8th consecutive title for
Kenya in Uruguayan Christmas race
Jose Ma. Lombardo
6 January 2002
- In spite of everything, the 28th
edition of the famous Corrida de San
Fernando (Maldonado-Uruguay) survived
the storms that threatened to disrupt
the event, and came to a happy
conclusion just hours before the arrival
of the "Three Kings" (bearers of gifts
on January 6 in a traditional Spanish
Christmas).
The meterological upheaval - which brought wind and heavy rains not just before the event but during it - made both organisation and participation a major challenge. But happily, 3,270 athletes still crossed the finish line, with a Kenyan man first (Robert Cheruyot in 28:59), for the 7th time in a row. Nevertheless, because of the terrible conditions, this race was withdrawn from the official South American Road Running Circuit by the Technical Director of Consudatle (The South American Athletics Confederation).
At 10 pm exactly, this 10k event got underway from the centre of Punta del Este. From the start, the favourites dashed to the front, among them the Uruguyan Nestor Garcia and the man from Ecuador Silvio Guerra, who were eager to stop the recent East African dominance. By the 4th kilometre, the Brazilian Jose Saraiva Frazao Jr joined the leading pack, only to see Cheruyot made a sudden, and decisive break for home. By the time Garcia made his mind up to chase the Kenyan, the gap was too great, although he had closed somewhat by the finish. Guerra, meanwhile, who admitted to being someway off his best form, was happy to hang on to third place.
At the end, there was not much in the way of an exciting finish, but Cheruyot made a point of showing his appreciation for the heroic spectators who had lined the course to cheer on the runners.
In the women's race, the Ecuadorian Martha Tenorio and Oliva Sanchez of Colombia battled it out for the first 6 km, at which point Tenorio cracked, ending up fourth, and leaving Sanchez to run solo to the finish line.
Results
Men
1)
Robert CHERUYOT KEN
28.59
2) Néstor GARCÍA URU 29.23
3) Silvio GUERRA ECU
30.12
4) Paul Kibet ROTICH KEN
30.25
5) Jose Saraiva FRAZAO JR. BRA
30.30
Women
1) Bertha OLIVA SÁNCHEZ COL
33.48
2) Selma DOS REIS
BRA 34.05
3) Luz SILVA
CHI 34.14
4) Martha TENORIO ECU
34.33
5) Sonia CALIZAYA BOL
35.16
Past male winners of the "CORRIDA SAN FERNANDO" - Maldonado (Uruguay)
1 1975 Rafael PÉREZ
CRC
2 1976 Víctor MORA
COL
3 1977 Rodolfo GÓMEZ
MEX
4 1978 Domingo
TIBAUDIZA COL
5 1979 Franco FAVA
ITA
6 1980 Heber
LINDSAY USA
7 1981 Joao DA
SILVA BRA
8 1982 Silvio
SALAZAR COL
9 1983 Zacarias BARIE
TAN
10 1984 Silvio
SALAZAR COL
11 1985 Competencia
Nacional
12 1986 Competencia
Nacional
13 1987 Competencia
Nacional
14 1988 Competencia
Nacional
15 1989 Competencia
Nacional
16 1990 Competencia
Nacional
17 1991 Delmir DOS
SANTOS BRA
18 1992 Delmir DOS
SANTOS BRA
19 1993 Valdenor DOS
SANTOS BRA
20 1994 Simon CHEMWOYO
KEN
21 1995 Ronaldo
COSTA BRA
22 1996 Peter Ndirango
KEN
23 1997 Joseph Kimani
KEN
24 1998 Paul TERGAT
KEN
25 1999 Paul TERGAT
KEN
26 2000 Paul TERGAT
KEN
27 2001 Paul TERGAT
KEN
28 2002 Robert
CHERUYOT KEN