(03/06/2005)

Kenya's Susan Chepkemei withstood a strong challenge from marathon's second-fastest woman in history, Catherine Ndereba, to win the women’s 10,000m during the Kenyan Prisons Championship in Nairobi.

The former two-time World Half Marathon silver medallist coasted home in 32 minutes, 44.4 seconds with Ndereba, 32, placed a distant second in 33 minutes, 29.3 seconds.

Little-known Judy Kiplimo was third in 33 minutes, 34.3 seconds.

According to the East African Standard, the race was decided after the third lap when Chepkemei and Ndereba broke away from the rather sluggish pack.

With three laps to go, Chepkemei was leading by about 200 metres, a gap she maintained until the finish.

Chepkemei immediately declared her intention to compete only in the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, despite having been named as a Marathon reserve.

"I am keen on running in the 10,000m in Helsinki and I will try my best to ensure that I qualify for the race. This is my plan for the moment," she said.

John Gwandavu won the men’s 10,000m in a time of 29 minutes, 13.1 seconds with Edwin Koech (29:15.5) and Alphonse Yatich (29:27.2) second and third espectively.