Kiptoo wins again

Ten miles came down to a footstep.

On Monday, braving frigid, energy-sapping winds, Kenyan Gilbert Kiptoo nipped long-time friend Paul Kimayyo, his foot crossing the finish line a hundredth of a second faster to capture his fourth straight Firefighters Ten Mile Road Race in 51:39.

It was a photo finish, the closest in race history.

Kiptoo, who has won the event handily every year since 2010, said close competition isn’t something he’s used to in Thunder Bay.
“I was not expecting that,” Kiptoo said. “We were coming to the finish and it was a tight race this time, not like the other years.

“This time I knew it was going to be a very tough race because I knew (Paul) was good. So I had to wait until the last part of the race to win,” Kiptoo said.

Conditions were demanding, with rain threatening and actually falling on the final finishers as they crossed the rain.

A strong head wind slowed times in the first half of the course, but provided a push on the latter portion of the race.
Kimayyo said it wasn’t an easy race to run.

“The wind was very hard. That is why we held it together to resist the wind. It was very bad for us. The weather was not good at all.”
On the women’s side, it was a first-time entrant who took top spot.

Ellsworth, Wisc.’s Morgan Place crossed the line in 1:00:57, 52 seconds better than Duluth’s Katie McGee.

“I felt really good today,” the 23-year-old said. “The wind going out today was a little strong, but on the way back it was at your back, so it was easy to cruise on back.”

Place said she broke away at the five-mile mark and never looked back.

Hours before the race began, officials weren’t sure if it was even going to take place, thanks to lightning in the sky and a torrential downpour that soaked the city, leaving it in flood warning status.

Race director Roger Quirion said it was touch-and-go.

“This year, we didn’t think we’d have to have water out there on the course. We figured everybody would get it through osmosis. At 5:30 this morning, I didn’t know if we were going to run the race,” he said.

“But as always, things cleared up and we had a fantastic start. We got a little bit wet in the middle, but it was a fantastic race.”

Lakehead’s Dominique Aulagnon was the top local finisher, with a time of 53:40. Former winner Nicki Wilberforce was the fastest local woman, running the course in 1:02:52.