Irina Mikitenko produced a one woman show on the roads of the centre of the German capital on Saturday evening. The 33 year-old German won the Avon Running Berlin Women’s 10km race in 33:45 minutes.
It was her first ever road race in Berlin and her first ever women only race on the road. 11,731 women and girls took part in various races of the event. They were cheered on by thousands of spectators.
“I really liked the atmosphere. People were cheering me on so that I did not have the impression of running alone at the front”, Irina Mikitenko said.
The German 10,000 m champion had taken the lead right from the start. At the finish on the Straße des 17. Juni near to the Brandenburg Gate she had an advantage of exactly one minute to Claudia Dreher (34:45). Kenya’s Magdaline Chemjor took third place in 35:18 while Michaela Schedler was fourth (35:37). “Today the time did not matter – I just wanted to win. If there would have been stronger opposition I could have run faster”, said Mikitenko.
Mikitenko, who had placed seventh in the 5000 m final at the Olympics in Athens 2004, had not competed last year because she gave birth to her second child. This season she came back but now starts concentrating on road races. Nonetheless there will be a couple of track races. “I will compete at the European Cup and at the German Championships. The main race on the track will be the 10,000 metres at the European Championships."
In autumn she plans to run her debut marathon. “Some time ago I was not ready for the marathon. I had a lot of respect for the distance. Now it is different. But I will only run my debut this year if I will have enough time to train for it. Because I really want to run under 2:30 right from the start of my marathon career”, said Mikitenko.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
