Outdoors: Running

PROVIDENCE – The defending men’s champion, the 2007 Carlsbad 5000 winner, the top returning American woman, a double American record holder and a slew of Olympians are just a sample of the talented runners who will be vying for the top spots at this morning’s 18th annual CVS Caremark Downtown 5K.

In his bid for back-to-back wins, 26-year-old Iona College graduate Richard Kiplagat, who won the 2006 Providence race in 13:49.9, will have to hold off fellow Kenyan Simon Ndirangu, another promising young runner who won his first race on American soil earlier this year – the Carlsbad 5000 in Calif. with a time of 13:28.

Kiplagat and Ndirangu will be joined on the starting line by fellow countrymen Nelson Kiplagat, Stephen Koech and Boaz Cheboiywo (second at Carlsbad).

New Zealander Nick Willis, a semifinalist in the 5000 meters at the 2004 Olympic Games and 1,500-meter gold medalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, should also make things interesting.

Bolota Asmeron, who competed in the 2000 Olympics for his native Eritrea before becoming a U.S. citizen, will be one of the top contenders in the race for the U.S. Track and Field 5K Championship, along with Daniel Browne, of Beaverton, Colo., a 2004 Olympian at the marathon distance.

Recent Georgetown grad Rod Koborsi will be making his road racing debut in Providence. The eight-time All-American achieved a personal best of 13:26.65 for 5,000 meters this summer at the Heusden KBC Night of Athletics meet in Belgium.

The race for the overall women’s title and the U.S. Women’s 5K Championship could very well end up being one and the same with Shalane Flanagan in the field.

Back running this year after recovering from foot surgery in 2006, the Marblehead, Mass. native and University of North Carolina All-American has already won her second USA Outdoor 5,000-meter championship and her first USA Indoor 3,000-meter title, establishing American records at both distances -14:44.80 for 5,000 meters and 8:33.25 for 3,000 meters.

``I think there’s a solid field,” said the 26-year-old Olympian, who was in town Friday morning giving a running clinic to a group of local high school and middle school runners. ``Considering it was a big year on the track, people are just coming off of the World Championships, and it’s great to gather a decent field. Providence seems to put on a really well-organized meet, and I think that attracts a lot of people in general and I think it should be a good race. This is my last race of the season and I’ve got vacation right around the corner, so I just want to try and end it on a high note, hopefully with a win. It will be fun to celebrate with my family in New England.”

Flanagan should be challenged by Sara Hall, top American and runner-up to overall winner Olga Kravtsova (15:40) at last year’s race, as well as Sara Slattery, a former 10-time All-American at the University of Colorado who finished second in the 10,000 to ex-PC star and U.S. Olympian Amy Rudolph at the 2006 U.S. Championships.

Florence Jepkosgei of Kenya, Amane Gobena, runner-up at this year’s Bolder Boulder 10K, and fellow Ethiopian runner and Olympian Meskerem Legesse also will undoubtedly be in the hunt for the overall title.

Also capable of pushing the pace at today’s race, which starts on Francis Street at 11:15 a.m., are a number of former college standouts, who now live in or near Rhode Island so they can train with the new club runProvidence. Among them is 25-year-old Patrick Tarpy, the Ivy League 10,000-meter champion when he competed at Brown. He was the second American at last month’s Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine.

On the women’s side is 12-time Kansas State All-American Amy Mortimer, who followed up her national 1,500-meter win at the Stockholm Grand Prix with a second-place finish in the Falmouth Mile (4:38.44), and Molly Huddle, who recorded a school-tying nine All-America honors during her running career at Notre Dame.

Registration for the CVS Caremark Downtown 5K, as well as the slate of accompanying youth races, will be held this morning from 7:15-10:45 at the new Renaissance Providence Hotel, 5 Avenue of the Arts, located next to the State House and Providence Place Mall. Entry fees are $25 for the 5K and $15 for the youth races. For information, log on to http://www.cvsdowntown5k.com.