Young legs kick into high gear

Munyeki, Masresha win BAA titles

The lead pack of (from left) Charles Munyeki, Karim El Mabchour, James Koskei, and Gilbert Okari stuck together. (John Bohn/Globe Staff)

The Boston Athletic Association held its eighth Half Marathon yesterday, but for those at the finish line, it looked more like a sprint. Both the men's and women's races were settled in the last 100 meters as a pair of youngsters dashed down the cinder track at Roberto Clemente Field in the Fens to pull out the victories.

After running virtually shoulder to shoulder with Gilbert Okari for the final 5 miles, 22-year-old Charles Munyeki, the youngest athlete in the men's elite field, broke away as the duo moved onto the home stretch. Munyeki crossed the finish line in 1 hour 2 minutes 45.87 seconds and Okari followed at 1:02:47.62.

Third-place finisher Karim El Mabchour was almost a minute behind (1:03:42.27) and Kenyan James Koskei was fourth (1:04:47.72).

Azalech Masresha of Ethiopia and Irene Limika of Kenya shook loose of the women's pack near the 11-mile mark, and Masresha, too, kicked past her only competition in a last all-out sprint, hitting the tape in 1:11:43.27, only .45 seconds ahead of Limika. Masresha, the first Ethiopian to win this increasingly prestigious road race, is only 20.

Okari and Munyeki, teammates on KIMbia Athletics, train together in Boulder, Colo. But Okari, 30, said that provided no special advantage.

"It's not hard, not easy," Okari said. "We are used to each other."

Okari, who won the San Jose Half Marathon a week ago (Munyeki was fifth), is still not accustomed to the event, particularly on a course that frequently dipped then rose.

"My body is not used to this long distance [13.2 miles]," said Okari, who was running only his third half marathon.

Okari picked up the pace on the Riverway, opening a three-second lead approaching Mile 11. But as the road curved left onto Fenway, Munyeki stepped a little quicker and he was back on Okari's shoulder as they passed Emmanuel College.

"Gilbert had some strong strides," Munyeki said. "For me, it's a bit short, but faster.

"I knew I had a finishing kick and by how I was running, I felt good. We run together until when I saw the last mile marker. I looked behind for Gilbert, but he was nowhere to be found."

Munyeki offered a big grin, because of course Okari was only two seconds behind. But for these elite runners, that's the race.

Munyeki paced the lead pack for 9 miles, until he and Okari pulled away on the downhill stretch leaving Franklin Park. They made another surge on the Monsignor William Casey Overpass, and after that, it was a two-man race.

"I was ahead at 8 miles," said Munyeki, who ran a 59:44 in the Rotterdam Half Marathon in September, the 10th-fastest man in the world this year. "And after 10 miles, I did tie up a bit, then I felt good. Last week [in San Jose], I was a bit tired because I have been in four half marathons in two months."

Masresha, an experienced half marathoner despite her age, doesn't speak English, but as she and Limika ran the last miles side by side, they worked together, Masresha communicating with hand signals.

"I told her to stay together," said Masresha, whose words were translated by Ethiopian runner Bruke Tadesse, a Cambridge resident since 1994.

"She doesn't understand what I say, but she signs," said Limika, laughing and giving thumbs up and thumbs down gestures.

Masresha comes from the Arsi region of Ethiopia, the plateau that has nurtured most of the country's great runners in the last two decades. She only began running when she was 16.

"I was watching a lot of runners in my hometown, and I decided to try," she said.

In her first half marathon, in 2007, she broke 1:12 and she has a personal best of 1:10:36. Masresha never had seen the course before running it. In fact, she didn't know anything about Boston.

"My manager told me to run," she said. "I had no idea what the weather was [in Boston], or the course."

Masresha was a bit surprised to win, but happy.

"I was in good condition," she said. "I decided to come down [the stretch] very well."

Limika said she was limited on the last sprint because of an injured left hamstring.

"But I'm happy for the rest of it, it's part of my preparation for the Frankfurt Marathon," Limika said. "It is my second half marathon ever and Frankfurt is my first marathon ever. What I was doing, it's going to be my first time to run the marathon so I was trying to see which pace was best to finish and still have a lot of strength. I didn't really care what the time was.

"The Ethiopian lady, she's very strong. She gave me very good competition. We were running together and she was helping me with pacing."

Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.