By Chuck Sargent, Sentinel & Enterprise

Fitchburg, Massachusetts — Alene Reta entered the 27th annual Slattery’s Turkey Trot, Sunday, as the two-time defending champion of the 5-mile race.

It did not take long for the Ethiopian, who lives in Manhattan, N.Y., to separate himself from the pack and gobble up his third consecutive Turkey Trot victory.

Each year, he has improved upon his mark. In 2005, he won with a time of 23:51. Last year, he finished the race in 23:30. This year, he completed the race in 23:03, and, in the process, set a new course record.

“Every year I win I’m happy,” Reta said. “But this year, everybody did good.”

Reta, along with Mark Carroll and Benjamin Ndaya, made it a three-man race in the beginning, taking early command as the race turned into Fitchburg State College.

By the 1-mile mark, Reta had distanced himself from the other two by a few strides, with a time of 4:30.

When the 2-mile mark came on Ashby State Road, Reta held an eight-second lead over Carroll, who had separated from Ndaya.

Reta’s lead grew to 18 seconds at the 3-mile mark and then to 20 seconds at the fourth mile. By the time Reta began his ascent up Pearl Street, his lead was at 22 seconds. When he crossed the finish line at Slattery’s, his final lead wound up being 28 seconds over Carroll, who completed the race in 23:31. Ndaya was the third-place finisher with a time of 24:15.

Carroll, a Providence College graduate who hails from Cork, Ireland, is an elite runner who competes in races all over the world. He was using the Turkey Trot as a warm up for a race in Japan next month.

“I went on the computer and saw the name Slattery’s,” he said. “And it sounded like a nice Irish name.”

Alemtsehay Misganaw, who is also from Ethiopia and Manhattan, was the top female finisher with a time of 26:51. The victory was her second in three years, as she also took home the prize in 2005.

Misganaw, who trains in Central Park, was pleased with the relatively mild weather that provided ideal running conditions.

“This year, it was good,” she said. “Two years ago, it was cold. But this year was good.”

Lenora Joy, a native of New Zealand who attended Stony Brook, was the second-place finisher with a time of 27:33. Heidi Westerling, of Acworth, N.H., rounded out the top three with a time of 27:59.

Prior to the Turkey Trot’s main races, a .4-mile race for children 10 and under was held. The winner of that race was 10-year old Kelsey Bedard, of Leominster.

“It was fun,” Bedard said. “It felt really good (to win it).”