Ethiopian long-distance great Haile Gebrselassie won the Great Manchester Run for the fourth time, pulling clear of Chris Thompson of Britain to ease to victory in the 10-kilometer race on Sunday.
Gebrselassie, the marathon world-record holder who won the event in 2005, ‘09 and ‘10, posted a time of 28 minutes, 10 seconds in wet and windy conditions in the northern English city.
“I am so happy to come back here again and again,” said Gebrselassie, who ran eight seconds slower than his winning time 12 months ago. “It’s wonderful.”
Thompson kept pace with Gebrselassie for 7km, even coming up to the shoulder of the 38-year-old two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion at one point, before fading and finishing second in 28-21. Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine came third, four seconds further behind.
“I didn’t expect that from this boy,” Gebrselassie said of Thompson. “He ran so great.”
Britain’s Helen Clitheroe, the 3,000-meter champion at the European indoors this year, smashed her personal best by 30 seconds to win the women’s race in 31-45.
Clitheroe led from the start to cross the line ahead of France’s Christelle Daunay, who was 14 seconds behind. Kenya’s Grace Momanyi, the Commonwealth 10,000-meter champion, was third in 32.05.
