Select shots featuring KIMbia athletes racing in the 2009 Chicago Marathon. Race recap here.

Though young and with nary a marathon to his name, KIMbia’s Charles Munyeki showed no hesitation to mix it up with the world’s finest in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon.  At the halfway point, the lead pack consisted of Vincent Kipruto (PB 2:05:47) Sammy Wanjiru (PB 2:05:10 and possessor of the marathon Gold from the Beijing Olympics) and Munyeki.  The pace was just a handful of seconds away from World Record pace, at 62:00.

Yet Munyeki didn’t flinch until 35k, when the pre-race favorite Wanjiru broke things open.  In his debut at the distance, Munyeki would come home in 2:07:06, having held on for 4th, as standout Abderrahim Goumri made a late charge from 4th all the way into 2nd.  Ben Maiyo, 2nd here in 2005, took 11th with 2:16:38, after attempting the very tough early pace.

Check back Tuesday for a full gallery of photos from the race!

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