Favourite Komon wins UAE-backed 10k in New York

New York: Kenya’s Leonard Patrick Komon powered to his second victory at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k with an impressive run at Central Park here on Saturday.

The 2011 champion returned to the popular UAE-backed event in fine style, running a time of 27 minutes 35 seconds to finish four seconds clear of Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro, who pipped Kenyan Stephen Sambu to second place on the line.

Komon controlled the race from the start, quickly building a commanding lead over Sambu. The 25-year-old’s pace at the half-way stage was 13:40 and he was then on target to collect the $30,000 Zayed bonus for breaking his own course record of 27:35, which he set two years ago.

But he couldn’t maintain that pace in the humid conditions and instead had to settle for the $25,000 first prize.

Kipsiro eventually made up for a slow start by reeling in Sambu and doing just enough to clinch second place.

The race, which saw about 9,000 runners compete, is organised by the New York Road Runners in association with the UAE Embassy in the US and is run in honour of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The event raises funds for the National Kidney Foundation as Shaikh Zayed received a kidney transplant in the US in 2000.