Lornah Kiplagat Wins Fourth NYRR New York Mini 10K

She leads from the gun to defend her title in 32:10

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New York, Saturday, June 9—Lornah Kiplagat loves the NYRR New York Mini 10K—and for good reason. She claimed her third consecutive victory here today—and fourth overall—with a crushing wire-to-wire performance. Kiplagat previously won this race in 2006, 2005, and 2003, and was second in 2002 and 1997 and fifth in 1999. Only Grete Waitz and Tegla Loroupe, with five victories each, have more impressive histories at the Mini, which is the world's original women-only road race, founded by NYRR in 1972.

Kiplagat's winning strategy was simple: As she did in her previous victories here, she won by blasting away from the field in the first 100 meters and holding on for a commanding victory. Her first two miles, run in 4:59 and 4:57, dropped a field that included ING New York City Marathon 2006 and 2005 champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, 2004 World Cross Country champ Benita Johnson of Australia, 2007 Boston Marathon winner Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, and multiple New Zealand record-holder Kim Smith.

Though she slowed significantly over the second half of the hilly Central Park course, Kiplagat's winning time of 32:10 still put her well in front of runner-up Smith (32:18) and surprise third-place finisher Mara Yamauchi of Great Britain (32:21). Warm, humid conditions put Asmae Leghzaoui's 30:29 event-record time (2002) well out of reach.

"I wanted to run a fast time, but I realized at halfway that it wasn't going to be a good time today," said Kiplagat, 33, of the Netherlands, the reigning World Cross Country champion and arguably the best road racer in the world, with more than 70 career victories. Though she said she felt little pressure in the second half of the race, she couldn't help but pick it up in the final meters.

"What has always kept me coming back to this race year after year is the atmosphere," she said. "Coming into the finish, I realized that these people have been out there cheering so many years, and I wanted to run well for them." Kiplagat savored her victory, high-fiving spectators in the final meters of the race and holding up four fingers as she broke the tape.

Smith, 25, making her Mini debut, worked hard in the final miles to whittle away at Kiplagat's lead. Her reward was runner-up finish in a field that NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg called one of the best ever assembled here. Smith, who holds multiple New Zealand records, had shown excellent form a week earlier in another runner-up finish, a 15:15.22 5000 meters at the Reebok Grand Prix, also in New York.

"I'm not a very experienced road racer, so to finish second in this race, against this field, is encouraging for me," said Smith, who was also second in the 2006 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile.

Like Smith, Yamauchi, 33, was happy with her result, particularly because it demonstrated her ability to finish fast. "Last week I got pipped at the line at [the Freihofer's Run for Women 5K] and got fifth, and I was really mad," she reported. "After that I told myself I'd fight all the way to the finish this week. From miles three to five it felt quite hard, but I just tried to dig in and keep pushing."

Johnson—who had won the Freihofer's race—took fourth today, less than a second behind Yamauchi, and Prokopcuka was fifth in 32:36. The top-10 finishers represented nine different countries, highlighting the attraction of the Mini to top female runners from around the world. In all, 29 world-class professional runners toed the line today, leading a field of 5,000 women of all ages and abilities. The field and the performances are a testimony to the ascendancy of women's running, which Wittenberg says is at an all-time high.

"Thirty-five years ago, NYRR was ahead of the times when we started this race," said Wittenberg. The founders, she said, "knew they were making history, but had no idea [women's running] would end up where it is today."