Edna carrying the Kenyan flag shortly after this morning's victory at the NY Mini 10K (Photo courtesy of Boulder Wave, Inc.)

A very popular champion!

Edna's post-race autograph session.

Edna Kiplagat (Nike) won today’s New York Road Runners Mini 10K in Central Park in a solid 32:08, blowing apart the field with a 4:49 fifth mile. The lead pack of five women, including Edna and Diane Nukuri-Johnson (ASICS) came through 5K in 16:20. According to David Monti, who was on the lead vehicle, “Edna put in one surge on the hill near 5K that looked like she was testing everybody, but then when she hit the flat alongside the reservoir she was absolutely flying, making a big move almost exactly where she did when she won the ING New York City Marathon in 2010.”

Diane had another strong race, finishing in 4th in 32:38, improving by 50 seconds and eight places over her 33:28 12th place run here last year. Amazingly, even on this tough Mini course, she just missed breaking her PB/NR by a single second.

Lidia Simon (ASICS) and Irvette van Blerk (adidas/Nedbank) finished just a second apart in 12th and 13th in 34:03 and 34:04, respectively. For Lidia, it was a 66-second improvement over her 2011 result here.

All four of our women who ran today will represent their respective countries in the Olympic Marathon on August 5th in London.