Norah Jeruto and Daniel Simiu secured a Kenyan double at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja — a World Athletics Label Road Race — held on Sunday (9) in the Spanish coastal city on a windy day, which somewhat hampered athletes’ performances.
Simiu clocked a PB of 26:58 to move to seventh on the world all-time list, while Jeruto ran 30:35 for a three-second victory ahead of Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal.
Jeruto had claimed podium places on her three previous appearances in Valencia but the 26-year-old had never been the victor.
The 2011 world U18 2000m steeplechase champion confirmed her role of hot favourite and dominated the race from the gun.
Paced by two male pacemakers, Mourad El Bannouri and Luis Agustin, the women’s event opened at a steady 3:03/3:04 pace, with a leading quintet featuring Jeruto, her fellow Kenyan Gladys Chepkurui, Ethiopian debutante Anchinalu Dessie Genaneh, Norway’s European cross country champion Grovdal and Sweden’s Meraf Bahta, the silver medallist at the European event in Dublin.
The first casualty was Bahta, who began to lose ground just before the fifth kilometre, which was reached in 15:18 to dash any hope of the world record being broken.
Despite that barrier of an annoying headwind Jeruto, clearly pulled away from the lead pack, always following the pacemaker. Way back, Chepkurui was a lonesome second ahead of Genaneh, herself clear of Grovdal.
Karoline Grovdal of Norway came home second in 30.38 with Gladys Chepkirui rounded off the podium positions in 30.48. Gladys Chesang was placed eighth in 32.24
Simiu dominated the men’s race clocking 26.58 as Ethiopia’s Debele Gudeta registered 27.10 to finish second as compatriot Jacob Krop took the third position in 27.23
In the absence of an official pacemaker, it was Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele Gudeta who took full command of the race, with only Simiu for company.
The leading duo went through the halfway point in a promising 13:30, perfectly on schedule for the targeted time. By then, Jacob Krop travelled in third place, five seconds off the leaders, but also five seconds clear of his fellow Kenyan Boniface Kibiwott, while Great Britain’s European U23 10,000m bronze medallist Emile Cairess was the first European thanks to a 13:51 split. At that point he was four seconds ahead of Switzerland’s European record-holder Julien Wanders.
During the sixth kilometre Simiu began to take a turn at the helm, and with some 20 minutes on the clock, the 26-year-old Kenyan opened a gap on Gudeta, which grew over the following kilometres
