Ayeko finishes an impressive 4th in Bangalore

By Norman Katende

TSC Bangalore 10km Road Run

1 Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN)  27:24

2 Joshua Cheptegei (KEN) 28:24

3 KendeAtanew (ERI) 28:35

4 Thomas Ayeko (UGA) 28:47

5 Vincent Chepkok (KEN) 28:54 

THOMAS Ayeko shocked the Indian field when he finished fourth in the TSC Bangalore 10km Road Run that was held on Sunday in the Indian city.

Ayeko was a last minute replacement for Moses Kipsiro, who was dropped after it, was discovered that he had not yet recovered from his injury. Both athletes are under PACE Sports Management.

Kipsiro had been announced as one of the top elite runners in the gold label road run, but he had not yet healed from the injury, that saw him pull out of the World Half Marathon, forcing his manager Ricky Simms to replace him with Ayeko.

And Ayeko did not disappoint, clocking 28 minutes 47 seconds to finish fourth behind Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor and Joshua Cheptegei, all experienced top road runners and Eritrean Kende Atanew.

Ayeko tried his front running tactics, managing to pass the 4km in a shared lead with Cheptegei at 11 minutes 14 seconds. 

He hung on until the 7km but when Kamworor broke off, he could not manage the pace and by 8km, he had dropped off leaving the top three in their own pack as they race to victory.

But with 1km to go, Kamworor pulled off and sprinted to a 27 minutes 44 seconds win with Cheptegei and Atenew following 40 seconds before Ayeko came in at fourth position.

“It was a great race and the course was challenging,” Ayeko told journalists after the race.