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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

Makau Wins, But Ritzenhein’s Record Still Stands

Posted May 17th, 2008 at 12:09 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Given that it was his first trip to the United States, Patrick Makau wanted to make sure it was a memorable one. So, on a glorious spring morning in Central Park here, the silver medalist from last year’s IAAF World Road Running Championships bolted from the start of the 4th annual Healthy Kidney 10-K to attack Dathan Ritzenhein’s one year-old course record. A $20,000 bonus awaited him at the finish line if he could break 28:08, a very solid mark considering the difficulty of the course.

“The course record is not so hard,” Makau said at the pre-race press conference last Thursday.

The 23 year-old Kenyan from Ngong rocketed through the first mile –which is uphill– in 4:23, instantly opening up a big gap on the field. Makau didn’t let up, running the second mile in 4:24 and the third (which includes a significant climb in the north end of the park) in 4:31. By the time he hit the 5-K in 13:51 he was 23 seconds up on Ritzenhein’s record.
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