On a sultry Sunday morning, Kenyan Steve Kogo turned in an impressive performance to win the 19th Pilgrim Healthcare Falmouth Road Race, running away from the rest of the field and breaking the tape in a time of 32:14.
Kogo, who resides in Boulder, Colorado, moved into the lead just over two miles into the course and then steadily increased his advantage over the remainder of the race, crossing the finish line 38 seconds ahead of second-place Dionico Ceron of Mexico (32:52).
Kogo’s closest challenger for the last three miles of the race, Jens Karras of Germany, collapsed on the Grand Avenue Hill and did not finish the race. Karras, unfamiliar with the race course, misjudged where the finish was and made his final push with slightly more than a quarter of a mile to go and paid the price for his mistake.
Going into the race, there were several runners who were considered to have a good shot at winning, and the first mile of the race seemed to bear those predictions out as a lead pack of 25 runners set the pace.
William Musyoki, Salvador Garcia, Randy Reins, Keith Brantly, Jeff Jacobs and Marcos Barretos all had the lead for a brief time during the first mile, with Barretos, Musyoki and Jacobs matching strides at the front as they crossed the first-mile marker in 4:37.4.
As the leaders passed the Nobska Lighthouse, Ceron and Brian Sheriff joined Musyoki and Barretos as the pace setters, and that quartet led the pack into the woods of Oyster Pond Road.
Kogo and Are Nakkim of Norway headed the pack that trailed the leaders by a scant three yards.
Down To A Dozen
The leading pack had now dwindled down to about a dozen runners, with three masters runners, Artemio Navarro, Wilson Waigwa and Manual Vera, in that group.
With the leaders about halfway through the second mile, the sun peeked through the heavy cloud cover for the first time, and it was then that Kogo moved from the trailing pack and, running along the righthand side of the road, positioned himself with the leaders.
The second-mile marker came and went with Musyoki, Kogo, Nakkim and Ceron matching strides in front.
Less than 200 yards later, Kogo, Musyoki and Ceron had taken over as the pace setters while Karras, who had been part of the lead pack all along, also began to move up, threading his way past several other runners to take over fourth place.
The lead pack now numbered seven as the small hills of the course’s third mile began to take their toll. The next group of runners was toiling 10 yards back, while a third group trailed the leaders by 25 to 30 yards.
A the front runners neared the three-mile marker, Kogo and Ceron moved away from Musyoki, opening up a two-yard lead, with Karras still holding steady in fourth place.
In the last 300 yards of the third mile, Kogo established himself as a the man to beat, powering away from Ceron and opening up a three-yard lead.
Help From Nature
Kogo came out of the woods and onto Surf Drive with a 10-yard lead. A very stiff breeze was blowing out of the southwest, and the leaders gladly accepted nature’s help.
At this point it was a four-man race with Kogo, Ceron, Musyoki and Karras having separated themselves from the rest of the field.
Kogo and Karras made the most use of the wind along Surf Drive, with Kogo widening his lead to 20 yards over Ceron, while Karras moved past Musyoki into third place.
Karras seemed to realize that he had to make a move if he had any thoughts of catching Kogo.
Kogo was showing no signs of weakening as he came to the four-mile mark, running with near-flawless form and adding to his lead over Ceron with each stride.
Karras continued his chase toward the front as he caught Ceron just past the four-mile marker and trailed Kogo by 60 yards as the leaders made their way up Shore Street.
Kogo widened his lead over Karras as he made a right onto Clinton Avenue, but the German runner refused to let the leader get out of his sight.
It was a one-man race and Kogo was having to trouble setting the pace. The Kenyan was running along the line in the middle of the road, looking every bit as strong as he did in the race’s second mile.
Closed The Gap
Karras, meanwhile, was doing his best to make Kogo work for a win as he quickened his pace and closed the gap between himself and the leader.
Karras’s efforts began to pay off as he closed to within 40 yards of Kogo with two miles left to go.
The runner-up’s charge continued to pull him closer as he chased Kogo up Scranton Avenue.
As Kogo turned down Robbins Road, Karras was within 30 yards, but by the time Kogo hung a right onto Falmouth Heights Road, the Kenyan had padded his lead by a few more yards.
Much to his credit, Karras continued to do his best to challenge for the lead, but on this day Kogo was not about to give up his hard-earned lead.
Kogo, who ran here in 1987, continued to display the form that had given him the lead as he cruised toward the home stretch.
Karras was gamely trying to make one final challenge, but his all-out burst at the end of Falmouth Heights Road left him completely drained as he took the corner onto Grand Avenue.
With the finish line in sight, Jogo used a final burst of speed to break the tape and claim the 1991 Falmouth Road Race championship.
For a man who had run slightly more than seven miles under some very trying weather conditions, Kogo looked more like a runner who had just jogged around the block.
Karras never did cross the finish line. He tumbled to the ground about 300 yards short of the finish line and was forced to accept medical attention.
Ceron had no trouble grabbing second place with Tom Ansberry of Arizona coming on strong to edge Jess Jacobs for third place.
The 1991 women’s title went to Sabrina Dornhoefer, as the Pan American Games gold-medal winner in the 3,000 meters from Minneapolis, Minnesota, broke the tape in a time of 37:48.
The men’s masters’ championship went to Manuel Vera, as the Mexican finished 14th overall with a time of 33:51.
The women’s masters championship went to Laurie Binder for the third straight time as the Oakland, California, resident finished 12th overall with a time of 39:16.