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NEW YORK - (June 7, 2008) - In addition to the challenge of covering 26.2 miles on foot, the Olympic marathoners will face the additional obstacles of Beijing's heat, humidity and possible pollution. If that's the case, the 37th edition of the NYRR New York Mini 10K proved an excellent dress rehearsal as all three elements were in full swing as the U.S. women's marathon squad made a 6.2 mile tour of Manhattan's famed Central Park. At a pre-race press conference all three - Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, and Blake Russell all from California - downplayed their chances of winning the race, noting they were all in some stage of their mileage buildup for the August Olympic race. But for the first half of the race, it appeared that Kastor, at least, might have been engaging in a bit of sandbagging, taking the lead up Central Park West and towing the pack through opening splits of 5:09, 5:11 and 5:13 miles. "I was running a bit beyond my ability level, a little out of my head," Kastor admitted later, after finishing third. "I was definitely a bit too aggressive, but it was fun to be out there pushing the pace." The New York crowds had cheered loudly for the American male marathoners in November when the New York Road Runners hosted the men's Trials race, and now they were getting their chance to do the same for the women, and shouts of "Go Deena!" echoed along the course as Olympic bronze medalist Kastor, 35, continued to lead the trio of Mexican marathon record holder Madai Perez, Everlyne Lagat, sister of Osaka double world champion Bernard, and pre-race favorite Hilda Kibet, hitting the halfway point in 16:12. At that point, the start of the most significant uphill on the course, Lagat was dropped, and less than a mile later, Perez and Kibet opened a small gap on Kastor, who quickly lost contact with the pair. "I know when I'm fit, the weather conditions don't bother me, and they definitely bothered me today, so that tells me I've got some work to do before Beijing," said Team Running USA's Kastor. Perez, 28, did most of the pacesetting for the next two miles, and succeeded in dropping Lagat but not Kibet, who was coming off a quick 30:55 track 10,000 the week before. "I thought anything can happen, anyone can win until you cross the finish, so I was trying to win," Perez recounted. For her part, Kibet, 27, was all too happy to let others lead until she was ready to assert herself. "My legs felt a bit tight and heavy at the start," she said, attributing it possibly to her track effort a week earlier. "I figured I would just follow along and see what happens." What did happen was an almost imperceptible and yet decisive move with a little more than a half mile remaining. Kibet, a cousin of four-time race winner and fellow Dutch Olympian Lornah Kiplagat, pulled away from Perez to a comfortable six second win in 32 minutes, 43 seconds (worth $10,000), with Kastor holding third in 33:14, followed by Lewy Boulet 15 seconds back. "I was running in sixth place with about a mile to go, and could see some other runners in front of me," said Lewy Boulet. "I figured I was already feeling miserable, so it couldn't get much worse to run a little harder." Lagat rounded out the top five in 33:38, with Russell the final 2008 U.S. Olympian two seconds back. The race was a culmination of Running Week, NYRR's celebration of its founding on June 4, 1958 - 50 years ago. The first Mini, in 1972, attracted 78 entrants in the first all-women's race in the world; this year's race drew more than 5,000 entrants and 4,014 finishers. Lewy Boulet and Russell indicated that they will run the 10,000 at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, but only as part of their marathon training; Kastor said she won't race again before Beijing, and would normally not have run here except she couldn't resist being a part of such a historic occasion. And all of them, as well as Perez, who will run the marathon in Beijing, and Kibet, who will compete in the 10,000 at the Summer Games, got a small taste of the climatic conditions they'll face in China this August. 37th NYRR New York Mini 10K 1) Hilda Kibet (NED), 32:43, $10,000 Complete race results at: www.NYRR.org Latest articles in Top News
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