Bluegrass 10K on pace for a record field

EKU'S MAINA could extend Kenya's win streak to 10

By Mark Maloney - mmaloney@herald-leader.com

With last-chance entries still being accepted, handicapping the field for Saturday's 33rd running of the Bluegrass 10,000 is a bit like setting odds for an August horse race. There's no way to be sure who will show up.

Or how many.

As of Thursday afternoon, registrations were running nearly 1,000 ahead of last year's pace, when 3,632 entered. Unlike recent years, though, there will not be a "runners expo" in conjunction with the final chance to enter. Plus, the site for final registration has moved from downtown.

The record of 3,680 entries, set in 2007, might be in jeopardy.

Last-chance registration for the 6.2-mile footrace through Lexington will be held Friday, 5-9 p.m., at the Parks & Recreation administration offices, adjacent to the Gay Brewer Jr. Golf Course at Picadome.

Five Kenyan men have combined to win nine consecutive Bluegrass 10,000s: James Mutuse (2000, '02, '04, '06), Julius Rotich (2001), Daniel Koech (2003), Daniel Mugo (2005) and Jacob Korir (2007, '08). Rotich competed for Lindsey Wilson. The others either ran for or trained with Eastern Kentucky's Colonels.

The lone Kenyan known to have entered Saturday's race is Joseph Maina.

Having just completed his junior season at EKU, Maina should definitely be a factor. He reached last month's NCAA Championships in the 5,000-meter run. He has run 14:05 for 5K and sub-31 minutes for 10K.

The Bluegrass has had 12 winners finish with times slower than 31 minutes, most recently Korir in 2007 (31:10).

Other contenders include Patrick Morgan, Tony White, David Bice and Joe Evans. All finished among the top 15 in last year's race, led by former Boyle County standout Morgan in fifth place. White was 10th, Bice 14th and Evans 15th.

Neither Korir nor women's defending champion Liliane Sparks had entered as of Thursday afternoon. Top 15 women's finishers from a year ago who have entered include Andrea Halasek (5), Kim Grieshaber (7), Betsy Evans-Laski (9) and Roberta Meyer (11). Also entered are 2007 runner-up Varinka Barbini and fourth-place finisher Lauren Arnold.

A newcomer of note is Jillian Mastroianni, 27, of New York. Her credits in 2008 include a 2:58 marathon at Chicago and a 37:49 10K at New York's Central Park. The latter time would have been good enough to win the Bluegrass six of the previous 32 races.

The wheelchair divisions include several familiar names.

Five-time winner Paul Erway and a pair of six-time champs in David Hartsek and Greg Queen are entered. Erway has won the last three "push" chair divisions, and Queen has four straight "hand-crank" titles.

Nanc Spillner is seeking her seventh consecutive win in the women's push wheelchair.

Racing begins Saturday morning at 7:20 with the crank wheelchairs. Five minutes later, the push wheelchairs will be off and, at 7:30, the 10K runners. A 1-mile "fun run" is scheduled for 8 a.m.

One change this year is the ChronoTrack timing system, which uses a disposable timing tag.