Worldwide XC racing round-up
Benita Johnson - back on song for 2010
The 2010 world XC circuit was back on track last weekend, with racing in Seville, Rovereto, Cardiff, Eldoret and Victoria (Australia). Wins for Benita Johnson at the Aussie Nat champs, Linet Masai in Seville and Abere Chane in Italy, plus much more…
Ethiopian sweep at the Cross della Vallagarina
Ethiopia dominated the 33rd edition of the Cross della Vallagarina near Rovereto on Sunday (17) by taking the win in both the men’s race with Abere Chane and the women’s race with Asmeraworch Bekele.
Komon takes down Gebremariam, business as usual for Masai in Seville
Kenya’s Leonard Komon and Linet Masai captured victories in convincing fashion at the 28th ‘Cross Internacional de Itálica’ – the fifth leg of this season’s IAAF Cross Country Permit series – held Sunday on a nice afternoon of athletics. It was a perfect cross country session for Kenya as they took a clean sweep of medals at both categories, men and women despite the presence of Ethiopia’s reigning world champion Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam and – on the women’s side – 2008 European XC champion Hilda Kibet of The Netherlands. The Ethiopian ace had a below par performance and finished a distant sixth 49 seconds behind the winner.
Chemweno on course for jackpot as top stars go into ‘hiding’ – 7th AK Cross Country Series Meeting
Gladys Chemweno made it three out of seven as the seven-leg nationwide KCB/Athletics Kenya National Cross Country Series drew to a close in Eldoret on Saturday (16) with most of Kenya’s top runners making a tactical retreat from the action at the Eldoret Polytechnic course.
Gladys Chemweno (0234) on her way to winning the 7th AK XC meet
Willis, Birmingham to lead Australia in Bydgoszcz
As fist-pumps go, it was subdued. But even an almost-imperceptible gesture can sometimes speak volumes, and so it was when Benita Willis crossed the line to win the Australian women’s world cross country selection trial.
Dean and Vernon cruise to Cardiff wins
he race to the 2010 World Cross Country Championships started in style on Sunday 17th January with the Cardiff Cross Country, the third round of the McCain Cross Challenge. The fast, flat course in the Cardiff Castle grounds, on terrain that held surprisingly well after last week’s poor weather, helped some impressive performances in what turned out to be a great day of running, with an Inter-Area Match, Schools Invitational races and Primary School races also part of the programme.
Hatti Dean
