OTC ELITE WEEKEND WRAP-UP:  Thompson races to second in Manchester

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OTC Elite’s Chris Thompson earned the praise of Haile Gebreselassie, arguably the greatest distance runner in history, with his second-place finish at the BUPA Great Manchester Run. 

Racing in his native Britain for the first time this year, Thompson pushed Gebreselassie while eventually finishing just 11 seconds behind the great.  Thompson’s 10k time of 28 minutes, 21 seconds was impressive enough to hold off the rest of the talented field of athletes that is annually assembled for the BUPA Great Manchester Run.

Thompson who returns to Oregon this week to continue training for the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea this summer, is planning to compete in front of his adopted home crowd at Eugene’s Hayward Field during the Prefontaine Classic on June 4^th.