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Race Report: Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile

Posted April 2nd, 2007 at 2:02 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results

It had been eight years since Worku Bikila became the first and only Ethiopian to win the prestigious Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile. This year, that storied running nation returned to the race’s West Potomac Park victory stand, times two, taking both the men’s and women’s titles, with a world record tossed in for good measure.

For the second year in a row race director Phil Stewart gave the elite women a 10-minute head start, but perhaps they should have made Teyba Erkesso start with the main field, just to give the rest of the women a sporting chance. As it was, she left them in the dust from the opening mile and never looked back, obliterating her competition as well as the women’s-only 10 mile world record of 52:11 set here last year by Russia’s Lidya Grigoriyeva.

Erkesso’s time of 51:44 was 1:14 ahead of runner-up Tatyna Petrova; by the eight mile point her lead was so large that second place was barely discernible in the distance. The gap was almost as large between most of the following places, turning the women’s competition into more of a series of individual time trials rather than a head-to-head race. Kathy Butler, running the race as a final tuneup before the London Marathon, was third in 53:26.

Fortunately, the men’s competition was more typical, with a pack of four still together with three miles to go. In the group was Kenya’s kicker John Korir, hoping to join Bill Rodgers as the only four-time winner of the race. Althought Korir professed to have not done any speedwork coming into the race, his finishing sprint is legendary, having carried him to victory here in 2001, 2003, and 2005. Alas, Korir was unable to continue his streak of odd-year victories, falling off the pace in the final mile to finish third, which he termed “not so bad” for his first competition of the year. Korir, who last year eschewed his usual shorter road distances for a crack at the Boston Marathon, where he did not finish, harbors no plans for another try at the distance this year.

“The marathon, very hard,” he said. “Too much training, too much work.”

That left if to Tadese Tola, the 2006 IAAF World Road Racing champ and whose age is listed as 19 but appears far more mature, to pull away from Tanzania’s John Yuda in the final, long straightaway along the Potomac for a three-second victory. Tadesse was listed as a DNF at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but according to his manager, Hussein Makke, he actually finished the race (officials thought he had been lapped) and the matter is under review at the IAAF.

This marked the 35th running of the race, which began in 1973 as a pre-Boston tuneup for less than 200 runners. This year’s event recorded 10,707 finishers, up slightely from last year. To accommodate the numbers, a wave start was utiltized for the first time. Almost perfect running conditions, overcast with temperatures in the mid-50s(F) and the predicted rain holding off, greeted the runners, who covered the first miles through a canopy of the namesake Japanese cherry trees, whose blossoms were at the springtime peak.

Official Results:

MEN -
1. Tadese Tola 19 Ethiopia 46:01 $6000
2. John Yuda 27 46:04 3000
3. John Korir 32 Kenya 46:11 1500
4. Nicholas Kamakya 22 Kenya 46:12 1200
5. Samuel Ndereba 30 Kenya 46:46 1000
6. Teferin Bacha 21 Ethiopia 47:33 850
7. Demesse Tefera 24 Ethiopia 47:35 650
8. Takeshi Takahashi 23 Japan 47:38 500
9. Virefu Birhhnu 21 Ethiopia 48:38 400
10. Linus Maiyo 24 Kenya 48:42 350
11. Stephen Meinelt 23 Usa 48:45 300
12. Justin Young 27 Superior CO 49:04 250
13. Derese Deniboba 24 Ethiopia 49:38
14. Gurmessa Kumssa 27 Ethiopia 49:43
15. Genna Tufa 23 Ethiopia 49:50
16. Patrick MacAdie 23 Washington DC 49:51
17. Steven Crane 25 Alexandria VA 50:02
18. Edmund Burke 37 Burtonsville MD 50:16
19. Eric Lavigne 30 Leesburg VA 50:28
20. Dave Berdan 25 Parkville MD 50:30
21. Nick Gramsky 29 Vienna VA 50:42
22. John Kipchirchir Bito 27 Baltimore MD 51:13
23. Beruk Deberework 24 Washington DC 51:19
24. Nate Pennington 30 Fort Carson CO 51:29
25. Matthew Wagoner 29 New Cumberland PA 51:29
26. Daniel Kahn 28 Durham NC 51:34
27. Paul Thompson 41 New York NY 51:35
28. Retta Feyissa 32 Ethiopia 51:50
29. Kouji Kageyama 23 Japan 51:57
30. Brian Baillie 24 Washington DC 52:15

ELITE WOMEN (All-Women’s Race) -
1. Teyba Erkesso 24 Ethiopia 51:44 CR* $6000 + 750i
2. Tatyana Petrova 23 Russia 52:58 3000
3. Kathy Butler 33 United Kingdom 53:26 1500
4. Magdalene Makunzi 24 Kenya 53:45 1200
5. Lidia Simon 33 Romania 53:52 1000
6. Galina Alexandrova 31 Russia 54:07 850
7. Dorota Gruca 36 Poland NJ 54:27 650
8. Florence Jepkosgei 23 Kenya 54:56 500
9. Aziza Aliyu 21 Ethiopia 55:11 400
10. Lioudmila Kortchaguina 35 Canada 55:44 350
11. Alena Samokhvalova 26 Russia 56:40 300
12. Victoria Jackson 25 Tempe AZ 56:46 250
13. Julie Culley 25 Baltimore MD 57:18
14. Caroline Cretti 22 Boone NC 58:02
15. Susannah Kvasnicka 34 Great Falls VA 59:05
16. Heidi Wolfsberger 26 Moosic PA 59:29
17. Veena Reddy 28 Us 1:00:06
18. Zika Rea 31 Boone NC 1:00:24
19. Renee High 25 Suffolk VA 1:00:47
20. Diana Pool 26 Westminster MD 1:03:00
*Course record for all-women’s start; previous 52:11, Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS), 2006; also World-record for all women’s race; previous 52:11, Grigoryeva, 2006
i = Earned time bonus for sub-52:00

OPEN WOMEN (Mixed Gender Race) -
1. Kerry Meagher 23 Washington DC 58:14
2. Melissa Tanner 26 Bethesda MD 59:40
3. Rita Babihuga 31 Washington DC 1:00:31