Posted: October 14, 2007

Athletics: Tadesse Successfully Defends World Road Running Title In Udine

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com By Bob Ramsak UDINE, Italy -- Kicking from a tight four man pack in the 57th minute, Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea successfully defended his title at the 2nd IAAF World Road Running Championships in Udine, Italy, today. Tadesse, also the reigning World Cross Country champion, covered the half marathon distance in 58:59, a championships record, comfortably holding off Kenyan Patrick Makau Musyoki’s (59:02) homestretch rally by three seconds. Evans Cheruiyot was third (59:05) and Ethiopian Deriba Merga, who along with Tadesse controlled much of the race’s tempo, was fourth (59:16). Taking advantage of the near ideal conditions and fast course, the race was fast from the outset, with the quartet passing the first 10 kilometers in 27:35 and 15km in 41:34, just six seconds of world record pace in the latter. In a deep finish, the first seven finishers dipped under 60 minutes, with an additional 10 stopping the clock in under 1:01:00. The morning’s blazing tempo was too much for World record holder Samuel Wanjiru. Running with a sore knee, the Kenyan was a distant eighth and 18 seconds behind at 10km, eventually crossing the line 51st, clocking 1:03:31. Note: Look for a complete report in tomorrow's RRW. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest