Boston, USA – Celedonio Rodriguez and Nataliya Berkut took victories in the fifth annual B.A.A. Half Marathon which took place yesterday (Sunday 9) in chilly rain. In total, 3082 hardy runners took to the starting line.

MEN

Celedonio Rodriguez, the archetypal ‘underdog’ in the pre-race hype, and was obviously given very little chance of victory if their reaction to his break away is anything to go by.

After bolting from the pack to follow early leader Vinny Mulvey of Ireland, Rodriguez took off alone in the second mile and ran a surprise solo effort the rest of the way to win in 1:04:09, a personal best by 41 seconds. Finishing second was Samuel Ndereba of Kenya (1:04:21), and third for the second consecutive year was Abderrahim Haji of Morocco (1:04:26).

Early in the race when Mulvey and Rodriguez had run side-by-side for a few minutes, the eventual winner had received a useful bit of information from his Irish companion, who finished 10th here in 2004: “the race started out slow last year, too.”

“I thought, hmm, these guys aren’t going to be used to the cold weather, and I’ve been training at altitude,” said Rodriguez. “If they’re going to catch me, I’ll make them work for it.” With a second mile of 4:50, the newcomer from Colorado bid Mulvey adieu and put 27 seconds on the 10-man chase pack, and came to the conclusion that “well, I’m up here so I might as well keep going.” It was a lead that would grow to as much as 42 seconds mid-race.

“I was running with Haji,” explained Ndereba in the post-race interview, “and we thought he would come back to us. That’s what usually happens when somebody goes out like that. But he never came back. By 12 miles, I knew we could not catch him.”

It was less than two weeks ago, that Rodriguez became a U.S. citizen. Born in Mexico, Rodriguez was raised in Santa Rosa, California, and is a three-time NCAA Division II champion out of Adams State College in Alamosa, California, where he still lives and trains. He is coached by Damon Martin of Adams State and advised by Peter de la Cerda, who placed second at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2000. Rodriguez had two previous half marathon victories under his belt, and had finished 13th in his first “elite” road race, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, on 4 September.

WOMEN

On the women’s side, Nataliya Berkut of Ukraine, a 2004 Olympian at 10,000 metres, finally pulled away from American Jen Rhines just past the 10-mile mark for victory in 1:12:21; Rhines followed in 1:12:56. Russia’s Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova, the master’s course record-holder of the Boston Marathon, finished third in 1:15:19.

Rhines is in the midst of training for the New York Marathon on 6 November and doing the highest weekly mileage (120) she’s ever done. “I didn’t feel laboured,” she said, “but I just didn’t have the extra gear when she made her move. It was a good effort.”

MEN
1. Celedonio Rodriguez, USA  1:04:09
2. Samuel Ndereba, Kenya 1:04:21
3. Abderrhamin Haji,  Morocco 1:04:26
4. Abdelhadi Habassa, Morocco 1:04:35
5. Linus Maiyo, Kenya 1:05:42
…
8) Vinny Mulvey, USA/NY, 1:06:39

WOMEN
1. Nataliya Berkut, Ukraine 1:12:20
2. Jen Rhines, USA 1:12:56
3. Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova, Russia 1:15:19
4. Elena Orlova, Russia 1:15:32
5. Valentina Yegorova, Russia 1:18:06