FLINT - Linus Maiyo, a 21-year-old Kenyan, threw in a withering surge with a mile and a half to go Saturday to pick up his first-ever win on the U.S. road-race circuit at the 28th annual Crim Festival of Races 10-mile run.

Brian Sell, 26, a member of the Hansons-Brooks team out of Rochester Hills, had a breakthrough performance in his first Crim. Sell, who led for much of the Olympic marathon trials in February before fading, finished fourth in 48:38, the first top-five performance by an American here since 1991.

For several miles, Maiyo had been tailed by countryman Isaac Arusei. But they have different agents and are fierce rivals. Repeatedly, Maiyo would snake from one side of the road to the other, trying to get Arusei to quit drafting on him. Finally, he just threw in a straight-ahead surge on the last major hill of the race and pulled away.

"I was trying to drop him so I could compete by myself," said Maiyo of his conga-line tactics. He finished in 48:06, the slowest winning time since 1987, to pick up first-place money of $5,000. Arusei, who finished 13 seconds back, won $2,500.

While the men's race started out with a large pack, the women's race was a two-person race from the gun. Galina Alexandrova, 28, of Russia, led most of the way, with last year's runner-up, Leah Malot, 32, of Kenya, right behind.

At the nine-mile mark, Malot picked up the pace. Alexandrova tried to match her but couldn't.

"In the beginning I was cold and started slow," said Malot of the drizzle that last the first few miles. "After that, it was perfect."

It was far from perfect at the scheduled 8 a.m. start. A fierce thunderstorm rolled through Flint about 7, turning the sky pitch black and filling the air with bolts of lightning and cracks of thunder as rain bucketed down. By 8:30, though, the lightning and thunder had moved on, light had returned and the race was able to start.

Malot also won $5,000 for her 54:35, with the Russian 10 seconds back. Sell ran in third place the last few miles, but was outkicked at the finish by a second by Patrick Nthiwa, 21, of Kenya.

"I felt terrible the first two miles," said Sell, who won $1,500 in open- division prize money and $800 in Michigan-only prize money. But at four, he was in a rhythm, and from then on, he ran smoothly and powerfully. "It was fun out there. We were doing a lot of racing. They seemed to be faster than me on the downhills, and then I'd be stronger on the uphills."

Running in a field laden with Kenyans, Sell said he doubted what his eyes told him - that he was battling for a top-five finish. He could see the two front-runners 125 meters ahead of him, "but I kept thinking, maybe there's another two out there ahead of them someplace."

Clint Verran, 29, another of the Hansons team, who finished fifth at the Olympic marathon trials, cracked the top 10, finishing ninth in 49:39 to win $250 in open-division prize money and $400 in Michigan-only money.

One of the top performances of the day was turned in by Tatyana Pozdnyakova, 49, of the Ukraine. She was fourth overall and first in the master's (over-40) division, winning a total of $2,700 for her 56:31. American Chris Toepfer, 41, was the top male master in 56:48.

The top American woman was Betsy Frens, 29, of Kalamazoo, who was seventh overall in 58:58.

Tony Iniquez of Bolingbrook, Ill., was an easy winner of the men's 10- mile wheelchair race in 40:06, to win $1,000. Miriam Nibley of Champaign, Ill., led the women wheelers in 51:13.

A field of 6573 finished the 10 mile. About 14,000 participated in one or more of the day's events, which included the first-ever hand-cycle race on the 10-mile course, a mile run, a 5K run and walk, an 8K walk and run and a series of trots for young kids.