Women's winner Amare: 'I came here to win, and that's what I did'

She once showed up at a race without any running shoes, and ended up setting a record. Saturday, Ethiopian Shewarge Amare was a little more prepared for the 34th annual Cooper River Bridge Run.

She made her debut in the Lowcountry and was dazzling on a day that didn't produce great times despite great efforts. She covered the 10-kilometer course that began in Mount Pleasant and ended in downtown Charleston in 33 minutes and six seconds to edge out Janet Cherobon of Kenya by two seconds.

Tigist Tufa of Kenya was third in 34:02.

Amare, whose brother has run in past Cooper River Bridge Runs, decided to participate this year after reading about the race on the Internet.

"It seemed interesting," she said.

Amare, 24, finished second in last year's Bogota International Half Marathon. She also set the course record in the Mount Washington Road Race in a pair of borrowed shoes.

"Today, it was perfect for running," Amare said. "The bridge was very tough because of its height and the winds."

Amare's time of 33:06 didn't come close to cracking the top 20 all-time times posted by women runners. Elana Meyer set the standard with a time of 31:19 in 1997, and the 20th fastest time is shared by two runners including Jane Kilby, who finished third last year with a time of 32:37.

Amare wasn't disappointed with her time.

"I came here to win, and that's what I did. I just wanted to get ahead and hold on for victory," she said. "I like this race, but I don't know if I like that hill."

Cherobon, who recently became a U.S. citizen, just missed claiming the title by two seconds. She finished fifth last year with a time of 33.16.

Saturday's race marked the return of Catherine Ndereba, one of the top Cooper River Bridge runners of all-time. She won three straight races in Charleston from 2000-02. But the 38-year-old Kenyan could only muster a fifth-place finish with a time of 34:34.

Ndereba, who has been named Runner's World magazine's No. 1 runner five times in her career, used Saturday's race to prep for the Boston Marathon on April 14.

Female overall winners

Place — Age — Time

1) Shewarge Amarae — 24 — 33:06
2) Janet Cherobon — 31 — 33:08
3) Tigist Tufa — 30 — 34:02
4) Aliyu Aziza — 26 — 34:29
5) Catherine Ndereba — 38 — 34:34
6) Hirut Mandefro — 25 — 34:36
7) Allison Grace Morgan — 28 — 34:36
8) Anzhelika Averkova — 42 — 34:48
9) Ramilia Burangulova — 49 — 35:06
10) Tatyana Byelovol — 41 — 35:35