Peninah Arusei wins the 2006 Run Berlin 25km women's race (© c)
Berlin, GermanyThe Kenyan win streak remains unbroken at the Run Berlin 25km. In ideal weather conditions Patrick Musyoki won the men’s race at the 26th edition, with Peninah Arusei taking the women’s title.
MEN
The 21-year-old finished in the second fastest time of the year in 1:14:08 in Berlin’s 1936 Olympic Stadium. He almost missed out on victory, because he took the wrong turn just inside the stadium but turned immediately to face his compatriot Francis Bowen who was just behind him. However, with a very strong last 400m Musyoki was able to sprint to victory leaving Bowen (1:14:12) behind.
“It was a great race and the weather was perfect for me. In the stadium I was a little bit irritated but nevertheless I won,” said the winner.
Right from the start a leading group of nine Kenyan men ran their own race. “After 10km, the pacemakers were too slow. So I pushed the pace a bit. At 23km I knew I would have a chance to win, so I increased the pace,” continued Musyoki. He ran the last kilometre in 2:43 minutes.
Favourite Elijah Sang couldn’t stand the pace of Musyoki and Bowen and had to let them go away three kilometres ahead of the finish. He finished third in 1:14:33. It is the fifth time in a row that Kenyans had finished in the top three.
WOMEN
In the women’s race, Peninah Arusei won in 1:26:25 hours.
“It was a good race although I had to run most of the time by myself,” said Arusei who improved her personal best by more than three minutes. Asale Tafa (Ethiopia) was able to finish second despite of her slow pace in the first half of the race. She clocked 1:28:13. Kristina Loonen (The Netherlands) was the best European. She finished third in 1:30:42.
The victory was the sixth win in a row for Kenya in this race. The first 10km (34:22 minutes) was fast, due to a slightly downhill course in that part.
“I am happy with my new personal best,” said Arusei who led the field from the beginning. After 9km the leading group broke apart as Arusei increased the pace and ran the rest of the race alone. Tafa couldn’t follow and finished in 1:28:13.
A total of 10,495 participants joined the 26th edition of the Run Berlin with various races. Lennart Sponar was the best German runner clocking 1:25:41. In the women’s race the best German was Iris Tiedeken in 1:44:27.
Jörg Wenig and Marisa Reich for the IAAF