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On Saturday, the 25th annual Beach to Beacon 10K took place in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The race finished with an exciting men’s sprint to the line. However, it appears that the winner purposely impeded second-place finisher Conner Mantz and therefore should be disqualified. Video evidence available on Tik Tok shows one of the two moments when Addisu Yihune impended Mantz.
During the final 200m — Mantz was on his way to pass Yihune — however, his rhythm was interrupted when he was pushed toward the fencing. He was forced to slow down a little to avoid running into the fence. The 20-year-old Ethiopian allegedly did it twice.
@runnnsphere Yihune Addisu vs Conner Mantz incident in the last 200m of the TD Beach to Beacon 10k 👀 This is what Conner Mantz wrote on Strava: “Ran tough. Biya and I traded the lead the first two miles or so. Then the Ethiopians pushed the pace. We ended up with a group of five for the last two miles. At somewhere from 5.2 to 5.5 I made a big move, then it was me and the eventual winner. He pushed around 5.7 and I tried to pass him on the inside at around 6 miles, but he cut me off. With less than 200m to go, I made a big surge to pass him again. There was a lot of room on the left, but he saw me passing him, he ran me into the fence. My momentum was gone. No video of the race (so no way for the official to see if it was intentional or not), but l’II look forward to my next chance to race Addisu Yihune.” Result: Yihune Addisu – 27:56 🥇 Conner Mantz – 27:58 🥈 📹 @Alyssa Wade ♬ original sound – RunnnSphere
Mantz called out Yihune on social media and said he looked forward to racing him again. Perhaps, then he will win fair and square. For now, though, the Beach to Beacon 10K organisers should disqualify Yihune and redistribute the prize money including the $5000 that he gained crossing the finish line first.
Both athletes ran new 10K personal bests finishing in 27:58.
Top-10 results
TOP RESULTS MEN 10K
| POS | NAME | RESULT | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addisu Yihune | 27:56 | 4:30 min/mile |
| 2 | Conner Mantz | 27:58 | 4:30 min/mile |
| 3 | Muktar Edris | 28:06 | 4:32 min/mile |
| 4 | Edwin Kurgat | 28:15 | 4:33 min/mile |
| 5 | Biya Simbassa | 28:19 | 4:34 min/mile |
| 6 | Walelegn Amedework | 28:55 | 4:40 min/mile |
| 7 | Yemane Haileselaissie | 29:01 | 4:41 min/mile |
| 8 | Reid Buchanan | 29:02 | 4:41 min/mile |
| 9 | Hideto Kosode | 29:08 | 4:42 min/mile |
| 10 | Kirubel Erassa | 29:27 | 4:45 min/mile |
TOP RESULTS WOMEN 10K
| POS | NAME | RESULT | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hellen Obiri | 31:37 | 5:06 min/mile |
| 2 | Fotyen Tesfay | 31:38 | 5:06 min/mile |
| 3 | Keira D’Amato | 31:58 | 5:09 min/mile |
| 4 | Vicoty Chepngeno | 31:59 | 5:09 min/mile |
| 5 | Edna Kiplagat | 32:23 | 5:13 min/mile |
| 6 1 | Fiona O’Keeffe | 32:24 | 5:13 min/mile |
| 7 1 | Sara Hall | 32:32 | 5:15 min/mile |
| 8 | Werkuha Getachew | 33:32 | 5:24 min/mile |
| 9 1 | Sarah Pagano | 33:39 | 5:25 min/mile |
| 10 1 | Susanna Sullivan | 33:45 | 5:26 min/mile |
