FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenyan Stephen Sambu and Ethiopian Mamitu Daska
Capture Top Honors at B.A.A. 10K
Third Annual event in Boston's Back Bay was B.A.A.'s first road racing
event since this year's Boston Marathon and sold out field of participants
ran with strong support for running in the City.
BOSTON - A warm and sunny morning with temperatures reaching the low 80s
(F) by the race's conclusion welcomed runners to Boston Common on Sunday,
June 23 for the Third B.A.A. 10K. Kenya's Stephen Sambu, 24, won the men's
title in a time of 28:06 over 2013 Boston Marathon® champion Lelisa Desisa,
23, of Ethiopia, who finished in 28:15.
With a well-executed kick in the race's final meters, Sambu outlasted
Desisa who returned to Boston for the first time since April and who later
gifted his Boston Marathon champion's medal to Boston Mayor Thomas M.
Menino prior the awards ceremony.
Ethiopia's Mamitu Daska, 29, led from the start to run away with the
women's race, breaking the tape in 31:45. Daska's time was the
second-fastest time among women in race history (Kim Smith, NZL, 31:36,
2012) and is now the 10th fastest 10K road time thus far in 2013, according
to the IAAF's web site.
Aaron Braun, 26, who currently resides in Flagstaff, Arizona, was the first
American male in 29:59 (7th place); Katie Dicamillo, of Providence, Rhode
Island, was the first American female in 34:33 (4th place). Fellow
American and the top US finisher at the Boston Marathon in both 2012 and
2013, Jason Hartmann of Boulder, Colorado, was the ninth place male in
30:31.
Behind them, a total of 5,445 runners crossed the starting line on Charles
Street at historic Boston Common. The B.A.A. 10K is the second race of the
2013 B.A.A. Distance Medley, a three-race series which combines the B.A.A.
5K in April, the B.A.A. 10K, and the B.A.A. Half Marathon on October 13.
The top male and female in the series, determined by the lowest cumulative
time, will win $100,000 in prize money.
In the men's race, B.A.A. 5K runner-up Aaron Braun, 26, of Arizona, led a
pack of six as they crossed the one mile mark in 4:40. Along with Braun and
Desisa, the pack included 2012 B.A.A. Distance Medley champion Allan
Kiprono (KEN); 2012 B.A.A. Distance Medley runner-up Lani Rutto (KEN); 2012
Paris Marathon runner-up Raji Assefa (ETH); and Sambu, a six-time NCAA
All-American at the University of Arizona.
The same pack of six worked together through miles two and three, notching
splits of 4:37 and 4:41. Following a 180-degree turn at 5-kilometers on
this out-and-back course through Boston's Beacon Hill and Back Bay
neighborhoods, the pace began to quicken.
As the leaders reached the four mile mark in 18:31 with a split of 4:31,
Rutto began to fade and the duo of Sambu and Desisa established themselves
as the men to beat.
Passing five miles with a split of 4:22, Sambu had a step over the reigning
Boston Marathon champion. It was at that point that a cheering fan called
Sambu's name and got his attention.
"Somebody called my name. I don't know who it was. Somebody said ‘Stephen!
Arizona!' I just graduated from Arizona," he said with pride, speaking to
reporters after the race.
Reacting to the fans, Sambu raised his hand in recognition. It was a
gesture that also suggested his confidence as the race progressed to its
final stages.
As Sambu and Desisa battled side-by-side, Sambu felt confident in his kick,
which he has been developing with Coach James Li and his training partners
four-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman (USA) and Bernard Lagat (USA), who won
the gold medal at 1500 and 5000 meters in the 2009 IAAF World
Championships.
Sambu tested Desisa with a probing kick and, smiling after the race, said,
"When I passed him, he didn't react." That was when Sambu knew he had won
the race. Raising his hands in celebration, he broke the tape in 28:06,
only four seconds slower than his personal best on the roads, which he set
earlier this year in New York.
Behind Sambu's victory and Desisa's runner-up finish, Kenya's Daniel Salel
finished third in 28:30.
Sambu's victory in today's race continues his fine season, which has also
included a 1:01:34 personal best at the NYC Half Marathon in March. That
half marathon run, combined with today's performance, has bolstered Sambu's
confidence as he turns his attention to the B.A.A. Half Marathon. Sambu
currently holds a 26-second lead over Kiprono in the 2013 B.A.A. Distance
Medley which is scored by total time among the three races. Sambu's time
was the fourth fastest in race history (course record: Geoffrey Mutai, KEN;
27:19; 2011).
