Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei finished second in the NN Dam Tot Damloop 10-mile road race in Amsterdam on Sunday, with Muktar Edris of Ethiopia crossing the finish line ahead of him.
Muktar Edris impressively outpaced all the major favorites. He won the 38th edition of the NN Dam tot Damloop in 44:51 minutes, the fastest time in the world this year.
Asayech Ayichew also shocked the field with her victory. The 19-year-old athlete ran a smart race and finished as the first woman in 51:18 minutes.
The best Dutch performances came from Filmon Tesfu (47:48) and Maureen Koster (54:32).
Three-time World Champion and Olympic champion in the 10,000 meters, Joshua Cheptegei, set the pace alongside last year’s winner, Mathew Kimeli.
A leading group of nine runners formed, with Filmon Tesfu being the only Dutch runner among them.
After just 4 kilometers, Muktar Edris made his move, disregarding the two favorites. He surged ahead at a blistering pace, opening up a significant gap.
Cheptegei briefly closed in after 11 kilometers, momentarily bringing tension back into the race. However, Edris’ lead was too large to overcome. At Dam Square, about 600 meters before the finish, Edris even had time to wave to the cheering crowd, which had gathered en masse for the race’s final stretch.
After a final sprint, he finished with a time of 44:51. Although this was the fastest time of the season for this distance, Leonard Patrick Komon’s sharp course record from 2011 (44:27) remained unthreatened.
After the race, Edris thanked the spectators for their support:
“After a long injury, this was my first race back. Thanks to all the encouragement, I was able to keep pushing throughout the race. The atmosphere was fantastic.”
Cheptegei could not meet the high expectations and had to settle for second place (45:18), while Kenyan Mathew Kimeli claimed third place (45:44).
Filmon Tesfu impressed as the best Dutch runner with a time of 47:48 and was pleased with his seventh-place finish overall: “I expected to perform at this level. For the first 3 kilometers, I kept up with the lead group, but then I switched to my own pace and managed to overtake more runners towards the finish. Being the top Dutch runner here is nice, but my main goal is the TCS Amsterdam Marathon next month, where I’ll be making my marathon debut.”
Richard Douma finished as the second Dutchman (48:38), followed by Gianluca Assorgia in third (48:44).
The man-vs-woman competition remained close for a long time, but Edris eventually overtook Asayech Ayichew after 15 kilometers.
By that point, Ayichew had already been running solo towards the finish, having smartly let the favorite, Gladys Chepkurui, lead for much of the race. Ayichew crossed the finish line shortly after Edris on Peperstraat with a time of 51:18.
Chepkurui followed closely behind (51:36), and third place went to Mebrat Gidey (52:17). The Dutch women’s podium consisted of Maureen Koster (54:32), Jasmijn Lau (54:42), and Silke Jonkman (55:04).
Source: NN Damloop