Masai, Cheruiyot, Ebuya lead in Spain and Portugal

Moses Masai raced in 28 minutes and one second and Vivian Cheruiyot 32:15 to clinch overwhelming victories at the 45th Sao Silvestre Vallecana in the Spanish capital Madrid on New Year’s Eve.

The IAAF Silver Label Road Race event was celebrated on a very windy and cold night. While the reigning World 10,000m bronze medallist relegated Spain’s European Cross Country champion Alemayehu Bezabeh to runner-up for the third time in a row, Cheruiyot’s closer rival was a surprising Nuria Fernandez of Spain, second in 32:59.

In Amadora, near Lisbon, Portugal, the men’s race at the Sao Silvestre da Amadora was very competitive and only after the eighth kilometre did Kenyan 500m standout Joseph Ebuya make his break.

Produced solo effort

Ebuya left behind compatriot Nicholas Korir and Portuguese Manuel Damiao to cross the finish line in 28:39, 10 seconds faster than his 2006 run but 12 seconds shy of the course record set by Moses Masai in 2007.

Korir and Damiao were second and third, respectively, 18 seconds ahead of Keneth Kiplimo, Urige Buta of Ethiopia and Eritrean Abrha Adhanon.

Portugal’s Dulce Felix, sixth at the European Cross Country Championships last month, produced a largely solo effort to cross the line in 32:29, 28 seconds quicker than in her triumph in Amadora last year. Another Portuguese, Sara Moreira was second and Kenyan Elizabeth Rumokol third.