"This will give me confidence now to come back to run the half marathon,"
Sambu said. "That will make me just work really hard, because I want to
maintain [the lead]."
Before the day's champions were announced at the awards ceremony on Boston
Common, Desisa gifted his championship medal from April's Boston Marathon
to the City of Boston and Mayor Thomas M. Menino in a display of solidarity
and support to all who were affected by the attack that occurred in Boston
on April 15, 2013. Thousands of runners gave a standing ovation after
hearing the emotional speech delivered by Desisa.
On his gift to the City of Boston, Desisa commented, "I want people to
know, I feel the pain. The pain I have … will encourage me every time when
I run." Desisa will now turn his focus to the 2013 IAAF World Championships
Marathon in Moscow this summer.
While the men's race came down to the wire, the women's race was a
different story altogether. Mamitu Daska (ETH) took control early in the
race and established an insurmountable lead over 2012 B.A.A. Distance
Medley champion Kim Smith, 31, a New Zealand native who resides in
Providence, RI, and Kenya's Chemtai Rionotukei, 26, who recently won the
James Joyce Ramble 10K in Dedham, MA.
By the first mile marker, Daska had established a lead of more than 100
meters over Smith and Rionotukei. After reaching two miles in 9:53, she was
out of sight of her nearest competitors.
Discussing her race to reporters, Daska was business-like and clearly
pleased that her plan to lead today's race from the start worked in her
favor. "I'm glad I did it the way I did it, and that's what I wanted," she
said through a translator. "This is exactly what I was expecting to do
today."
Daska extended her lead to 35 seconds by the three mile mark. On she went,
passing four miles in 20:16 and going under the Massachusetts Avenue
overpass without a single challenger in sight. Through five miles in 25:27
and six miles in 30:41, she kept to the plan and ran toward the finish line
on Charles Street alone.
To the cheers of the crowd, Daska crossed the finish line in 31:45, a new
personal record. Her win today comes only two weeks after she won the New
York Mini 10K in 31:47, defeating 2009 IAAF World Champion at 10,000
meters, Kenya's Linet Masai, in the process.
After today's race, Masai credited her recent success and her personal
record today to her training. "[I] make sure I train hard," she said. "If I
train very well, and then if I'm healthy, I know I can improve my PR. If
you don't train, you don't get a PR. My plan is: make sure I work, I run,
and then dedicate myself, my time [to] the hard training."
She will continue her season on July 4 at the Peachtree Road Race in
Atlanta, GA. Behind Masai, Smith finished second in 33:34 and Kenya's
Millicent Kuria, 27, rounded out the top three in 33:52.
After her victory in the B.A.A. 5K on April 14 and today's runner-up
finish, Smith leads the 2013 B.A.A. Distance Medley by more than a minute,
with a cumulative time of 48:50.
Smith entered today's race hampered by a strained Achilles tendon and said
after crossing the finish line that she was simply glad to be able to
maintain her lead in the B.A.A. Distance Medley. She will now focus her
attention on rest, recovery, and the B.A.A. Half Marathon, a distance which
Smith considers to be her best.
"I've been injured for the last month, so the aim for today was to try and
keep as much of a lead in the Distance Medley as possible," she said. "But
I had to give myself a chance. It's $100,000. "[The injury] just needs some
time off, and I haven't given it that. I wanted to try as hard as I could
to get to this race."
In today's push rim wheelchair division, three men and one woman completed
today's race. Patrick Doak, of Carlisle, MA won in 25:11 over Gary Brendel,
of Sterling, MA, who finished in 25:36. Placing third was John Sloan, of
Acton, MA, in 40:52.
Taking the women's push rim wheelchair division was Carla Trodella, of
Danvers, MA, in a time of 59:36.
Joseph Ekuom, 43, of Kingston, NY won the masters division in 33:19 and
Kara Haas, 42, of Chelmsford, MA was the women's masters division champion
in 37:47.
The 13th B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
and the Jimmy Fund, will take place on Sunday, October 13 and will be the
third and final race in the 2013 B.A.A. Distance Medley. Registration opens
on Wednesday, July 17.
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