KIMbia Athletics

Christopher Cheboiboch took 7th place in a time of 2:16:34 in the Enschede Marathon, the 2nd oldest marathon in Europe. Competing against one of the fastest fields in the event’s history, Cheboiboch hit halfway nicely, in 1:04:42, but faded in the latter portion of the race.

At Penn, Evan Jager anchored the USA “Blue” team in the USA v. the World DMR, clocking 3:58.05 for the 1600m leg. Meanwhile, Michelle Sikes ran 4:45.59 in the Women’s “Olympic Development” Mile, which was good for 6th place and just 2 seconds back from the winner, mile specialist Geena Gall.

Elva Dryer made herself a fixture up front in Boston on Monday, much the same way she has been a fixture at the forefront of the US Track, Cross Country and Road Racing scenes from the very first stages of her professional career. Now that she has fully transitioned to the marathon — with Boston becoming her 4th — she shared her thoughts on moving up in distance and what she was looking for on Patriots Day 2009.

Elva confided that she had hoped for a PB in Boston, and though the slow early pace doomed that goal, there’s no questioning that, if nothing else, she put herself in the best possible position to race well.

The KIMbia team got plenty of face-time in the 2009 Boston Marathon broadcast. Elva Dryer spearheaded the women’s pack for several miles, while the trio of James Koskei, Timothy Cherigat and Stephen Kiogora were quite visible, tucked into the lead men’s pack early, and in the case of Stephen and Timothy, surging into the lead a little past half-way.

After reckoning was completed at the finish line, Top Performance honors have to go to James Koskei, for winning his first Masters Marathon title, and double-dipping in the Open money, too, thanks to his 11th-place finish.  And, his time of 2:14:52 was within a minute of his PB (2:14:02 – Dubai, 2007) — quite credible on the Boston course.

After running as a phalanx early, the KIMbia trio also finished in sequence — preceding James to the line was Stephen, whose 2:13:00 was good for 9th, with Timothy just behind: 10th place in 2:13:04. After battling a leg injury during the final weeks before Race Day, Ben Maiyo was forced to drop out in the first quarter of the race.

On the women’s side, Elva hung with the leaders for about 14 miles and came home 12th, finishing in 2:38:50.

Finally in Boston, Timothy and Stephen offer a crash-course in “Boston” to teammate Ben Maiyo.

360 Athletics LIVE is Marathon coverage like you have never seen before.  In the Live blog below, we will be providing up-to-the-second race updates and commentary, video features, live video commentary from our on-site analysts, and (best of all) audience participation.  Let us know what you want to see in this coverage and we will do our best to get that to you.  So, sit back or stand up, cheer on your favorite runners, and enjoy 360 degree coverage of the most famous foot race in the world! Read the full article

In which Timothy, Baba and James wrap up their preparations for Boston.  Watch the series finale tomorrow as part of our live coverage of the 2009 Boston Marathon! And, in the meantime, check out the guys’ page at Saucony.com…

In athletics, there’s rarely such a thing as an unqualified success, but a pair of KIMbia athletes opened the outdoor season last night with performances in that vicinity.

At the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, CA, Chris Solinsky and Sean Quigley took to the track to get their respective seasons underway, and came out guns a-blazing. In the 5000m, Solinsky clocked 13:18, good for 3rd, just behind Juan Luis Barrios and Anthony Famiglietti, and a mere 6 seconds off his lifetime best. In the same race, Quigley actually lowered his personal best by 3 seconds, running 13:27 to take 5th.

Full results here. To see performance details… Read the full article

In which the guys practice Boston’s socio-cultural norms… More here.

On Monday, defending champions Robert Cheruiyot and Dire Tune will try to hold off strong Boston Marathon fields that include the best American hopes for a Boston Champion, in Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher. Flying a little under the radar is a talented group of KIMbia athletes — Timothy Cherigat, Elva Dryer, Stephen “Baba” Kiogora, James Koskei and Ben Maiyo — looking to make their own mark on this year’s race, and we will be tracking their efforts LIVE, in real-time, right here, with a one-of-a-kind live blog featuring video features, interactive polls and audience commentary, and a contest giveaway.

So, Monday morning, come chat it up with your fellow running fans in our virtual sports-bar while you watch the Universal Sports video feed.  And, for you iPhone users who can’t get to a computer, you can follow our play-by-play right on your iPhone.  In the meantime: whether you have a question for our competitors, or about some aspect of Boston — the city or the event — leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to cover it on Monday!

Wanting to make a big splash in Boston this year, the guys hone their technical running in preparation for the unique quirks of the Boston roads.  [ Saucony has created a page for the guys -- and the videos -- on their website, here. ]