HUNTINGTON WOODS (9/16/06) - Stephen Muturi took home a lion's share of victories at the LaSalle Bank Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo.

Muturi, 30, a Kenyan who lives in Rochester, started the day by winning the 5K in 15:17. Ovidiu Olteanu, 36, of Novi, led until the end of the first mile. Muturi then passed him and took control, winning by 10 seconds. Adam Wheeler, 29, of Westland, placed third in 16:08.

Muturi moved on to the 10K and triumphed in 30:55, three seconds ahead of Travis Laird, 24, of Rochester. Laird, who recently joined the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, is originally from Flagstaff, Ariz.

"I stayed with him (Muturi) for the first mile and a half," Laird said. "Then he inched away from me." Eric Hartmark, 28, of Rochester, was third in 31:27.

"It was a good race," said Muturi. "It has a flat, very fast course. If you are in good shape, you can surprise yourself on this course."

The lead women in 5K took full advantage of the flat course and the 60- degree morning.

Winner Denisa Costescu, 30, of Novi, broke 17 minutes for the first time this year, running 16:58. Costescu, married to men's runnerup Olteanu, ran as fast as 15:33 for 5K for the Romanian national team. But having given birth to a daughter in April, this marked her fastest 5K this year.

Right behind her, Suzanne Larsen, 28, of Fenton, established a PR with her 17:05 clocking. Her previous best had been 17:13 earlier in the year.

Larsen said tried to stay close to Costescu. "It's such a fast course, I didn't want to go out too fast and die at the end," she said. "I closed the gap on her on the last mile, but I ran out of real estate."

Danielle Hobbs, 24, of Utica, was third in 18:28.

Like Muturi, Larsen also ran the 10K. She again took second, this time behind Hansons-Brooks star Desiree Davila, 25, of Rochester.

Davila led the women in 35:40, followed by Larsen (38:21) and Cortney Kosmala, 26, of Clinton Township (40:34).

"I felt a little heavy and sluggish today," Davila said. "But it's always nice to win."

"I was getting nervous earlier in the year when they were talking about closing the Detroit Zoo," Larsen said. "I was glad to see the zoo remain open and that they continued this race."

Along with LaSalle Bank, sponsors included the Detroit Zoological Institute, the Detroit Zoological Society, New Balance, Gatorade and Coca-Cola.

For complete results, go to www.runwilddetroitzoo.com. MR