Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay took the lead for the first mile of Sunday’s 13th Annual BAA 10K just to see if anyone in the front group was ready to move hard sooner than later. When no one responded and gave chase, Geay simply let the group of 12 swallow him as it pounded up Commonwealth Ave.
When Geay moved into the lead for a second time, it was decisive and it was for keeps.
The 2018 winner put daylight between him and the pack at 5K before running a blistering 4:18 fourth mile to leave Edwin Kurgat of Kenya in his wake. Geay ran the fifth mile in 4:24 and felt comfortable enough to grab a cup of water on Boylston Street. In front of a huge crowd in warm, humid conditions Geay extended his lead on Kurgat to break the tape in a personal best of 27 minutes, 49 seconds for the win. The runner-up in April’s BAA Marathon, Geay averaged 4:29 in his second win 10K win.
Kurgat finished a strong second in 28:01 and Alex Masai of Kenya was another eight seconds back, in 28:09. Ethiopia’s Tsegay Kidanu took fourth in 28:18 and top American Diego Estrada of Flagstaff, Ariz., rounded out the top five in 28:19. Defending champion Leonid Korir of Kenya finished 14th in 29:45.
It was clear when the pack of 12, led by Estrada, passed the 2-mile mark in 8:59 that the elite runners weren’t concerned about running hard in the warm temperatures and stifling humidity. The pack shrunk to 10 by 5K (14:08) when Geay appeared at the front.
“I tried to push at the beginning, and from 6K or 5K I tried again to push it,” he said. “There were three guys at my back but in a few meters they dropped off. I was intending to win. The humidity, too hot. I am happy to win the race. I’m happy because of the weather.”
2023 BAA Marathon winner Hellen Obiri of Kenya took home another gold medal as she held off countrywoman Stacy Ndiwa for the victory in 31:21. Ndiwa was second in 31:25 and Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui crossed the finish line in third with her 31:27. Two-time BAA 10K winner and American record-holder in the marathon (2:18:29) Emily Sisson of Providence was the top American. Sisson finished fourth in 31:35.
“I’m so happy about the result,” said Obiri. “I wanted to run in the 30s but unfortunately the weather was too hot, it was humid. But I am so happy for the win today. At 8K my body was so tired. Maybe I went out too hard from the start. The ladies coming from behind were so strong. But I say, I’m also the best. I can try to win. I say, I will try, work hard so that I can be Boston champion in marathon and 10K champion. I can say I’ve won Boston two times. The crowd was so friendly, all the way they say ‘Go Hellen!’ You get that energy, you want to race hard so that can’t let your fans down.”
The warm conditions thwarted any attempt by Sisson in making a run at Shalane Flanagan’s American record.
“I’m happy with it,” said Sisson. “It was a tough day out there, it was pretty hot and humid. I was hoping just to compete and top three was my goal and I just missed that. I was leading the chase pack at two or three miles, and the last mile or two I was battling for third. I lost that battle but it was a good battle.
“We were originally hoping to run a fast race today but then as we got closer and saw the weather, we’re like ‘let’s just race. It’s a good field and let’s see how I can test myself against them.”
Sisson plans on running the New Haven 20K on Labor Day before returning to the Chicago Marathon. “I’d like to run better than last year and it’s going to be a really good field,” she said. “I think it’ll be a fun race. You never know at Chicago. You can get crazy weather. Maybe just competing well against whatever pack I’m in.”
Former Providence College All-American and Boston Herald All-Scholastic, Marcelo Rocha of Peabody, was the third American and 12th overall in his BAA 10K debut. Rocha averaged a cool 4:46 per mile to finish in 29:33, in what was also his first road race since graduation.
“Outdoors (track) didn’t end the way I wanted it to so it was good to put some effort out there and try something new,” said Rocha, who is coached by the legendary Ray Treacy of Providence College. “I just wanted to be in it at every point. This is my first road race after college so I didn’t know what to expect. I’m doing things step by step and this is the first step. Miles three and four were kind of hot, but I’m used to it living here.”