Bekele turns on style to smash record

Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia yesterday smashed the course record when he cruised to victory in the SPAR Great Ireland Run in Dublin’s Phoenix Park yesterday.

Bekele, who won gold at 5000m and 10,000m in the Beijing Olympics, raced into an early lead and surged clear of his rivals to deliver an impressive performance of controlled front running to finish the 10km in 27 minutes 49 seconds — 46 seconds inside the record set by Australian runner Craig Mottram.

Ayad Lamdassem of Spain finished second in 28:48 and Daniele Meucci of Italy was third in 28:49. Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers) led the Irish challenge in seventh place (29:23), followed by Thomas Fitzpatrick, (Tallaght AC), in 10th, (30:09) and Barry Minnock, (Rathfarnam/WSAF), (30:32). The three Irish runners won medals in the national championships incorporated in the event.

Bekele admitted: “I am very happy with my performance here in Dublin and it is nice to come back again to compete in Ireland. The course was a little tough and hilly in places but I am very satisfied with my victory.”

It was a satisfying day too for Kenneally who has already achieved an Olympic A marathon qualifying standard for London.

He admitted: “This was a good result for me and it felt good to also win the national 10km road championship. It has been a bit frustrating over the past six weeks as I struggled with achilles tendon and a calf injury. I had to cancel some racing plans but I’m happy that the injuries are behind me. I expect to run in a 10,000m track race in Holland in May and am travelling to Alabama on Thursday to link up with my coach, Mark Carroll.”

Gemma Steel of Great Britain won a tough contest in the women’s race in 32:06 — four seconds clear of her GB team mate, Charlotte Purdue, 32:10 and Christelle Daunay of France who placed third in 32:27.

Linda Byrne, (DSD) was best of the Irish women — finishing sixth in 33:49 to win the national championship. Fiona Roche (Raheny Shamrock AC) was second in the national championship in 35:09 and Sarah McCormack ,(Clonliffe Harriers) won the bronze in 35:15.

This was another encouraging performance by Byrne who is hopeful of Olympic selection in the marathon — an event for which she has achieved the A qualifying standard. The national marathon champion is only recently back in full training following short break after her successful cross country season. Close to 10,000 took part in yesterday’s event in the Phoenix Park.