Making it look easy

Prior to pre-race favorite Ridouane Harroufi’s decision to pull his name from the list of competitors in the 2009 Lilac Bloomsday Run, there was much talk about the Moroccan distance star ending Kenya’s 15-year run of having produced the champion of the 12-kilometer event.

As it turned out, Kenya’s dominance ended Sunday morning despite Harroufi’s absence, as 29-year-old Tanzanian John Yuda cruised over Bloomsday’s challenging 7.46-mile course in 34 minutes, 36 seconds to claim an easy win in the 33rd annual running of the event.

Yuda, who finished sixth in last year’s race in 34:39, led a lead pack of six runners away from the rest of the elite field at about the four-mile mark and then blew away his nearest competitor, Kenya’s Robert Letting, in the final mile to give himself a comfortable 9-second cushion at the finish line.

“It was a good race for me,” Yuda said after completing his third Bloomsday Run and picking up the winner’s check of $7,000. “Today is, for me, a happy day.”

Letting, the only other runner to offer any kind of challenge to Yuda, finished second in 34:45 and earned $4,500. Karim Elmabchour took third with a time of 34:54, followed by Kenya’s Gilbert Okari in 35:06.

Daniel Browne, from Chula Vista, Calif., came in fifth and pocketed both the $5,000 prize given to the top American finisher and the $1,800 awarded to the fifth overall finisher.

But the day belonged to Yuda, who got on Letting’s shoulder coming up Doomsday Hill when the two leaders opened up a 20-meter lead over the rest of the field, went to front a short time later and then pulled steadily away.

“The hill was very tough, again,” he said, “but I felt confident I could win. I have been training hard.”

The 24-year-old Letting, an 11th-place finisher (34:55) in his initial Bloomsday Run last spring, said he knew at the six-mile mark he would not be able to reel in Yuda.

“My leg is not good,” he explained. “I have a (left) hamstring that is bothering me. I was feeling bad by then, and it was difficult for me to finish the race.”

Former Bloomsday champion Okari, another Kenyan and one of the biggest question marks heading into Sunday’s race, also overcame a nagging hamstring problem en route to finishing fourth.

Okari, who finished 12th last year after winning the event in 2006, was making his first road race start of the season and seemed ready to challenge for the lead as he started up Doomsday Hill.

But his lack of conditioning became apparent when he faded out of contention in the final two miles.

“I was satisfied,” the 30-year-old said of his effort. “But I have problems running downhill, because my knees are bad.”

Yuda, whose winning time was 45 seconds slower than the record 33:51 turned in by last year’s winner, Micah Kogo – a no-show for this year’s event – said he plans to return next spring to defend his Bloomsday title.

“I like the race very much,” he said. “I hope to come back.”