Ethiopians Blossom in 10-Miler

Teammates Tola, Erkesso Post Fast Times in Victories

Seconds after breaking the tape in a blistering 46 minutes 1 second, Tadesse Tola was in the finishing chute embracing the women's winner, fellow Ethiopian Teyba Erkesso, at the 35th Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile run in West Potomac Park yesterday.

"I was very happy to see he won," Erkesso said through an interpreter. "He has been my friend for a long time -- six years. He is my teammate."

Erkesso, 24, who started with the elite women 10 minutes before the rest of the field, finished a few minutes ahead of Tola with a dominating solo effort of 51:44, the fastest women's time in the Cherry Blossom race since Colleen De Reuck, from South Africa, set the then-world record of 51:16 in 1998.

Tola, 19, who pushed the pace from the start and led by 20 yards after two miles, took advantage of the cool, calm conditions and recorded the fastest men's time since Ismael Korir from Kenya set the then-world record of 45:38 in 1995.

"The pace felt slow at the start," Tola said through an interpreter. "Nobody wanted to go ahead."

A pack of five caught him before three miles, and with one mile to go, Tola, Tanzanian John Yuda and three-time race champion John Korir, from Kenya, were even.

"I was watching behind me, waiting for them to move, but I was not feeling too tired," said Tola, who continued to push the pace.

First Korir broke, and finally, with less than a half mile remaining, Yuda fell back as well, finishing second in 46:04. Korir took third in 46:11, his best time of six Cherry Blossom races. Tola ran his last two miles in 8:57.

"I was struggling," said Korir, who was hoping to join Bill Rodgers as the only four-time Cherry Blossom winner. "I am not in good shape now. I haven't been doing speed work. Next year I'll be better prepared."

Tola and Erkesso arrived in the United States on Wednesday for a limited racing schedule across the country and in Vancouver, B.C. Tola competed last week in Mombassa, Kenya, finishing seventh (pending an inquiry) in the highly competitive World Cross-Country meet. Erkesso was scheduled to compete but was sick.

"I told her, maybe it's better," said Hussein Makke, Erkesso's coach and agent. "She's one of Ethiopia's great athletes, but she tries to do everything, from cross-country to road races. Already she wants to run a marathon. She still needs a core, some stability, a plan."

Tatyana Petrova, 23, a Russian training in Germantown, was a distant second in 52:58. Kathy Butler, 33, from Britain, took third in 53:26.

Steve Meinelt, 23, a Georgetown graduate living in Washington, twice passed Justin Young, from Superior, Colo., near the seven-mile mark to finish 11th in 48:45. Young was 12th, 19 seconds back. As the top American, Meinelt won a trip to Himeji, Japan, for the Cherry Blossom's sister race next February.

Victoria Jackson, 25, the 2006 NCAA 10,000-meter champion from Arizona State, was the first American woman, 12th in 56:46. "I'm more of a track runner," Jackson said, "so this was mostly a fitness test."

Susannah Kvasnicka, 34, from Great Falls, was the top local woman, 16th in 59:05.

District Mayor Adrian Fenty finished 463rd in 1:08.47 among the men, just eight days after completing the National Marathon. "I had a good week of training," Fenty said, "and then I tapered down on Friday and Saturday."

A record field of 5,205 men and 5,502 women finished.