Atheltics: Craig Mottram claimed a fourth successive Great Bupa Ireland Run victory with a powerful display of front running in Dublin this afternoon.
The 25-year-old Australian showed little tiredness from his exertions in the recent Commonwealth Games and last weekend's IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Mottram took charge of the race after six of the 10 kilometres to triumph in 28 minutes 51 seconds.
Mark Kennealy and Mark Carroll, although unable to match Mottram's performance, delighted the thousands of home fans by clinching the minor podium places.
Kennealy, of Clonliffe Harriers, posted a time of 29mins 17secs, two seconds ahead of his team-mate, and Sergiy Lebid, the six-times European cross country champion.
But it was a close run affair for USA-based Carroll, who was given the decision by the judges although he and the Ukrainian were barely separable at the finishing line.
"Mentally I knew I was up for a big challenge," said Mottram, winner of the Commonwealth 5,000 metres silver medal.
"But physically because of the training I had put in before the Games, I knew I had plenty of strength and was always confident of victory."
There were half a dozen runners in contention until Mottram's breakaway, but only Kennealy — one of Ireland's leading cross country runners in the past few years — responded to the rapid change in pace.
But the Dubliner, despite making a significant breakthrough at this level, was left for dead when Mottram applied even more pressure with three kilometres of the race remaining.
"The last 4km is the toughest stretch of the course and I let it roll, letting the hills do the course," said Mottram, now planning a 10-day rest before leaving for altitude training in the USA.
Meselech Melkamu underlined her world-class status when she produced an outstanding performance to shatter the course record.
The 20-year-old Ethiopian, third in both last weekend's world cross 8km and 4km long and short-course races, sliced 35 seconds from Amy Rudolph's winning time of last year.
The tiny figure of the former world junior cross country champion, a last-minute stand-in for the injured Sonia O'Sullivan, stood head and shoulders ahead of her rivals.
Melkamu ran well within herself to win in a time of 31:41, ahead of former Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Fernanda Ribeiro.
Third place and a distant 48secs behind the Portuguese runner-up, was Hungary's Aniko Kalovics, clearly showing signs of tiredness after winning last Sunday's Stramilano half marathon in Italy.