EDINBURGH, May 4 – Kenya distance runner Micah Kogo won the 10 kilometre road race here on Sunday with a typical front-running display.Five weeks after breaking Haile Gebrselassie’s world record for the event, Kogo was challenged midway through in the Scottish capital by fellow Kenyan and last year’s winner Bernard Kipyego.
But after the seven kilometre mark Kogo, the Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist in Beijing, broke clear in a burst which saw him finish 14 seconds clear of Kipyego in a winning time of 28 minutes 13 seconds.
Spain’s Chema Martinez was third in 29min 33 sec.
Kogo said: "I was always worried about Bernard and even when I got clear, I could hear him coming back at me.
"But at five kilometres I felt he was struggling so I put in a burst. He stayed close for a while but I finally broke him.
"It wasn’t easy. Apart from the hills it was very, very windy. I hope to return and defend my title next year."
In the women’s race, Deena Kastor of the United States won unchallenged in a time of 32min 38 sec after taking charge of the race at the 2km mark in what was her comeback to international competition.
The 36-year-old who saw her dreams of an Olympic marathon medal ended last year in Beijing when she broke her foot three miles into that race, looked to be getting back to her best form.
She looked at home on the hilly course, which is similar to the conditions she is used to back in California, and the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medallist finished 36 seconds ahead of Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka.
Kenya’s Sally Barsosio, a former world 10,000 metres champion, was third in 33min 34sec.
"That was a really tough course, the terrain was more like that you get in a cross country rather than a road race," said Kastor. "Fortunately it is what I’m used to back home and I always run strongly on hills."
She added: "The competition was more of a threat to me than the terrain.
"My foot felt great in practices because I was so conservative before making my comeback, so I wasn’t expecting any problems.
"The only thing I was questioning before coming here was being mentally tough because I’d been away so many months."