Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri continued her winning streak on the road when she clinched her second consecutive title in the women’s 10km at the Great Manchester Run on Sunday.
The two-time world 5000m champion clocked 31:14 to narrowly beat the tape ahead of fellow countrywoman, Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, who timed 31:35 in second place.
Great Britain’s Calli Thackery finished third in 32:51.
The race was Obiri’s first since winning her first full marathon title at Boston in April, where she timed 2:21:38 in first place.
Overall, it has been a year of podium finishes for the two-time Olympics 5000m silver medalist who also won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon and the New York Half Marathon in February and March respectively.
For Jepchirchir, the 10km run was her first since finishing third at the London Marathon, also in April, where she clocked 2:18:38 in race won by Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan.
Obiri and Jepchirchir were racing one another once again since their meeting at the Great North Run in September last year where the former timed 1:07:05 to take top honours against the world half marathon champion, who came second in 1:07:07.
In the men’s race in Manchester, Eritrean-born Italian Eyob Faniel timed 28:27 to finish first, ahead of Briton Marc Scott (28:31) and Australian Stewart McSweyn (28:35) in second and third respectively.
Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, competing in his penultimate race before hanging up his spikes, finished ninth after clocking 29:11.
