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CAPE ELIZABETH – In a long race, such as a 10K, leading the pack can drain you more than following it.
In Saturday’s TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K, Duncan Kibet only led for a few seconds, but fortunately for the 29-year old from Kenya, they were the final seconds of the race.
Kibet passed three runners in the final 600 yards, including out-sprinting Evans Cheryiout to the finish to earn his first Beach to Beacon title in 27 minutes, 51.7 seconds on a humid but beautiful sunny morning at Fort Williams Park.
Cheryiout of Kenya finished right behind Kibet at 27:52.3, John Yuda of Tanzania was third in 27:55.2, Meb Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. fourth in 27:57.8 and William Chebon of Kenya’s 28:13.7 rounded out the top five.
Luminita Talpos of Romania dominated the women’s race, using a more aggressive strategy than Kibet.
Talpos pulled away from the pack early and never looked back, winning in 32:20.3
Natalyia Berkut of Ukraine was second in 32:28.5, Jessica Ruthe of New Zealand third in 32:39.7, Ethiopia’s Vamir Wude fourth in 32:41.5 and Elva Dryer of Gunnison, CO rounded out the top five in 32:53.7.
In the men’s race, Kibet was trailing Cheryiout, Yuda and Keflezighi upon entry into Fort Williams, but he was simply waiting for the right moment to make his decisive move.
“I was counting on a sprint,” Kibet said.
“They heard me coming, and couldn’t do anything,” he added with a laugh.
The lead pack stayed 10-deep through the first few miles, while averaging about 4:30 per mile. Kibet was right in the thick of it throughout, with Chebon, Keflezighi, Yuda, Cheryiout and defending champ Tom Nyarki at or near the front.
Keflezighi moved into the lead just after the turn onto Shore Road, but Chebon made an aggressive move after that.
Kibet was about four to five meters behind Chebon at the time, but he was not worried.
“It was the plan. I had to stay behind him. I was building myself [for a kick],” Kibet said.
“Meb’s a strong athlete, Evans’ a strong athlete [and] John’s a strong athlete,” Kibet added.
The lead pack would eventually distance itself from Chebon.
Kibet was making his Beach to Beacon debut, and he did his homework leading up to the race.
“I did drive [the course on Friday],” he said.
Kibet added that he enjoyed the challenging course, calling it tougher than that of the Bix 7-miler in Iowa, which he won last weekend.
After Kibet broke the tape, he took a glance at the clock above him, smiled and pointed to it.
“I was looking at the time. I was really happy,” he said.
In the women’s race, Talpos, who has recorded top-five finishes in her four previous Beach to Beacons, had visions of wearing a laurel wreath while overlooking the gracious Atlantic Ocean at Fort Williams.
“This year I didn’t think about finishing second, I was thinking [about finishing first],” she said.
Her aggressive start made pre-race favorite Yamir and others try to match it, but it wound up being too strong in the end.
“I didn’t feel challenged,” said Talpos, who runs with a club known as the Police Club in Romania.
Yamir fell out of contention halfway through the race when she got tangled on the course with a male runner, and couldn’t recover.
There were 4,865 finishers in this year’s race. Michael Welch of South Portland, who finished 347th in 41:44, became the 35,000th finisher in the race’s 10-year history.
Jason Cakouros of Milton, Ma., captured Masters honors on the men’s side in 32:43.3 and Mimi Fallon of Walpole, Ma., was the winner in 37:50.6 on the women’s side.
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