European Athletics (EAA) – News – Lewandowski on the road to Freedom

Poland’s traditional Freedom Day road races across the country on Thursday saw several big names competing, notably the 2010 European Athletics Championships 800m champion Marcin Lewandowski.

Lewandowski had his first race since he wore the colours of Team Europe at the IAAF Continental Cup on September 5, where he finished second over two laps of the track in Split to contributed valuable points to the Team Europe victory there, when he won the Goleniow’s Independence mile in 4:22.

He just edged out Hungary’s Barnabas Bene on the line, with the three-time SPAR European Cross Country Championships gold medallist – twice a winner as a junior in 2004 and 2005 and also as an under 23 runner in 2006 – being given the same time.

Bene, now 24, will be looking to do better at this year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal, on December 12, after a disappointing 57th place in his first outing at the event as a senior in 2009.

The women’s race in Goleniow was won by Russia’s Natalya Slednikova in 5:04 while the 10km races saw victories for Hungary’s Laszlo Toth, in 30:07, and Lithuania’s Rasa Drazdauskaite, the recent Athens marathon winner crossing the line in 33:55.

Another Freedom Day road race in the Polish capital Warszaw saw 6000 runners participate over 10km with Mariusz Gizynski winning in 29:57.

The first women home in Warsaw was local star Karolina Jarzynska, the first European at last month’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, in 33:49.

European Athletics (EAA) – News