KIMbia Athletics

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.

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

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!

Runningtimes.com has just posted a new profile of two-time Olympian and KIMbia athlete Elva Dryer as she prepares for the Boston Marathon. Dryer is returning to Boston after competing in the Olympic marathon trials there last year, where she was forced to drop out before mile 20. Elva reports that her training for next week’s race has gone well, and talks about competing at an elite level at age 37, plus why she decided to run Boston this year. Stay tuned for updates on Elva’s race on April 20th.

In other news, The Oregonian conducted an interview with Jerry Schumacher, coach of Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, Tim Nelson and Simon Bairu, on their website yesterday. Schumacher discusses Tegenkamp and Solinsky’s recent knee injuries (severed PCL for Chris, “wear and tear” irritation from running in the snow for Matt) but says they’re both healthy and training hard now.

One last note: for residents of Washington, D.C., two area TV stations will broadcast last weekend’s Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, won by KIMbia’s Lineth Chepkurui. Coverage will be available on WJLA from 11:30am to noon and NewsChannel 8 from 1pm to 1:30. Thanks to Race Results Weekly for the heads-up.

For the second time in just more than a month, Tim Nelson finished second at a national championship race with a thrilling last-minute sprint that almost netted him the win.

At February’s national cross country championships, Tim almost ran down a solo-running Meb Keflezighi. This morning, at the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville, Fla., Tim surged strongly in the last 400 meters and almost caught Anthony Famiglietti, who led from the 5K mark. Fam held on to win in 43:36, with Tim finishing 1 second back. Fasil Bizuneh was next across the line with another strong run, running 43:52 to hold off Olympian Dan Browne. James Carney rounded out a closely packed top 10 with a 44:13 run.

Elva Dryer continued her promising Boston Marathon prep with a 4th-place finish in 50:40.

Top 10 results are here.

My most memorable experience of 2008 is also the one I most want to forget about. The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials just did not go my way. I saw something I had worked so hard for just slip away. Any other day, maybe the result would have been different, but for the Olympic Trials timing is everything. This leads me to my major goal for 2009. I have some unfinished business in the marathon. I hope to return to Boston and run the Boston Marathon. I still believe I have a better one in me.

Merry Christmas,
Elva

A very pleasant morning, indeed, in New Haven, Conn. James Carney won the New Haven Road Race, which, as per usual, doubled as the national 20K championship. James ran 59:11 to beat Josh Rohatinsky, the second finisher, by 47 seconds. James’ time was 28 seconds faster than he ran last year while finishing second.

After leading late in the race, Elva Dryer finished second in 1:08:54, 6 seconds behind Jill Steffens.

For James, it was his second national road title of the year, after the half marathon championship in January. James had a solid lead by midway and was never challenged thereafter. He passed 10 miles in 47:26.

Results

Lots of KIMbia folks in action over what for non-professional American runners is a holiday weekend.

First up, on Sunday Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky race 3,000m in Gateshead, England. You can watch the meet live online here, starting at 9:55 a.m. Eastern time.

On Monday, Elva Dryer, James Carney and Fasil Bizuneh will contend for the national 20K title in New Haven, Conn. Elva and James were second in last year’s race. Running Times will have live coverage here.

The same day, (much) further south, Jane Gakunyi, Richard Kiplagat and Luke Kipkosgei will race half as far at the U.S. 10K Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Luke and Richard were second and fourth, respectively, in last year’s race.

Another in an occasional series of our friends’ post-Olympic Trials plans:

I will be hitting the U.S. road race circuit. I will start off with the Falmouth Road Race in Falmouth, Mass., on August 10th, and then follow it up with a series of U.S. championship races like the 20K Championships/New Haven Road Race in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 1st; the CVS Downtown 5K on Sept. 21st; the US 8K Championships in Akron, Ohio on Sept 27th; and next on to the 10K Championships /Tufts 10K in Boston, Mass.