With the Chicago Marathon featuring a dramatic finish up front, Jason Hartmann had his own finish worth talking about, as he took 8th place in 2:11:06, the top American in the race.  Hartmann, a Michigan-native, was coming off a 2:12:09 winning effort at last year’s Twin Cities Marathon, and decided to forgo that race — the US Championship for the distance this year — in order to run with a world-class field and chase a fast time.  He successfully did both.

Hartmann settled into the chase pack early, coming through the 5k in 15:27. From there, the 29-year-old kept chipping away as other athletes fell off pace, finally climbing into the top-20 by the 20k and the top-10 at 30k.  Crossing the line 8th, Hartmann capped a massive improvement over his last finish in Chicago: 2006, his marathon debut, a race in which he managed a 2:15:50 for 20th place.  His 2010 performance was a massive betterment of his personal best both on this course and at this distance, shaving a solid 1:03 off his Twin Cities time and existing PB, and launching himself into the Top 40 American performers of all-time.   With his 2:11:06, he climbed more than 30 spots on the all-time list of US performers — just twelve seconds outside of the Top 30.

Meanwhile, Boston played host to KIMbia’s Kenyan contingent as they contended for a win in the BAA Half Marathon. Read the full article

A women’s victory and the top three spots on the men’s side of yesterday’s Bellin Run highlighted the last spring appearances of many of our road racers. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Millicent Gathoni notched another dominating win, taking the Bellin Run 10K in 32:51, more than 2 minutes ahead of 2007 Chicago Marathon runner-up Adriana Pirtea. On the men’s side, John Yuda and John Korir both recorded times of 28:47, with Yuda getting the nod for the victory. Charles Munyeki completed the KIMbia sweep by placing third in 29:20.

At the Steamboat Classic in Peoria, Illinois yesterday, Luke Kipkosgei finished his spring season in fine form, running 18:18 for the 4-mile race to finish second, just one second behind Ridouane Harroufi. Richard Kiplagat took fourth in the strong field by running 18:20. Elva Dryer took fifth in 20:44, and Jane Gakunyi was one place and 2 seconds behind Elva.

Johns Yuda and Korir, Luke, Charles, Millicent and Jane will return home later this week. Some of them, as well as KIMbia stalwarts like Gilbert Okari, will return later in the summer for the height of the U.S. road season.

Bellin Run 10 results | Steamboat Classic 4-mile results

Millicent Gathoni kept the women’s Bolder Boulder title in the KIMbia family for another year, taking the Memorial Day 10K in 32:49. She battled Ethiopia’s Amane Gobena for most of the race before pulling away for a 4-second victory. Her victory also helped Millicent lead the Kenyan women to a second-place finish in the international team competition behind a strong Romanian contingent. Returning to action after last month’s Olympic Marathon Trials, Elva Dryer ran 34:39 and was the second American behind Deena Kastor.

Running as part of the British Commonwealth team, John Yuda placed fourth in 28:48, one place and 9 seconds ahead of John Korir, who was the top finisher on the Kenyan men’s squad. Charles Munyeki was eighth in 29:12. Ethiopia won the men’s team title, followed by Kenya and the Commonwealth.

John Korir and Lineth Chepkurui won this morning’s Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco, often called the world’s largest road race (once you factor in the thousands of unofficial entrants–it is San Francisco, after all). Korir ran 34:24 to repeat his victory of last year. For good measure, he was also the first man to the top of the infamous Hayes Street Hill. John Yuda was third in 35:03, behind Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi (34:28), who won the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler last month over Johns Korir and Yuda. Our Julius Koskei was 4th in 35:56.

Lineth won yet another major American race, adding the Bay to Breakers title to victories at Cherry Blossom in April and the Bloomsday 12K two weeks ago. She ran 39:22 to keep the women’s title in the KIMbia family one year after Edna Kiplagat, who recently gave birth, won here.

Lineth was among the elite women given a headstart of 4 minutes and 40 seconds over the rest of the field. Korir caught her in the last mile to win the race-within-a-race equalizer bonus.

Lineth Chepkurui continued her winning ways on Sunday, taking the title at the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Washington. The race just happens to be the largest timed running event in the world. Lineth pulled away from the pack, which included Olympic medalist Catherine Ndereba, on the toughest part of the course, Doomsday Hill. She increased her lead in the remaining miles to win in 39:47, 25 seconds ahead of Ndereba. Four weeks ago, Lineth won the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, D.C.

KIMbia had two former Bloomsday champions in the men’s race. John Korir finished third in 34:17, behind Micah Kogo (33:51) and Ridouane Harroufi (34:14). Our other former champion, Gilbert Okari, returned to action by placing 12th in 35:11. John Yuda was 6th in 34:39, and Luke Kipkosgei was 15th in 35:49.

Results