EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Kenenisa Bekele won the 9.3-kilometer Great Edinburgh Cross Country race for the third straight year on Saturday.
The Olympic and world 10,000-meter champion took the lead with 600 meters to go at Holyrood Park, and the Ethiopian finished narrowly ahead of Zersenay Tadesse and Eliud Kipchoge in 27 minutes, 42 seconds.
Tadesse of Eritrea, who beat Bekele to the 2007 world title last March, finished in 27:43, the same time as 2005 race winner Kipchoge of Kenya.
Tadese’s win in Mombasa, Kenya last year, after Bekele dropped out of the race with stomach cramps, had denied Bekele a record sixth long-course title and ended his sequence of 27 cross country victories over six years.