About halfway through the 32nd Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile run, a polyglot of nationalities vied for the men's title. By the end, Nelson Kiplagat broke away--just barely--to win in 48 minutes 12 seconds, and Isabella Ochichi ran 52:07 (photo left) to supplant Olga Romanova as the women's champion on a blustery morning more suited to hot chocolate and coffee indoors than Gatorade and racing in the unforgiving elements.

Of course, runners from Kenya--three strong--forced the ever- quickening pace after a somewhat sluggish opening five miles. Right in their wake ran three Japanese athletes, the first to race at the Cherry Blossom in a newly-established sister-race relationship with the Himeji 10 Miler in Japan. Matching those six were William Naranjo, from Columbia, who finished eighth at Cherry Blossom in 2003, and Mindy Pukstas, from Lithuania, who recently graduated from Oklahoma State University where he finished 11th in the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

The pack of eight set up one of the tightest mass finishes in Cherry Blossom race history.

By Mile 8, the Japanese runners began to fade from the lead pack, as did Pukstas, leaving Naranjo and the three Kenyans running in a wedge formation. The Columbian runner hung on gamely, but the Kenyans, led by Reuben Chebii and Nelson Kiplagat, continued to push, running a 4:42 mile in an effort to break away.

With less than 400 meters to go, and to close out a 4:25 final mile, Kiplagat took the lead from Sammy Ndereba. Closing in full flight, Kiplagat beat the brother of two-time Boston Marathon champion Catherine Ndereba by two seconds to win $5,500 and first place.

"I tried to use tactics at the end," Kiplagat said. "I had to be smart because the other runners were very strong."

Kiplagat, who arrived in Washington from Kenya less than 10 hours before the 8 a.m. race start, showed a surfeit of mental and physical toughness himself and extended the Kenyans' run of men's champions to 12 in 13 years.

Pre-race attention in the women's race focused on three major stars: Ichichi, Romanova and Catherine Ndereba, who is prepping for the Boston Marathon on April 15.

Despite the unfavorable conditions, Ichichi set a quick early pace and trailed the men by only 20 seconds after two miles. Shortly thereafter, Ichichi, who set a world best at 5K the week prior in Carlsbad, Calif., opened up a substantial lead over Ndereba.

Romanova never ran with the leaders and finished fifth, behind two fellow Russians, in 53:45, just two seconds slower than her winning effort in 2003.

"Olga ran very well," said her agent, Konstantin Selinevich. "She just isn't quite ready to run with those other girls."

A record field of more than 8,000 completed the race.

Award Winners

MALES (OVERALL):
    1 Nelson Kiplagat             KEN                  48:12 5500 
    2 Samuel Ndereba          25  KEN                  48:14 2750 
    3 Reuben Chebii            0  KEN                  48:17 1500 
    4 William Naranjo         25  COL                  48:18 1250 
    5 Masato Ando              0  JAP                  48:36 1000 
    6 Tsuyoshi Nakano          0  JAP                  48:49  800 
    7 Kazuo Ictani             0  JAP                  49:15  650 
    8 Mindaugas Pukstas       25  LIT                  49:21  500 
    9 Peter Tanui             29  KEN                  49:33  400 
   10 Wilson Komen            27  KEN                  49:42  300 
   11 Joseph Kamau             0  KEN                  50:02  250 
   12 Alex Hutchinson          0  CAN                  50:38  200 
   13 Joseph Mbithi            0  KEN                  50:56      
   14 Jonah Rono              32  KEN                  51:12      
   15 Mah Wagoner                                      51:15      
   16 Michael Musili          28  KEN                  51:52      
   17 Stuart Moran            27 Lexington KY          51:54      
   18 Jason Bodnar            34 Ft Lauderdale FL      51:57      
   19 Retta Feyissa              Eth                   51:59      
   20 Erik Kean               26 Arlington VA          52:56      
   21 Glen Mays               33 Washington DC         52:58      
   22 Eric Lavigne            27 Reston VA             53:07      
   23 Kevin Kimbell           29 San Antonio TX        53:18      
   24 Frank Sprtel            31 Takoma Park MD        53:19      
   25 Kevin Taylor                                     53:36      
FEMALES (OVERALL):
    1 Isabella Ochichi        24  KEN                  52:07 5500 
    2 Catherine Ndereba       31  KEN                  53:00 2750 
    3 Victoria Klimina         0  RUS                  53:08 1500 
    4 Tatyana Petrova          0  RUS                  53:31 1250 
    5 Olga Romanova            0  RUS                  53:45 1000 
    6 Lioudmila Kortchaguina  32  RUS                  54:25  800 
    7 Naomi Wangui             0  KEN                  55:04  650 
    8 Aurica Buia              0  ROM                  55:33  500 
    9 Tatiana Titova          38  RUS                  56:41  400 
   10 Renata Paradowska       33  POL                  56:46  300 
   11 Atalelech Ketema         0  ETH                  57:15  250 
   12 Naoko Ishibe             0 Silver Spring MD      57:47  200 
   13 Debbie Kilpatrick-Morri 40 Strongsville OH       58:12      
   14 Anna Pichrtova          30  CZE                  58:39      
   15 Emily Richard           27 Washington DC         58:57      
   16 Caryn Heffernan         30 Felmington NJ         59:15      
   17 Sharon Lemberger        30 Washington DC         59:31      
   18 Casey Smith             24 Arlington VA        1:00:01      
   19 Lisa Thomas             28 Alexandria VA       1:00:40      
   20 Jenna Richardson        24 China ME            1:01:07      
   21 Tonya Dodge              0                     1:01:13      
   22 Lee Dipietro            45 Ruxton MD           1:01:15      
   23 Ann Reed                30 Columbia MD         1:01:46      
   24 Susannah Motl            0                     1:02:43      
   25 Hilary Cairns           33 Washington DC       1:02:51      

