Gibraltar, October 31. Kami Semick of Bend, Oregon won the IAU World 50K championships held on the island of Gibraltar today. Semick finished about 8 minutes ahead of the competition, winning the race in 3:29:47. Monica Carlin of Italy finished second followed by Lesley Train of South Africa. Semick led almost from the start, and pulled decisively away at the 26 km mark. She also won the world championship at 100 kilometers in June at Torhout, Belgium.
The men’s race was won by Lucas Nonyana of South Africa in 2:58:04. Second place went to Paul Molineaux of Great Britain. Michael Wardian of Arlington, Virginia finished third. Wardian and Nonyana ran shoulder to shoulder for the first 44 km, but Nonyana made a decisive move with 6 km to go for the victory. Molineaux passed Wardian about 1 km from the finish for second.
The race was held on an 8-km loop that was described as rolling with a couple of steep hills. The temperature at the start of the race was a warm 76 degrees F.
Photo at left: Kami Semick at the 2008 Miwok 100K (Joe McCladdie photo)
Men
1. Lucas Nonyana, South Africa, 2:58:04
2. Paul Molineaux, Great Britain, 3:00:15
3. Michael Wardian, Arlington, VA, USA, 3:00:56
4. David Kirkland, Great Britain, 3:03:10
5. Julian Rendall, Great Britain, 3:12:35
Women
1. Kami Semick, Bend, OR, USA, 3:29:47
2. Monica Carlin, Italy, 3:37:10
3. Lesley Train, South Africa, 3:38:23
4. June Petri, Australia, 3:44:35
5. Amanda Stickel, Stoutsville, OH, USA, 3:52:28