Kenyans dominate: Geoffrey Mutai fells Mo Farah at New York Half Marathon

London

Geoffrey Mutai crosses the finish line to win the 2014 New York City Half Marathon yesterday

Two days before the New York City Half Marathon, Geoffrey Mutai talked about his strategy against Mo Farah, the Olympic double gold medalist from Britain who was returning to the race he won in 2011.

Mutai, who in November won the New York City Marathon for the second time, acknowledged Farah’s ability, but said he was more concerned with his own performance. “For me, it’s my own 13-mile race, and I focus on it from the beginning,” he said.

True to his word, Mutai ran with single-minded confidence as he sped to victory on Sunday, winning in 1:00.50. After a slow start through the hills of Central Park, Mutai started to push the pace a few miles into the race and never looked back.

Sally Kipyego crosses the finish line to win the women’s race. [photoS:AP]

Farah never threatened Mutai after he tripped and fell after the five-mile mark. Mutai, chased by fellow Kenyan Stephen Sambu, took advantage of Farah’s misfortune. They surged ahead, and when they turned south on the West Side Highway at the eight-mile mark, Mutai ran away from Sambu. The only question left was whether he would break the one hour mark.

Remarkably, Farah, who was expected to battle Mutai for the $20,000 in prize money, recovered. He caught Sambu with about a mile remaining to finish in 1:01.07.

LEFT IN A WHEELCHAIR

It wasn’t the one-two finish that the race organisers had hoped for, but Farah showed a lot of grit in claiming second place.

He left the race in a wheelchair, though it was unclear whether he was injured when he fell.

The two runners are due to meet again in the London Marathon next month.

More tension

The women’s race had more tension, with a pack of five runners hanging together for about half the race. But like Mutai, Sally Kipyego, a Kenyan who lives in Eugene, Ore., ran away from the field on the West Side Highway and finished alone in 1:08.30, a record for the event. It was her debut at the distance.

Buzunesh Deba, an Ethiopian who lives in the Bronx, and Molly Huddle, from Rhode Island, finished second and third, about 30 seconds behind.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Mo Farah says he is “feeling good” despite collapsing when he finished the New York half-marathon.

The double Olympic champion, who finished second to Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai, said: “I just tried so hard in the race. It’s not a big deal”.

Farah, who claimed the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the 2012 Olympics in London, had said he was targeting his own British half-marathon record of one hour 59 seconds set in New Orleans in 2013, but was accidentally tripped from behind and tumbled early on.

That allowed Mutai and his compatriot Stephen Sambu to break clear, and although Farah overtook Sambu with metres to spare, the 30-year-old could not catch Mutai, finishing 18 seconds behind the winner in a time of 61 minutes and eight seconds.

In 2009, Farah collapsed after finishing second at the European Cross-Country Championships in Fingal, Ireland.                                                                                                —IAAF