MALE (LOCAL ATHLETE)
    1 Erik Kean               26 Arlington VA          52:56 
FEMALE (LOCAL ATHLETE)
    1 Emily Richard           27 Washington DC         58:57 
MALES (AGES 01 - 19):
    1 Mitchell Graw           16 Raleigh NC            57:24 
    2 Patrick Reaves          19 College Park MD       58:32 
    3 Samy Muaddi             19 College Park MD     1:00:38 
FEMALES (AGES 01 - 19):
    1 Carly Hudson            13 Fairfax VA          1:09:21 
    2 Lucye Raffferty         19 Washington DC       1:11:47 
    3 Jessica Reynolds        17 Stafford VA         1:12:47 
MALES (AGES 40 - 44):
    1 Graeme Ackland          41  SCO                  55:27 
    2 Andrew Klemas           40 Falls Church VA       57:10 
    3 Stephen Koch            43 Shillington PA        57:46 
    4 Ted Poulos              42 Mclean VA             58:14 
    5 Richard Brokaw          43 Bel Air MD            58:34 
FEMALES (AGES 40 - 44):
    1 Debbie Kilpatrick-Morri 40 Strongsville OH       58:12 
    2 Mary Carmichael         40 South Riding VA     1:04:16 
    3 Laura Freix             42 Centreville VA      1:04:59 
    4 Chris Reed              43 Chevy Chase MD      1:05:08 
    5 Miae Jacobs             44 Atkinson NH         1:05:19 
MALES (AGES 45 - 49):
    1 Mark Malander           46 Oak Hill VA           55:43 
    2 Keith McIntyre          45 Ellicott City MD      58:18 
    3 George Buckheit         46 Reston VA             59:25 
    4 William Kauffman        46 Wilmington DE         59:49 
    5 Steven Anderson         47 Arlington VA        1:00:04 
FEMALES (AGES 45 - 49):
    1 Lee Dipietro            45 Ruxton MD           1:01:15 
    2 Patti Shull             45 Ashburn VA          1:04:20 
    3 Shelley Ralston         48 Masontown PA        1:11:23 
    4 Sharon Marks            46 Parkersburg WV      1:11:47 
    5 Dorothy Beckett         46 Columbia MD         1:12:47 
MALES (AGES 50 - 54):
    1 Chuck Moeser            52 Sterling VA           57:00 
    2 Richard Morgan          52 Silver Spring MD    1:01:41 
    3 David Webster           51 Stevensville MD     1:02:29 
    4 Mick Slonaker           54 Columbia MD         1:02:52 
    5 Tim Morgan              53 Damascus MD         1:03:00 
FEMALES (AGES 50 - 54):
    1 Betty Blank             51 Falls Church VA     1:10:23 
    2 Sandra Adams            54 Winchester VA       1:11:25 
    3 Stephanie Shipp         50 Great Falls VA      1:14:29 
    4 Patricia Donohue        50 Alexandria VA       1:14:48 
    5 Karen Marchant          50 Springfield VA      1:17:38 
MALES (AGES 55 - 59):
    1 William Dixon           59 Brattleboro VT        58:44 
    2 Gordon Terwilliger      55 Franklin TN           59:13 
    3 Bill Rodgers            56 Boxborough MA       1:02:55 
    4 Patrick Griffith        59 Alexandria VA       1:04:00 
    5 David Downin            58 Sharpsburg MD       1:04:32 
