OK, how many of us have had a subpar workout or race and the first thing we do is reach into the old bag of excuses? Kenenisa Bekele had a boatload Sunday at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland but kept them stuffed in a sack and won his sixth title.

Bekele missed a flight from him home in Addis Ababa, battled a queasy stomach from eating a bad breakfast in London and lost his shoe early in the 12K race.  He was in a pack about 3 kilometers into the race that closed up in a turn. The shoe worked its way loose and he had to stop before it fell off completely. Miraculously, he caught up with lead pack and matched the accelerations of Zersane Tadese, evenually overtaking him and winning rather comfortably in 34 minutes 38 seconds. Tadese, of Eritrea, finished third, behind Kenya’s Leonard Patrick Komon.

Led by Komon, the Kenyans took the team title with 39 points. The top American man was Jorge Torres, who finished 19th in  36:03. The Americans finished 7th of 15 teams.

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia used a late charge to take the women’s race, an 8K, in 25:10. Mestawet Tufa and Linet Masai finished second and third, respectively. Emily Brown was the top American, finishing 18th in 26:36. The Ethiopians finished first in the team competition, but the Americans finished a most respectable fourth of 12 teams.