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Gelete Burika Bati #73 of Ethiopia leads the pack on her way towinning the Women's Short RaceHe lost little time, but such is thepace of the 4km event that itdropped him to a 12th-placefinish.Australia’s Craig Mottram ledthrough the halfway mark in 5:26,but the leaders still formed onehuge scrum. Isaac Songoklaunched his challenge alongsidecolleagues Benjamin Limo andAugustine Choge. Bekele tuckedin behind them, and never lookedlike he would be shaken loose.Approaching the hilly switchbackwith about 600m to run, Bekelemoved smoothly ahead. Songokchased hard but never looked likehe would be able to close the gap.The fast-finishing Moroccan AdilKaouch came through to take thebronze medal.20067 OCTOBERIAAF World RoadRunningChampionshipsDebrecen, Hungary200724 MARCHIAAF World Cross-CountryChampionshipsMombasa, Kenya24 AUG-2 SEPTIAAF WorldChampionships inAthleticsOsaka, Japan7 OCTOBERIAAF World RoadRunningChampionshipsUdine, ItalyKenyan tactics did not depriveBekele of his win but they saw offthe rest of the Ethiopianopposition. All four Kenyanscorers finished within the firsteight for an easy team victory.Women’s longcourseLornah Kiplagat, standing alonein the Netherlands’ start gate,took charge of the race after theopening few minutes. PascalinaBomba of Tanzania led out, butthereafter Kiplagat seized hold ofthe race with utmost convictionand determination until theclosing stages - when TiruneshDibaba swept past her in thefinishing straight.All credit goes to Kiplagat formaking the race. Against dauntingodds she tried to win it the hardway, by running the legs off theyoung champion who packs sucha powerful finish.After five minutes of runningKiplagat headed a group of 11runners, including six Ethiopians,three Kenyans, and Australia’s2004 champion Benita Johnson.After another couple of minutesKiplagat had reduced the group toeight, and was stringing them outinto single file. Four minutes later,there were only six, who passedthrough 4km in 12:28, 10 secondsahead of the field.The third lap got rid of MestawetTufa, so that five passed through6km in 18:58. Only a minute laterthe medal winners drew clear,with Kiplagat taking a small butnoticeable lead over Dibaba andMeselech Melkamu graduallydropping behind these two.Dibaba never looked troubled,although at one point she hadKenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia leadsthe pack in the Men's Long Raceconceded three seconds. Kiplagatlooked most determined goinginto the final kilometre, althoughshe could not resist repeatedlyglancing back at her pursuer.Dibaba closed the gap on theswitchback, and came off italongside the longtime leader.She kicked for home as if Springwas in her legs, and ended upwith a highly flattering five-secondmargin of victory, as Kiplagatfinally conceded the win.Junior men’s raceThe wind had got up to near galeforceby the second day’s races,and it showed in the Junior men’srace. The field expanded andcompressed like a concertinadepending on whether runnerswere going into the wind or had itat their backs, but it held togetherthrough the first two laps, coveredin 5:54 and 6:12 respectively.The Kenyan team, who had wonthis race on the previous sevenoccasions, then upped the pacewith a 5:55 third lap. Only 11runners could maintain thetempo, and they dwindled to eightby half way around the final lap,with two of them beginning tolose touch.Leonard Komon and JosephEbuya made most of the frontrunning, but Komon momentarilylost his place as Mangata Ndiwaedged forward. At this pointKenenisa Bekele’s youngerbrother, Tariku tried to break theKenyan grip on the race. Hespurted into the lead up the finalhill, but he had moved too soon.Ebuya chased him hardest, butKomon and Ndiwa measured theirfinish more expertly and camethrough strongly in the finishstraight. “We knew you can’t kickRESULTJunior Women’s Race (6km)INDIVIDUAL1 Pauline KORIKWIANG KEN 19:272 Veronica WANJIRU KEN 19:273 Mercy KOSGEI KEN 19:454 Emmy CHEPKIRUI KEN 19:525 Zemedkun GEBRE ETH 19:56TEAMS:1 Kenya 10 pts2 Ethiopia 29 pts3 Japan 58 pts4 Eritrea 83 pts5 Great Britain 116 ptsMen’s Short Race (4km)INDIVIDUAL1 Kenenisa BEKELE ETH 10:542 Isaac SONGOK KEN 10:553 Adil KAOUCH MAR 10:574 Benjamin LIMO KEN 11:005 Mohamed Ali ABOOSH ETH 11:01TEAMS:1 Kenya 21 pts2 Ethiopia 48 pts3 Morocco 53 pts4 Qatar 66 pts5 United States 80 ptsWomen’s Long Race (8km)INDIVIDUAL1 Tirunesh DIBABA ETH 25:212 Lornah KIPLAGAT NED 25:263 Meselech MELKAMU ETH 25:384 Benita JOHNSON AUS 25:435 Ayalew YIMER ETH 25:47TEAMS:1 Ethiopia 16 pts2 Kenya 39 pts3 Japan 80 pts4 Australia 87 pts5 United States 91 ptsJunior Men’s Race (8km)INDIVIDUAL1 Mangata NDIWA KEN 23:532 Leonard KOMON KEN 23:543 Tariku BEKELE ETH 23:564 Joseph EBUYA KEN 23:595 Ibrahim GASHU ETH 24:04TEAMS:1 Kenya 16 pts2 Ethiopia 24 pts3 Eritrea 45 pts4 Uganda 87 pts5 Bahrain 88 ptsWomen’s Short Race (4km)INDIVIDUAL1 Gelete BURIKA ETH 12:512 PriscahJEPLETING KEN 12:533 Meselech MELKAMU ETH 12:544 Benita JOHNSON AUS 12:555 Lornah KIPLAGAT NED 12:55TEAMS:1 Ethiopia 25 pts2 Kenya 26 pts3 Australia 69 pts4 Morocco 73 pts5 United States 99 ptsMen’s Long Race (12km)INDIVIDUAL1 Kenenisa BEKELE ETH 35:402 Sileshi SIHINE ETH 35:433 Martin MATHATHI KEN 35:444 Zersenay TADESSE ERI 35:475 Mike KIGEN KEN 35:54TEAMS:1 Kenya 24 pts2 Eritrea 28 pts3 Ethiopia 42 pts4 Morocco 62 pts5 Uganda 102 ptsDISTANCE RUNNING April - June 200611