FEMALES (AGES 55 - 59):
    1 Alice Franks            55 Rockville MD        1:15:16 
    2 Linda Kearney           57 Oak Hill VA         1:19:37 
    3 Esther Buchser          55 Abingdon MD         1:20:19 
    4 Jane Godfrey            55 Takoma Park MD      1:20:34 
    5 Christy St Clair        55 Glen Arm MD         1:21:59 
MALES (AGES 60 - 64):
    1 Jerry Warfield          60 Columbia MD         1:09:05 
    2 John Haubert            61 Alexandria VA       1:09:15 
    3 Lloyd Blackwell         63 Warrenton VA        1:09:46 
    4 Roger Kilgore           60 Great Mills MD      1:10:22 
    5 Malcolm O'hagan         64 Chevy Chase DC      1:10:28 
FEMALES (AGES 60 - 64):
    1 Priscila Prunella       60 Rockville MD        1:18:04 
    2 Dee Nelson              60 Gaithersburg MD     1:21:02 
    3 Kathy Lewis             62 Oakton VA           1:24:29 
    4 Miriam Lollar           62 Decatur GA          1:27:37 
    5 Cindy Clark             64 Hillsborough NJ     1:29:18 
MALES (AGES 65 - 69):
    1 Art Morey               66 Columbia MD         1:14:23 
    2 Antonio Panizza         65 Reston VA           1:14:39 
    3 Benito Vazquez          65 Laurel MD           1:17:27 
    4 Richard Williams        68 Alexandria VA       1:18:26 
    5 Ken Quincy              66 Vienna VA           1:18:39 
FEMALES (AGES 65 - 69):
    1 Imme Dyson              67 Princeton NJ        1:24:55 
    2 Helene Bedrock          69 Cliffside Park NJ   1:25:09 
    3 Tami Graf               67 Lusby MD            1:30:24 
    4 Una Marie Pierce        65 San Diego CA        1:36:21 
    5 Ann Vella               67 Pittsfield MA       1:40:24 
MALES (AGES 70 - 74):
    1 Tom Ray                 70 Kitty Hawk NC       1:18:02 
    2 George Yannakakis       72 Sparks MD           1:20:02 
    3 Lester Brown            70 Washington DC       1:23:51 
    4 Greg Kosmas             71 Baltimore MD        1:26:28 
    5 Robert Smith            70 Comus MD            1:28:16 
FEMALES (AGES 70 - 74):
    1 Anny Stockman           71 Rensselaer NY       1:31:08 
    2 Toshiko Delia           74 Ridgewood NJ        1:35:10 
    3 Jacqueline O'Neil       72 Washington DC       2:02:35 
    4 Rita Simon              72 Chevy Chase MD      2:04:43 
    5 Marjorie Lane           70 Reston VA           2:05:15 
MALES (AGES 75 - 79):
    1 Nianxiang Xie           76 Rockville MD        1:27:43 
    2 Paul Lackey             79 Arlington VA        1:36:23 
    3 Bill Morrison           77 Potomac MD          1:58:56 
FEMALES (AGES 75 - 79):
MALES (AGES 80 - 99):
    1 Lou Lodovico            80 Ellwood City PA     1:23:30 
FEMALES (AGES 80 - 99):
    1 Hedy Marque             86 Alexandria VA       2:12:58

See complete results of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile.

See our Photo Gallery. For more information, visit the race Web site.