Desisa uses strong finishing kick to clinch win

Lelisa Desisa was first when it mattered most.

The 21-year-old Ethiopian used a strong kick over the final 400 meters to beat defending champion Simon Ndrangu and win the 34th Cooper River Bridge Run — covering the 10 kilometers from Mount Pleasant to downtown Charleston in a time of 28 minutes and 59 seconds.

Desisa beat Ndrangu by two seconds.

With a steady headwind, Desisa spent most of the race drafting off of Ndrangu, saving his energy and biding his time for the final sprint to the finish.

"It was a strong wind up on the bridge," Desisa said through an interpreter.

"I didn't want to waste my energy running into the wind, so I stayed behind him waiting until we were near the finish line."

Desisa made his move just before the turn onto Wentworth Street approximately 400 meters from the finish line. By the time Desisa had rounded the corner onto Meeting Street, he held a five-meter lead over Ndrangu with a 100 meters to go.

"I knew once we got onto (Meeting Street), I was going to win," Desisa said.

"He wasn't going to catch me. I have a better finish than he does."

It was Desisa's first appearance in Charleston. His time was more than a minute slower than Ndrangu's winning time of 27:49 a year ago.

The headwind and temperatures in the mid-50s were in stark contrast to last year when the runners had a tailwind and the temperature at racetime was around 40 degrees.

"Much better conditions to run in last year. (Desisa) ran a good race," Ngrangu said. "I tried to go with him when he made his move, but he was too fast for me today. It was warm and the wind made our times pretty slow this year."

Badu Worku and Ezkyas Sisay finished third and fourth in 29:15.

Mbarak Hussein of New Mexico won the men's masters division in 31:35.

Anzhelika Averkova captured the women's master crown in 34:48.

Jay Upchurch, 33, ran his a personal best 32:06 to capture the men's Marcus Newberry Award, given to the top local finisher. Rives Poe won the women's Newberry Award in 37:50. It was the fourth time in the last five years that Poe has won the women's Newberry Award.

Male overall winners

Place — Age — Time

1) Lelisa Desisa — 21 — 28:59
2) Simon Ndrangu — 25 — 29:01
3) Badu Worku — 23 — 29:15
4) Ezkyas Sisay — 22 29:15
5) Julius Kiptoo — 33 — 29:18
6) Bobby Mack — 26 — 29:18
7) Aron Rono — 29 — 29:20
8) Ian Burrell — 29 — 29:20
9) Robert Letting — 25 — 29:45
10) Benard Langat — 28 — 30:04