Yesterday morning’s weather was not particularly conducive to taking in the blossoms along West and East Potomac parks. But that was not the primary reason Africans Ridouane Harroufi and Lineth Chepkurui were in town.
They had work to do.
Harroufi, a 26-year-old Moroccan who trains full time in Albuquerque, N.M., and Chepkurui, a 20-year-old from embattled Kenya, both fought back their competitors at the 36th Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run to win the men’s and women’s top prizes of $6,000, respectively, in their first appearances.
While the patient Harroufi, the first Moroccan champion in race history, relied on his striking kick in the final 75 meters to pull out a one-second margin of victory, Chepkurui distanced herself from a competitive women’s pack by Mile 7 and cruised home with apparent ease.
Harroufi finished in 46:14 in his first trip to the District, while Chepkurui crossed the finish line in front of the Washington Monument in a time of 54:21.
“I had the 10K speed to win,” Harroufi said. “I’m happy. It’s not a surprise for me to win. I’ve been training hard.”
On the other hand, Chepkurui was a surprise winner. Before the race and during the early stages yesterday, one of the favorites was 2007 world marathon champion and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba, who entered the Cherry Blossom as a tuneup for her pursuit of the Olympic marathon gold in Beijing in August.
Another consideration was Colleen De Reuck, the 2004 Olympic marathon trials champion at age 39, who established the then world best for the 10-mile distance (51:16) here 10 years ago.
From the start, De Reuck, who is seven days shy of turning 44, never was in contention. After a 12th-place effort in 57:17, she said she decided two weeks ago to pull out of the April 20 Olympic marathon trials in Boston.
“I haven’t announced it yet,” said De Reuck, declaring she ran a “solid” race yesterday, good for first American and first masters finish.
The four-time Olympian — three for South Africa and once for the United States — said her training was greatly impaired by a calf injury and a thyroid problem that not only slowed many of her training runs but cut short some long runs, forcing her to walk back home.
“I lost too much training,” said De Reuck, who gave birth to daughter Tara on July 4 last year. “But that’s running. Four years later, it’s a bummer. I came back slowly. I did everything right. I hurt my calf. … This is the first time that I had a big marathon I was gearing for that I didn’t get to run.”
Chepkurui took advantage of the lead pack, which was pared to seven by the course’s first of two hairpin turns at six miles. After running from Mile 2 to Mile 7 shoulder-to-shoulder with Romanian Lidia Simon, Chepkurui surged to a 20-meter lead just before the eight-mile mark.
The 35-year-old Ndereba, who was second in 2004 in 53:00, was fourth yesterday in 54:52.
Steven Crane of Silver Spring was the first American and first local finisher, placing just out of the money in 13th in 49:41.
Of the 12,423 who started the race, 12,334 finished, including D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in 1:05:32.
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