RESURGENT CHEPKURUI

By IAAF

After failing to qualify for the African Senior Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Linet Chepkurui shattered the women’s course during the 13th edition of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race on Saturday in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, in the US.

Chepkurui (30:59) confirmed her reputation as this season’s most dominant road racer by clipping 26 seconds off the course record and becoming the first woman to run a sub-31 minute 10K on Maine soil.

Wude Ayalew (23), of Ethiopia also broke the previous course record (31:07), but it was not enough on this day against 22-year-old Chepkurui. Compatriot Edna Kiplagat, 30, took third (31:33) ahead of defending champ Irene Lemika (30) in fourth (33:06).

Kiplagat, Ayalew and Chepkurui set a blistering pace early on, nearly staying with the leading pack of men for the first mile and distancing themselves from the other women.

OFF THE PACE

By the time they reached Fort Williams and the climb to the finish at the Portland Headlight, Kiplagat had fallen off the pace, leaving Chepkurui to fend off a challenge by Ayalew.

Legendary marathoner and two-time Olympic silver medallist and a five-time event champion who is also former course record holder, Catherine Ndereba, 38, placed sixth (33:34).

In the men’s race, Ethiopian Gebregziabher Gebremariam (27:40 traded places for much of the race with the Kenyan contingent made of runner-up Alan Kiprono (27:42), Wilson Chebet (27:45), and Stephen Kipkosgei-Kibet (27:51) before relying on his well-known sprinter’s kick at the finish. Two-time defending champ Ed Muge, 27, ran a 28:08, a nearly identical time as 2009, but it was only good enough for fifth this year.

IAAF IN THE RED

Elsewhere, world governing body IAAF is still $9m (Sh720m) in the red despite budgetary cuts, SuperSport website reported. IAAF President Lamine Diack said the governing body had moved to cut expenses after a meeting in Doha in March, when treasurer, Jean Poczubut, had presented a bleak view of its finances.

"We are far from being in a difficult economic situation," Diack told SuperSport.com on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day Council Meeting in Ukraine’s capital Kiev. "We have faced some difficulties, but we are in a good condition to overcome all of them."

The budget deficit for 2010, which had earlier been forecast at $16m (Sh1.28b), is now around $9m (Sh720m) after the cuts and a deal sealed in June with electronics giant Samsung to sponsor the Diamond League athletics meetings.

That deal is said to be worth around $3m (Sh240m) per year for the next two years, with the option of extending for a third year. The association has also benefited from the weakening of the euro against the US dollar, which has allowed it to save around $1m (Sh80m) in administrative costs.