Kenyans show they can make fleet finish

That's the beauty of liberty in this country -- give foreigners an inch and they'll take a mile.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- With the attentive crowd looking upward to the flags atop four central downtown buildings during the Star-Spangled Banner, the start of the 27th Peace Race's two-mile run was just minutes away.
Following 13-year-old Lakeith Johnson's rendition of the anthem, the runners were off.
Recordings of "America The Beautiful" and "Born in the USA" blared from a DJ's loudspeakers under a tent near a parking lot at the corner of Wick Ave. and Commerce Street.
Forty-five minutes later, the starting gun for the Peace Race's 10-kilometer run was heard at another location 6.2 miles away on the South Side. When the first finishers crossed the 10k finish line, the top three were Kenyans.
Go figure.
But that's the beauty of liberty in this country -- give foreigners an inch and they'll take a mile.
Top time: Winner Moses Macharia covered the 10k distance in 28:33 with fellow countryman Gilbert Koech next in 28:57.
Leading up to the finish line on Commerce near Wick, Macharia increased his lead to about 80 meters.
"Everything is good, but the wind was too much for me," the 26-year-old Macharia said following the race on a partly sunny morning that followed an overnight rain.
"Today, I wanted to do something good," Macharia said of consolation for not being the best in the Great Race in Pittsburgh just seven days earlier.
Koech won the Great Race in 27:30 while Macharia placed fourth in 27:47. In Pittsburgh in much warmer weather, Koech started his push at 9 kilometers, Macharia said.
"That is part of the game," Koech said of his second-fiddle finish in the trade-off.
Performance affected: The 21-year-old Koech said that Sunday's chilly air, wind and dampness affected his performance slightly.
"My breathing was a problem," he said. "I'm allergic to the cold."
Koech also said that wet pavement in shaded areas along the route in Mill Creek Park made for some slippery footing.
"The course was nice, but my shoes were not gripping. I felt like I was sliding a bit."
Other winners: Macharia won $1,000 and Koech $500. Eliud Barntguni was third in 29:04. Barntguni, now living in North Carolina, was a silver medalist in the steeplechase for Kenya in the 1992 Olympics. He collected $250.
The top non-international overall was Jim Jurcevich of Defiance. The Ohioan placed fourth in 29:08.
Julius Gwako, another Kenyan training in Hamilton, Canada with Macharia, Koech and women's winner Jackline Torori, was fifth in 29:14.
Nick Cordes of Ashland was sixth in 30 minutes flat followed by Matt Folk, an assistant track and cross country coach at YSU, in 30:13.
The 10K field's leaders made their first turn from Indianola, left onto Glenwood Ave. before passing an Ohio Edison crew working on power lines at the corner of Glenwood and Neoka.
The lead pack of 10 made a right turn on Neoka about 90 seconds before reaching the first mile mark. They covered the first mile in 4:48.
Jurcevich was even with Koech, just ahead of Barntguni, Gwako and Macharia. Behind the fivesome was Folk, by himself, but ahead of another group of four more runners.
The leaders reached two miles at 9:16.
With Barntguni dropping off a bit, Koech and Macharia were a few strides ahead of Jurcevich and Gwako. Going uphill toward the Old Furnace Road intersection, it became a two-man race.
With Koech and Macharia 15 meters ahead of the rest, they reached the third mile in 13:57 and passed the 5K marker in 14:24.
Took lead: Then Macharia, in yellow and black apparel, took the lead with the blue-clad Koech slipping behind by a full stride.
At four miles, Macharia's time was 18:22. Following Koech was Barntguni, with Jurcevich and Gwako forming a loose threesome.
Turning left by the Glacier Lake boat docks, Macharia looked smooth as he had a three-stride advantage on the slightly laboring Koech.
Below the Rose Garden, Macharia gained a 10-meter lead and increased it to 15 or 20 under the Mahoning Ave. bridge.
Running up Tod Street toward West Ave., the spread went to 35 meters with Macharia reaching five miles in 23:04.
Turning left onto Mahoning, Macharia, color-coordinated with the road's double yellow median stripes, pulled away by 50 meters.
After making a right onto Hogue, lefts onto Marshall and Oak Hill and another left again back to Mahoning to satisfy the detour yardage, Macharia bolted up the Marshall Street Bridge with an 80-meter lead. He passed the Voinovich State Building and sprinted to the finish line.
Comes in handy: The $1,000 prize will go to help his retail business back home -- the Heni General Shop.
Macharia said he did not run at all last year because he wanted to rest an injured knee.
His next race will be a 5K in New York next week.
Chomping on an apple at the Peace Race headquarters at the downtown YMCA, Macharia said that his diet includes ugali, a type of corn meal cooked with meat and kale in a stew. It's good for carbohydrates, he said.
bassetti@vindy.com