Silvestor Moleko had never run in Salt Lake City before this week, had never even visited the state of Utah. But following this morning's victory in the 20th annual Deseret News/KJZZ/Salt Lake City 10K, odds are he'll be back to "visit" many more times.

The South African native now living in Albuquerque broke away from pre-race favorite Simon Sawe with about a mile to go and ran off with the title and a check for $2,500. Not a bad way to end his first Utah experience.

In perhaps the most competitive DesNews 10K in many years, four runners stayed closely bunched most of the way before Moleko ran off with a 12 second victory. Included in that pack was former University of Utah runner Teren Jameson, who bettered his own personal best time for the distance (finishing at 28:58, seven seconds over his best time on a track) and finished fourth in this morning's race from Research Park to Liberty Park.

Moleko, Sawe, Jameson, Joseph Kahugu and James Bungei made it a five-horse race from the getgo. Jameson actually led for more than half the race, starting fast on two downhill stretches of the 10K course. That was his strategy entering the run.

"I knew I could make some pretty good time on the downhills, particularly the two large runs on the campus," he said. "These guys are very talented athletes and I just tried to stay with them. I was pretty satisfied overall with how I ran."

He did more than just stay close, leading the race until Moleko caught him just after the three-mile mark. By that time Bungei had dropped about 50 meters behind the leading four runners. When the race reached 100 South, Moleko took the lead for good, eventually opening up a 10 meter advantage on Sawe, with Kahugu and Jameson another 20 or so meters behind. At that point the race had reached the route of the Days of '47 Parade, and Moleko took notice.

"It was great hearing people cheering for us as we went by," the articulate Moleko stated. "People here have been so friendly since I arrived, and to have that support on the course was unusual."

He also liked the conditions — a light breeze on the course and relatively low humidity, especially compared to the last race he won, an 8K in Iowa.

Sawe, winner two years ago and runnerup last year, pocketed $1,500 for second place, while Kahugu ($500), Jameson ($400) and Kahugu ($250) took home the rest. Two-time champ John Kariuki of Kenya, who always performs well in the DesNews and loves running in Utah, missed a flight connection from Kenya in Chicago and did not compete. Also missing his flight was Abdel Haki, another Kenyan running out of Albuquerque. They would have been considered favorites to cash as well.

The best finish by a non-seeded runner was that of Hobie Call of Laverkin, who finished sixth overall at 29:41, 13 seconds behind Bungei. As the top Utah resident finisher, he won $350. Former Ute Joe Wilson was seventh at 30:10, and Draper's Dennis Simonaitis was eighth at 30:28.

There were nearly 3,000 entries in the combined men's and women's 10K races this year, almost half of those entering in the final week before the race.