New York, USA - Dathan Ritzenhein won the Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park today in spectacular fashion, setting a course record of 28:08, breaking the 28:10 Central Park record set by Paul Koech in 1997.

Ritzenhein, 24, also broke his personal best for 10km by three seconds and in the process beat two-time defending champion Craig Mottram of Australia who finished second in 28:25, while Westchester Track Club's Demesse Tefera (ETH) finished third in 28:31.

Last November, Ritzenhein had finished 11th in the city's ING New York City Marathon in a personal best of 2:14:01.

Shaking out the cobwebs' 

After today’s Healthy Kidney 10K, it looks as though the “future of American distance running” is now.  Ritzenhein, in his first race in three months, defeated two-time Healthy Kidney champion Craig “Buster” Mottram.

Ritzenhein, Mottram, and Kenya's Richard Kiplagat shared the lead for the first 5km, running it in 14:14. 

Around Mile 4, Ritzenhein took a ten-yard lead, but Mottram came back just before Mile 5 on a small uphill.  From there, Ritzenhein pulled away and again took a solid lead.  With about 400 metres to go, realising that he was within reach of the Central Park record, Ritzenhein surged on the final hill before the finish.

Marathon-legend Khalid Khannouchi finished in 14th place with a time of 30:06.

Ritzenhein, who has been recovering from a stress fracture suffered at the USA Cross Country Championships in February, came to the Healthy Kidney mainly to “shake out the cobwebs” and test his fitness level for the upcoming track season.  He was thrilled to break the course record and defeat Mottram, the reigning double World Cup 3000m winner whom he considers to be one of the top three distance runners in the world.

Ritzenhein won $27,500 in prize money - $7,500 for the win, and a $20,000 Central Park record bonus courtesy of the race sponsor, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, in honour of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.  Ritzenhein chose to donate the $7500 first-place prize money to the National Kidney Foundation. 

Edward Fortune (NYRR) for the IAAF