Kosgei and Alevtina triumph at Crim 10

  Ugandan Samuel Kosgei and Russian Alevtina Ivanova were the men’s and women’s winners of the 30th Annual Crim 10-Mile Race (Sat 26) held under an overcast sky with a temperature of 66 degrees and 88% humidity.

Running in his first Crim and first U.S. race, Kosgei, 22, won with a time of 46:49 ahead of a posse of Kenyans. After the three-mile mark he began to pull away from a group of 20 runners. By the four-mile mark he had a nine second lead over a group of seven runners.

At the five mile mark he had five second lead over second place finisher Wilson Chebet (47:11) of Kenya, who stayed five seconds behind through seven miles.

At eight miles Kosgei was nine seconds ahead. He finished strong expanding his lead to 11 seconds at nine miles and was alone as he came around the corner and onto the red bricks and under the arches in downtown Flint to the finish line.

Kosgei said, “The first three miles were fairly easy (13:55). I looked around and everyone looked strong. I felt real strong so I just took off.” Kosgei who came 46th for Uganda in this year's World Cross Country Championships long race said he felt strong at the end of the race, but was a little tired before the race from his trip from Africa on Thursday.

In the women’s race, Russian Alevtina Ivanova, 31, running in her third Crim, won for the second year in a row with a time of 53:06, 28 seconds better than last year’s winning time. Moroccan Asumae Leghzaoui, 29, finished second with a time of 53:25, and Kenyan Lineth Chepkuru, 29, finished third at 54:00.

Victah Sailer for the IAAF

RESULTS

Men
1. Samuel Kosgei, Uganda, 46:49
2. Wilson Chebet, Kenya, 47:11
3. Ernest Meli, Kenya, 47:31
4. Julius Kibet, Kenya, 47:42
5. James Koskei, Kenya, 48:12
6. Joseph Chirlee, Kenya, 48:19
7. Jacob Yator, Kenya, 48:30
8. Samuel Ndereba, Kenya, 48:44
9. David Lagat, Kenya, 48:55
10. Wilson Komen, Kenya, 48:58

Women
1. Alevtina Ivanova, Russia, 53:06
2. Asmae Leghzaoui, Morocco, 53:25
3. Lineth Chepkuru, Kenya, 54:00
4. Tatiana Chulakh, Kenya, 55:40
5. Lyudmila Biktasheva, Russia, 55:41
6. Olga Romanova, Russia, 56:31
7. Teraza Yohannes, Ethopia, 57:35
8. Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Ukraine, 59:00
9. Dot McMahon, Rochester Hills, MI, 59:20
10. Denisa Costescu, Novi, MI 59:58