It was a battle of attrition won by Duncan Kibet. After a pedestrian first mile (4:36) Kibet made a strong push to the lead. It wasn’t enough to open up the race, but it was enough to bring the field through the second mile in 4:29. From there, the race got faster and faster and faster. And with each pace change another athlete fell off the back, one by one until there were only seven remaining – Kibet, Nyariki, Yuda, Munyeki, Meb Keflezighi, Evans Cheryiout, and William Chebon. Just after the 3.5 mile mark, Chebon made the strongest move of the day and the race was on. Meb looked very strong, leading for most of the next mile, but didn’t have the strength over the final stages to cover Kibet and Cheryiout; he finished 4th in 27:57. Yuda faded to 5th at one point, but was able to close strong, finishing in 3rd place at 27:55. Up front it was Kibet and Cheryiout, who sprinted stride for stride over the final 100 meters. Kibet was able to pull away just a few strides from the line to win in 27:51 to Cheryiout’s 27:52. It was Kibet’s second win in as many weeks (he outkicked Nyariki at Bix last weekend), good for $10,000. It marked the second time in Beach to Beacon history that the top four athletes all ran under 28:00.
On the women’s side, Elva Dryer ran a conservative first half of the race, moving up well in the second half to finish 5th in 32:53. Luminita Talpos got her first major road win, outdistancing Natalyia Berkut 32:20 to 32:28.
Men’s Results
1. 27:51 Duncan Kibet KEN
2. 27:52 Evans Cheryiout KEN
3. 27:55 John Yuda TAN
4. 27:57 Meb Keflezighi USA
5. 28:13 William Chebon KEN
6. 28:18 Nicholas Kamakya KEN
7. 28:22 Mohammed Amyn MAR
8. 28:25 Tom Nyariki KEN
9. 28:32 Charles Munyeki KEN
10. 29:12 El Hassan Lashimmi FRA
Women’s Results
1. 32:20 Luminita Talpos ROM
2. 32:28 Natalyia Berkut UKR
3. 32:39 Jessica Ruthe NZL
4. 32:41 Yamir Wude ETH
5. 32:53 Elva Dryer USA
6. 32:56 Galina Aleksandrova RUS
7. 32:59 Diribe Alemu ETH
8. 33:01 Genet Getnah ETH
9. 33:14 Susan Chepkomei KEN
10. 33:16 Blake Russell USA
