After a string of sizzling summer races with swift finishing laps, Meseret Defar was apparently looking to end her season as quickly as possible. Jumping to the lead from the gun, the event’s World record holder switched on the cruise control over the ensuing 12-and-a-half laps en route to her solo 14:39.11 win.
After the race, Defar, who lapped a pair of runners, confirmed that she had set to do the unthinkable: chase her own World record of 14:24.53 without a pacemaker.
“My aim today was to try to break the World record,” she said, “but it was difficult because I ran alone. If I had a pacemaker, I think I’d have been able to do it.”
Leading the chase pack was Russian Liliya Shobukhova, who finished second in 15:05.33, just ahead of Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi (15:06.69), who collected seven points for Asia.
Bob Ramsak
