NEWBURYPORT — On the golden anniversary of the Yankee Homecoming 10-Mile Road Race, the most popular Newburyport running competition drew some of the world's finest distance runners, including a New Zealand Olympian and national-record holder, and one of New York's top roadsters, courtesy of Ethiopia.
Former Providence College four-time national champion Kimberly Smith was the talk of the town, finishing tied for third overall in a time of 53:10 and smashing the 16-year-old 10-mile women's record by nearly a full two minutes (Debbie Mueller, 55:04) to claim the $500 women's first-place prize. Smith currently owns the New Zealand national records in the 3K, 5K, 10K and half marathon after finishing eighth in the 2008 Olympics in the 10K in Beijing, China.
"I did it as a workout, a long race. I'm training for the New York Marathon. I needed to do a workout, and I think it's good preparation for New York because of the hills, a lot of uphills," said Smith, who has been to two Olympic games. "I didn't race it hard, so I did it as a tempo run.
"I kind of ran alone most of the way, (which was) lonely," said Smith, who was hoping to have men to run with. "I've been doing tempo runs by myself, and I ended up doing this one by myself, too."
New York's Derese Deniboba continued his ascent to the top, finally claiming the top men's time, 49:19, in his third effort with a pulsating 4:56-mile split just a year after coming in second place behind Patrick Tarpy (Yarmouth, Maine; 51:19), who this year finished a distant two minutes behind Deniboba in second.
"This was the third time (I ran the race)," said Deniboba, who is training for the New York Marathon this fall and recently won the New Bedford Half Marathon in March. "In 2006, I came in third, last year I came in second. It's good, I feel nice. I ran by myself after the third mile."
Tarpy said he simply was not in as good shape as he was last year — despite running just 14 seconds slower than his 51:05 winning time — because of his work commitments, while also admitting Deniboba ran a fantastic race.
"Last year, we ran similarly. He got out front, and I had to fight back in, but I think he's in better shape this year, and I'm in a little worse shape," said Tarpy, who was a 2005 Brown University graduate. "I went out way too hard and just kind of ran out of gas, and every second you go out too hard the first mile it's tough (in this heat).
"It's a little hotter than last year, not as humid, but it's one of those things if you don't go out too hard, it's a lot easier to deal with," Tarpy continued. "(My time) isn't terrible, maybe I could have done a little bit better, but he ran really well, too. So I think he would probably have said the same thing last year, he went out too hard and died."
Recent 2010 Newburyport graduate Greg Englehart, a Daily News All-Star in cross country and the mile, had the top Newburyport time in his first ever race over 10K — 59:03 — a race he used as preparation for his training before going off to run cross country and track at Colgate University.
"This was the first time I raced over 10K, and it went really well — my goal was to not go out too fast because I knew with the heat it would be pretty tough if I did," Englehart said. "I ended up going out at about 5:55 (mile splits), which was pretty comfortable and what I wanted.
"I've run the 5K (at Yankee Homecoming, finished 17th last year, 17:33), and I know people the whole way, but it was even better for the 10-mile," Englehart said. "You look street to street, and I had friends everywhere, especially on King Street at the bottom."
Englehart said he hopes to continue to run the race as he comes back from school and after his running career in college with the goal of eventually cracking the top 10 and maybe even one day competing for the championship.
"I think it'd be great if we could have a guy from Newburyport in the top 10 or top five because people love cheering for local people, and it would bring a lot of excitement," reiterated Englehart, who said it was really cool to have an Olympian in his hometown race in Smith and also that both the top men's and women's times were impressive. "After college, I'd love to compete for a top spot or even to win it, that would be a really cool thing."
Yankee Homecoming 10-Mile results
Men's
1. Derese DenibobaBronx, NY49:194:56
2. Patrick TardyYarmouth, ME51:195:08
3. Tim RichardAttleboro53:105:19
4. Peter MalletHooksett, NH53:205:20
5. Matthew HaringaBrighton53:225:21
6. Joseph KoechChelmsford53:265:21
7. Brandon NewbouldNottingham, NH53:595:24
8. Jim JohnsonSalem, NH54:185:26
9. Patrick RichSouth Hamilton54:205:26
10. Mark HudsonReading54:235:27
Women's
1. Kimberly SmithProvidence, RI53:105:19
2. Heidi WestoverWalpole, NH58:025:49
3. Lesley HockingDover, NH1:00:426:05
4. Chrystal AnthonyBeverly1:03:396:22
5. Kathryn HatchLincoln1:03:436:23
6. Tara CardiEast Greenwich, RI1:05:006:30
7. Diona FultonSomerville1:05:376:34
8. Lindsay WillardSomerville1:05:556:36
9. Tina DowlingBolton1:06:476:41
10. Larissa ParkSomerville1:06:546:42
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