KENENISA BEKELE BLITZED his to victory in the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park today.
Bekele will be favourite to claim gold in the London Olympics this year and currently hold the world record over both five and 10 thousand meters.
Today he ran the 10k in 27 minutes, 49 seconds beating the previous course record (28.35) set by Craig Mothram. The Ethiopian’s nearest challenger was Ayad Lambassem who, though well behind the victor, came close to beating Mothram’s record with a time of 28 minutes, 48 seconds.
Lambassen’s fellow Spaniard, José Manuel Martínez, claimed third place while Mark Keneally took the Irish 10k title by finishing seventh.
But nobody in the field could live with Bekele, 29. He ate up the first three kilometres in just over eight minutes and, with a clear lead, his effort was only curtailed slightly from then on in.
His next outing after today’s victory will be in May’s Diamond League meeting in Doha, where he will race over the shorter distance of 3,000 meters. His speed out of the blocks in the Phoenix park today will have served as a tester for that test.
