For the final mile most of
the 38th Peachtree Road Race, the men's open championship came down to
Abdi Abdirahman and Martin Irungu.
But the last 400 meters was
all Irungu, who sprinted away down 10th Street to Piedmont Park,
dashing a chance for an American to win the world's largest 10K for the
first time since 1991, when Ed Eyestone of Utah won with a time of
28:34. New York resident Khalid Kannouchi won in 1999, but did not
become a U.S. citizen until later that year.
Irungu, a 20-year-old from
Kenya, led from start to finish and clocked a time of 28:01. But he
couldn't completely shake Abdirahman, the top seed, who turned in a
time of 28:12.
Five other U.S. runners
finished in the top 15, including Californian Ryan Hall, the current
American half-marthon record-holder, who was fifth in 28:35. Ed Moran
of Virginia was ninth at 28:52.
The top Georgian was Girma Mecheso of Lawrenceville, who was 33rd
overall in 30:24. Mecheso, who ran track and cross country for Berkmar
High School in Gwinnett County, was the state Class AAAAA cross country
champion in 2006.
AJC
Joseph Kimani's time of 27:04 in 1996 is the fastest Peachtree ever won. That's about a 4:35-per-mile pace. [AJC]
10 kilometers = 10,936.13 yards
At the average speed at which Irungu won the Peachtree Road Race, he could run the Dumpster Dash in 30.74 seconds. The top Georgian could run it in 33.56 seconds at his 10K pace. (Obviously, they could do much better in a 200 yard sprint, even with the second half being uphill.)
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