KIMbia’s newest athlete, James Carney, won the 2008 US Half Marathon Championships in Houston, Texas on Sunday. Carney, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Division II Millersville University, set the tempo from the beginning, cruising along at 4:45 pace, breaking the tape at 1:02:21, 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Jason Lehmkuhle. It was Carney’s first US Championship and a positive indicator for things to come. Last spring he ran 27:43 for 10,000 meters at the Cardinal Invite - a time that used to raise eyebrows, but has less impact today - and at this year’s US Olympic Marathon Trials, his debut marathon, Carney finished 14th in 2:16:54. In that race he finished one spot and seven seconds behind KIMbia’s other new member, Fasil Bizuneh. (Fasil trained with KIMbia’s marathon group in Boulder leading up to the US Olympic Marathon Trials, but was not represented by KIMbia at the time.) Fasil finished 2nd at last year’s US Half Marathon Championship with a similar time to Carney’s - 1:02:20. Both Fasil and Carney plan to run the 10,000 meters at this year’s US Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
In the women’s race, Kate O’Neill continued her impressive move to the roads with a 13-second victory over Desiree Davilla. KIMbia’s Nicole Aish had a great race, finishing 4th in 1:12:30. Elva Dryer, last year’s winner and this year’s favorite, did not finish.
