CAPE ELIZABETH – Last year was an aberration, or so Catherine Ndereba would have liked to believe. After dominating the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K for the first four years, Ndereba of Kenya bowed last year to newcomer Adriana Fernandez of Mexico in the race’s fifth year.
This year, Ndereba reclaimed what many people have considered hers all along – the championship trophy.
After sitting back for much of the race, Ndereba used a strong finishing kick and outlegged Luminita Talpos of Romania for a one-second victory in Saturday’s race, claiming her fifth title in six years in a time of 31:52.5.
“She was in the lead in a pack of about six for most of the way,” said Ndereba of Talpos. “We all just kept pace until about the fourth mile.”
At that mark, a sharp right turn, Ndereba made her move.
“She was ahead of me and I knew I needed to get ahead, so I passed her and had to sprint to the end,” said Ndereba.
With the world championships looming, Ndereba was happy to have her title back, but time was more of concern to the elite runner.
“It’s nice to have the title back for sure,” said Ndereba, “but what matters more to me is the time. It helps me to see how well I can run a 10K now.” In July, Ndereba won the Sapporo Half Marathon and placed second in the Chicago Marathon this spring. Ndereba has also won the Boston Marathon twice and is preparing for the world championships later this summer.
Talpos came into the race ranked No. 18 in the world (Ndereba is No. 7), but has gone winless this season.
Topping the list of American finishers in the women’s race Saturday was Jennifer Rhines of Pennsylvania. Rhines, regarded as America’s top distance runner, finished in fourth place with a time of 32:21.1, 16 seconds behind third-place finisher Constantina Tomescu-Dita.
Carmen Ayala-Troncoso of Texas was the first women’s master’s division racer across the line in a time of 35:11.5, good for 84th place overall and 14th among the women.
In the wheelchair division, April Coughlin of Syracuse, N.Y. took first with a time of 33:32.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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