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Rose Kosgei Triumphs, American Serena Burla is Second, at New York Mini 10K
38th Running of Legendary Women's Race in New York's Central Park
From the New York Road Runners
June 8, 2009
New York, NY
Grete Waitz. Ingrid Kristiansen. Tegla Loroupe. Paula Radcliffe. Deena Kastor. Lornah Kiplagat. The list of past winners of the New York Mini 10K reads like a Who's Who of world-class female distance running. And that list now includes 2009 Mini champion Rose Kosgei.
The race's 38th running took place on a brilliantly sunny Sunday morning in Central Park on June 7. Rose Kosgei (27) of Kenya ran an aggressive first mile in 5:04, accompanied only by Ethiopia's Ashu Kasim. Kosgei continued to press, completing the hilly second mile in 5:02 and dropping Kasim before reaching halfway in 15:52. Though she slowed in the second half, Kosgei was never challenged and she cruised to the finish in 32:43-the exact same time run by 2008 Mini champion Hilda Kibet.
The unexpected second-place finisher, American Serena Burla (26) of Ellisville, MO led a chase pack that formed after Kosgei's breakaway and finished in 33:04. Ethiopia's Hirut Mandefro, (23) a resident of Silver Spring, MD, rounded out the podium in 33:13.
Rose Kosgei was clearly delighted with her win. "It was a bit of a surprise to me that no one stayed with me," she commented. "I respected the other athletes in the field. I had no problems in the race, and I thank the Lord for my result."
Kosgei, the 2009 Hervis Prague Half-Marathon champion, has been training in Albuquerque, NM under the guidance of her brother Abraham Kosgei; she returns to Kenya tomorrow to continue preparations for her summer racing season.
American Serena Burla ran a road personal best. The mother of a 5-month-old son, she was third at the 2008 USA Half-Marathon Championships and will run the 10,000m track race at the USA Outdoor Championships later this month in Eugene, OR.
"I was really excited," she said. "I wanted it. This sport is all about heart, and putting everything you have out there, and that's what I tried to do."
The race was to have included American marathon record-holder and three-time Olympian Deena Kastor (36) of Mammoth Lakes, CA, who was on site but elected not to race due to recurring inflammation in the same foot that she broke during the 2008 Olympic marathon in Beijing.
"I'm just being super-cautious at this time," said Deena Kastor. "I don't want to do anything stupid to jeopardize the rest of the year." On Monday, June 8, she travels to Canada to have her foot examined by a specialist. Kastor, the 2004 Mini champion, ran this year with New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg at seven-minute-per-mile pace.
The Mini's first running was in 1972 as the Crazylegs Mini Marathon, named for the then-fashionable miniskirt. The first race had 78 entrants; this year's Mini had nearly 6,000 registrants and 4297 finishers.