A Hill Of A Good Day Kenya Runner Blisters Slopes For Easy Bloomsday Triumph

With Mount Machuka out of the way, Lazarus Nyakeraka pounded the hills and left the competition for the vulture, easily winning the 20th annual Lilac Bloomsday Run on a beautiful Sunday morning.

The 20-year-old Kenyan led wire-to-wire, breaking away on Tombstone Hill and burying the last hopefuls on Doomsday Hill, finishing the 12-kilometer course in 34 minutes, 7 seconds.

“Yesterday, when I went through the course, I saw three major hills,” Nyakeraka said. “I was thinking how can I run them. So, I think to run them very fast on the hills, because I am not good in the downhills.”

Nyakeraka, Ibrahim Kinuthia and Jimmy Muindi were running three abreast at the head of the pack, blasting through two miles well ahead of the pace the absent Josphat Machuka ran last year, when he set the course record at 33:52.

Nyakeraka, arms pumping and head down, surged on the short hill after crossing the bridge over the Spokane River just before the end of the second mile. That was the pattern he continued throughout the race, hammering the hills.

“I didn’t expect Lazarus, I expected Karori,” South African Johannes Mabitle, the fourth place finisher, said. “Lazarus was surging early. He surprised me.”

Midway through the third mile, when the runners reached the water station by the cemeteries, Nyakeraka opened a 5-meter lead. He pushed the pace up the hill, along Fort Wright Drive past Spokane Falls Community College and reached the base of Doomsday Hill ahead by about 20 meters.

“It was tough,” Nyakeraka said. “I was looking down so I was blind to the hill. I felt strong. I know there were no other hills, so I can (finish strong.)”

Minutes later, as Nyakeraka crested the hill and passed the vulture mascot, the lead was close to 60 meters and the race was over. He blistered the flat seventh mile in 4:27, his second fastest of the day, and finished the 7.46-mile course with a powerful sprint.

Still, Nyakeraka continually looked back, explaining that he was worried because the runners behind him were running so well. But when they surged, he surged, and he wasn’t threatened after three miles.

That made Nyakeraka the first winner on the Professional Road Running Organization circuit. With Bloomsday serving as the PRRO championship race, the overall purse was doubled to $50,000 for both men and women. The winners earned $25,000 compared to $7,000 in years past. There were 16 qualifying races and the top 25 in the point standings, led by Nyakeraka, were eligible for the championship, although only 12 competed here.

In a spirited battle for second place between two more Kenyans, Kinuthia, 32, edged Muindi, 23, by 1 second. Kinuthia earned $10,000 for running 34:32; Muindi won $5,000.

“He’s much stronger and he’s been running a lot,” Kinuthia said. “This was my first race. I did great. I feel great. I just think Nyakeraka was more strong. I run my personal best for 12K. It was a good race for me.”

Muindi said, “The lead group was trying to run away from me, but every time I tried to catch him, he got away. That’s the way he does. I lost my legs.”

Mabitle, 28, broke up the Kenyan string to finish fourth in 34:54. Hot on his heels, 2 and 4 seconds back, were Kenyans Herzon Otwori, 19, and Gideon Mutisya, 29. Simon Karori, 36, was last among the Kenyans, seventh overall, in 35:35.

“The race was very good,” Mabitle said. “I thought I could relax on the back (of the pack), but at three miles, I got cramps in my stomach. When I recovered, the race was over.”

The last word on Machuka, the only back-to-back winner of the race, was that his visa was issued on Friday. No one knew if he was able to make connections out of Nairobi or if he even picked up the visa.

Nyakeraka plans to focus on making the Kenyan Olympic team at 10,000 meters, but he will run several more races before the trials at the end of this month.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 5 Color Photos; Graphic: How Bloomsday was won