FLINT (8/24) -- In a battle of world record-holders, Catherine Ndereba overcame a 100-meter deficit late to win her fifth-straight Crim Festival of Races 10-mile run and $5,000. The triumph was sparked by controversy, charges of pace-setting and a display by anger by the normally mild-mannered Kenyan. Ndereba, 30, ran the 2001 Chicago Marathon in a women's world-record 2:18:47. Crim challenger Asmae Leghzaoui, 25, of Morocco, set world 10K and 8K standards (30:29 and 24:28 respectively) this summer. The showdown between heavyweights (metaphorically speaking) was set. Ndereba led the first four miles, Leghzaoui the next four. Then the Kenyan powered it home to finish in 52:09, winning by 12 seconds. "I didn't get worried. I knew I had done my training," Ndereba said. Leghzaoui was paced the entire way by Mohammed Ar-Ar, a male Moroccan. USA Track & Field rules are ambiguous about pacing, but not about the other aid Ar-Ar provided. Although no official protests were filed, Crim director Sherlynn Everly decided to withhold $1,000 of Leghzaoui's $2,500 second-place purse. Moreover, runners will be told next year that absolutely no pacing will be tolerated. "It was very clear that Ar-Ar assisted Asmae in giving her information on where Catherine and the other competitors were," Everly said in a post-race e-mail. "In watching the raw TV footage, you could see that he would look back, then speak to her. Sometimes her pace would even change." Ndereba said Ar-Ar even got water for Leghzaoui at aid stations, a clear violation of American rules for road racing. "It was frustrating," said Ndereba, adding she would have filed a protest had she finished second. "Of course I would have. (Aid like that's) not allowed." Leghzaoui and Ar-Ar caught Ndereba at four miles, "and then they accelerated away," said the winner, who found herself down by 100 meters two miles later. "I maintained my pace and ran how my body felt. I thought, if she has more speed than me, she can win." But she also felt a growing anger, unusual for the normally sweet-tempered Kenyan, as she saw Leghzaoui's partner fetch her water at water stops. "In America, you are not supposed to have pace setters, and you are supposed to get your own water," Ndereba said. But a protest became moot when Ndereba caught Leghzaoui at eight miles and zipped past. "She tried to go with me," said the winner, "but she could not." Leghzaoui was unavailable for comment after the race. Ndereba -- who was greeted at the finish with a hug from her daughter, Jane, 5, and who had come to town early to talk at a local church -- said she was hoping for another world record at the Chicago Marathon in October. And to come back to Crim next year for her sixth-straight win.

For men's champ Simon Rono, 30, of Kenya, Crim was his first race after missing almost two years with an ankle injury. He won in 47:13, with countryman Benjamin Kosgei, 30, eight seconds back. "No, I was not surprised to win," said Rono, despite his lack of racing. "I was very confident. I knew I trained well." The men's 10-miler has a tradition of tight finishes and desperate sprints down the bricks of Saginaw Streets to the finish. This year's race lacked that drama. Rono and countryman Gabriel Muchiri -- 12 Kenyan men finished in the top 14 -- took off from the 25-member lead pack at mile three and broke things open with a 4:28 fourth mile. Rono surged again at six miles and was never threatened. Kyle Baker, 26, of Mason, finished as top American and seventh overall in 47:55. Baker -- a Michigan State University assistant coach, recent winner of a Roads Scholarship from the Road Runners Clubs of America, and Michigan Runner magazine's 2001 state runner of the year -- won $600 in open prize money and $800 as the top state runner. "Last year, I asked 'What if?' because I was just hanging back with the Michigan guys," said Baker, who finished 11th at Crim in 2001 and out of the open prize money. "At the end, I felt like I could have done better. "This year, the plan was to go with the leaders as long as I could," he said. Baker hung tight till five miles, drifted back to ninth, then rallied late to pass a pair of Kenyans. Richie Brinker, 26, a Team Hansons member from Rochester Hills, was 12th overall and second American in 49:21. Justin Young (49:34), Kevin Doyle (49:39) and Joseph Gibson (50:07) gave Hansons the 15th, 16th and 17th overall finishers, and third, fourth and fifth Americans. Cori Mooney, 29, of Idaho, was the top American woman and seventh overall in 56:33. Former Calvin College All-American Betsy Frens, 27, of Grand Rapids, was the state's top woman and 10th overall in 59:18. No controversy there. But protests were lodged against second- and third-place Michiganians Mari Chandler, 26, of East Tawas (59:33) and Tere Stouffer-Drenth, 36, of Charlevoix (1:01:07). Chandler, it was alleged, is now living in California, and Stouffer-Drenth hadn't been a state resident for 12 months, as the rules specify. It was determined that while Chandler had been in California training with the Nike Farm Team, she was still a Michigan resident and got to keep her $400 runnerup money. Stouffer-Drenth took her disqualification and loss of $250 in stride. "I didn't even know there was state prize money," she said. Tatyana Pozdynyakova, 47, of the Ukraine, was ninth overall and the first masters (over 40) woman in 58:10. Cindy Keeler, 44, a former Eastern Michigan runner and Free Press marathon winner living in Florida, was 18th overall and second master in 1:03:07. The top men's master was Andrew Masai, 42, of Kenya, who was 14th overall in 49:33. American Eddy Hellebuyck, 41, was second master and 19th overall in 51:12. Steve Czymbor, an 18-year-old from Hemlock High School, won the men's 8K in 25:45, beating Eric Green of Pontiac by 78 seconds. Missy Fiorino, a 31-year-old who drove in five hours from Toronto, led the women in 28:52. Ashley Anderson of Rochester Hills was a distant second in 33:15. Kevin Gienapp, 17, from Brighton, won the 5K in 16:30 despite lingering tendinitis, finishing 10 seconds ahead of Jared Elmore, 17, of Clarkston. Kelly Robinson, 15, of Holt, led the women in 18:57, 11 seconds ahead of 13-year-old whiz Kaitlin Omara of Goodrich. A total of 13,597 ran or walked one of the 26th-annual Crim events, which included tot trots for kids, a one-mile walk and run, 5K walk and run, 8K run and the marquee 10-miler, which drew its second-biggest field ever, 6,257. MR