Strong to the finish

Last year, Gilbert Okari dominated the first two miles of the Bloomsday course, but all that earned him was a second-place finish.

He didn’t make his push until after Doomsday Hill this year, turning a two-man race into a 32-second blowout win over the final three miles in the 30th Bloomsday’s elite men’s race.

His time of 34 minutes, 14 seconds over the 12-kilometer distance (7.46 miles) also was the ninth-fastest in race history.

“I’m feeling very happy because last year I was second,” said the 27-year-old Kenyan, who took the $7,000 prize for first place. “My dreams have come true.”

Okari and 19-year-old Kenyan Charles Kiama broke away from an eight-man pack on Fort George Wright Drive between miles three and four.

Kiama led briefly down the hill approaching the T.J. Meenach Bridge, but Okari built a 1 1/2 -second lead on Doomsday Hill.

It appeared then that Kiama had expended too much energy staying with Okari up the hill, and Okari knew that if he got to the top of the hill first, he would win.

“That’s exactly what I did,” he said. “I was behind him going down the hill, then I got up front and kept my long stride.”

Okari led by two seconds at the five-mile marker, stretched that to 10 seconds in the next mile and by the time they made their way down Broadway, his advantage was better measured in blocks than seconds.

That represented a change in strategy from the 2005 race, when he set the two-mile record before being overtaken on Doomsday by John Korir, who did not run in Spokane this year.

“Last year, the crowd was very strong compared to today,” Okari said. “Then, I wasn’t in very good shape, so I was just testing if I could do it.”

From last year’s Bloomsday, Okari began to catch fire, winning the 12-kilometer Bay to Breakers in San Francisco and winning a month ago at the 10-mile Cherry Blossom in Washington, D.C.

If Okari wins the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on the Fourth of July, he will earn a $19,000 bonus awarded to anyone who wins the Cherry Blossom, Bloomsday and the Peachtree.

“He really is on top of his game; as far as road racing goes, he’s the man right now,” said Matt Downin, the top American finisher, who finished 10th in 35:52. “People look around to see what he’s doing and everyone keys off him. It’s a good spot for him. He’s a great runner and deserves all the success he has.”

All that success hasn’t been lost on Okari.

After the race, when asked if he thought he was making a statement as the best distance runner in the world, the confident Kenyan answered simply.

“I think so.”