MANCHESTER — Last month, Alene Reta passed rival Abiyot Warku with about a half mile left to win a road race in Washington, D.C.

On Thursday, Warku returned the favor at the 20th annual Cigna/Elliot Corporate 5K Road Race.

After trailing him the entire way, Warku passed Reta with about 200 meters to go to overcome what seemed like an insurmountable lead and win the race in a time of 14 minutes, 8 seconds. The race attracted nearly 6,000 runners to downtown Manchester.

“I made a mistake (in Washington),” Warku said. “I learned something from that.”

The entire course in Manchester is flat or downhill until the final 400 meters or so, which is where Warku made his move.

As the two runners made the final turn onto the hill at West Merrimack Street, Reta held a lead of about 20 meters over Warku. It was right there Warku noticed something.

“When I saw him, he was tired,” said Warku, 27, who is originally from Ethiopia and now lives in New York City. “I had the power and I pushed the pace.”

He gained ground on Reta as the two climbed the hill and then eventually passed him on a slight downward slope leading up to the finish line.

►Click here for race results from coolrunning.com.

“After that I was tired,” said Reta, 30, who is also originally from Ethiopia and lives in New York. “The hill killed me.”

Reta finished four seconds behind Warku at 14:12. The top New Hampshire runner was Mark Miller, 31, of Marlborough, who was 10th overall with a time of 15:08.

The winner of the women's race was Muliye Gurmu, 28, of the Bronx. N.Y., with a time of 17:18. The top New Hampshire runner on the women's side was Denise Sandahl, 31, of Rochester, who was fourth overall with a time of 18:06.

“This is a huge (personal record) for me,” Sandahl said. “I'm very happy.”

The humidity didn't bother Sandahl as she went out at a blistering pace and just decided to keep it up.

“I went out very fast, faster than normal,” Sandahl said. “I think the first couple of miles helped.”

Warku and Reta also went out fast. They ran the first mile in about 4:25 and got to mile two at about 8:51. That was where Reta got a kick and built a cushion between himself and Warku.

That may have been what ultimately killed Reta down the stretch.

Warku, who said he's a better short-distance runner, paced himself for the first two miles and kept some in reserve for the home stretch.

“I didn't give a big gap between him and me,” Warku said. “Then, I saw him at the hill and I said 'Let me try and as I tried I became close to him.'”

The second New Hampshire runner on the men's side was Antoine Gisore, 22, of Concord. Justin Freeman, 35, of New Hampton, rounded out the top three. The second New Hampshire woman runner to finish was Mary Garrity, 29, of Manchester, and third place went to fellow Queen City resident Stephanie Burnham, 31.

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Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.