Neither rain nor wind nor gloom of early morning delayed Robert Letting or Jane Murage from the swift completion of the nTelos 8K road race.

Letting, a 24-year-old Kenyan, won yesterday’s men’s competition in 22:42. He finished 17 seconds, roughly a full city block, in front of his closest pursuer. Letting, who trains in Albuquerque, N.M., said he found the damp and unseasonably balmy conditions more than a bit unpleasant.

“I thought it was warm and I thought it was humid,” Letting said. “I was worried about the humidity, especially. I drank a lot of water” as the race unfolded.

Murage, on the other hand, seemed as comfortable as an alligator in a swamp. The 21-year-old Kenyan delivered a solidly efficient 25:48 and won the women’s race by 16 seconds. Murage, who seemed cool and crisp in the immediate aftermath of her race, said the conditions suited her perfectly.

“I like weather like this,” she said. “I like it very much.” She said she trains in similar conditions in Boyersford, Pa., and “felt strong, from the start to the end.”

The race began at 7 a.m. under leaden skies. Gusts of wind, occasionally laden with rain, flayed the course. So robust was the wind at the finish that oak leaves fell in billows from the trees lining Cary Street.

Discomfort notwithstanding, Letting established a formidable tempo and maintained it throughout. By the time he turned onto Cary and began his long descent toward the finish line, his victory was all but assured.

“I started well. I ran the pace I wanted to run,” said Letting, who won the venerable Cooper River Bridge 10K in Charleston, S.C., in April. He began to achieve significant separation yesterday around the two-mile mark. When he punched the accelerator, his pursuers were slow to respond.

Murage waited a bit longer. She began to push at the three-mile mark. This seemed more a pre-emptive strike than a tactic borne of necessity. Almost from the beginning, Murage found a bubble in the lead pack. She settled into it and ran a pace that suited her well.

“I wasn’t running with anyone else,” she said. “It was just me, by myself.”

Salome Kosgei, a 28-year-old Kenyan, came closest to intruding. Kosgei finished in 26:04.

Julius Kiptoo, a 31-year-old Kenyan who won the Ottawa, Ontario, 10K in April, finished second in the men’s 8K. Nicholas Kurgat of Kenya placed third in 23:06.

Kurgat, 29, likely started yesterday’s race with less than a full tank following an impulsive decision on the streets of Raleigh, N.C., two weeks ago. Kurgat signed up to run a half marathon in Raleigh but became confused near the end of his race, missed a turn and found himself on the full marathon course. He chose to stay. He not only finished the marathon, he won it—well, sort of—in 2:19:34. He was quickly disqualified for having improperly switched races.

Yesterday’s 8K winners collected $1,000 apiece.

- Republished from inRich.com

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