Richard Slater RIYADH — The Riyadh Road Runners began the second half of their season with a small but high quality race at Kingdom City compound here recently. The women's race was again won by Deborah Karakesisoglu, who maintained her record of finishing in the top three at every event she has taken part in this season. Karakesisoglu finished the 5km circuit in an impressive 21:54, more than two minutes quicker than her time in the first 5km of the season in September. Returning committee member Nichole Kard ran well to claim second spot, her highest placing of the season, to make it an American 1-2 in the ladies' competition. Marcela Mendez-Trampotova sealed a comfortable third, and was followed by Harriet Townhill, the fastest junior on the day. The men's race was a hotly contested affair, with Mohammed Bashir and Padraig Cusack neck and neck over the first 3km. They were separated by 25 seconds at the 5km mark. Irishman Cusack made the most of his familiarity with running in cool conditions and claimed his first victory of the season in 19:46, despite professing to be carrying a bit of extra weight in the aftermath of recent festivities. Bashir continues to show good improvement as a runner, backing up his recent strong showing in the RRR half marathon and demonstrating that he is a force to be reckoned with over shorter distances too.
Third place on the male podium was claimed by debutant David Townhill, who kept fast finishing Matti Aalto (first senior) at bay, who ran a highly respectable time of 21:09 thereby sealing the top veteran slot in the process. The next event will be the second race in the 10km series, and with the recent break well and truly over, the Road Runners are expecting a high quality field, in a race which serves as a final chance to tune up before the Dubai Marathon and 10km on Jan. 24.
