 13th in the women’s field. The top Georgians were Girma Mecheso, who finished 23rd (29:27), and Janel Blancett, who finished 193rd (36:28). Both are Atlanta residents.
The other winners: Thomas Burns of Snellville designed the winning logo for the commemorative T-shirt. His design, featuring a peach in front of the U.S. flag on a white shirt, earned 27,000 votes to beat four other finalists. Burns is a graphics designer and has lived in the Atlanta area for 11 years.
Switzerland swept the men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions. Marcel Hug won the men’s division with a personal record 19:36.92. His previous best was 20:49. Edith Hunkeler won her fifth Peachtree and defended her title in an unofficial course record of 23:09.98. The previous course record was 23:11, and her previous personal best was 23:18.
There also were four races at military bases overseas — two in Iraq and one each in Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Raymond Michaels of Newnan won the race in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It was 70 degrees, and the elevation was 3,300 feet. That race featured 550 runners and 50 volunteers.
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