KIMbia Athletics

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.

Lineth Chepkurui won this morning’s Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, D.C. over a field that included Olympic and World Championship marathon medalists Catherine Ndereba and Lidia Simon.

The elite women started 10 minutes before the rest of the field, which might partially explain the surprisingly slow opening mile of 5:50. Things got more normal after that, with Lineth breaking away for good in the eighth mile to win comfortably in 54:21.

John Yuda was part of a three-man pack sharing the lead with less than a mile to go, but then stopped briefly to tend to a thigh cramp. When he resumed running, the chase pack had caught him. In a sprint finish among that pack, Yuda and Charles Munyeki were almost the fastest–they finished together in 46:22, tied for fourth overall. Three-time Cherry Blossom champ John Korir was seventh in 46:30. Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi outsprinted Kenyan Nicholas Kamakya for the win, 46:14 to 46:15.

Women’s results | Men’s results

Coming off his pacing duties last week in Chicago, John Yuda ran an impressive 61:13 at the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon. Unfortunately, McDonald Ondara ran 61:11 for the win. It’s the third race this year where Yuda has come out on the short end of the kicking stick (Beach to Beacon and VA Beach Half Marathon being the other two). About one minute back from the leaders was Tom Nyariki in 62:17, good for fourth place. “It wasn’t my best race, but I ran okay,” Nyariki said after the race. “I think I am a little tired after Boston [BAA Half Marathon] last weekend.” Charles Munyeki rounded out the KIMbia contingent with a 5th place finish in 62:58.

Next week Laban Kipkemboi and Charles Kibiwott will be racing the Seoul Marathon. And this week chasingKIMBIA continues with its coverage from Boulder, Colorado where Fasil Bizuneh and Stephen Kiogora are preparing for the US Olympic Marathon Trials and the NYC Marathon, respectively. The Trials are on November 3rd, the regular Marathon on November 4th.

On the eve of chasingKIMBIA Season Three, the road racing crew got things started with great results. At the CVS Downtown 5K in Providence, Rhode Island, Simon Ndirangu outkicked teammate and defending champion Richard Kiplagat for the win. “It was quite an exciting race,” said Tom Ratcliffe. “There were still a half-dozen athletes in the race approaching the final hill. That’s when Simon and Richard made their move.” It’s the same spot where Richard made his move last year to defeat Anthony Famiglietti and Fasil Bizuneh. Unofficially, Simon ran 13:40.

Further south at the Philly Distance Run Half Marathon, Tom Nyariki and John Yuda were in the hunt until the last stretch. Julius Kibet (who is James Koskei’s brother) had the faster closing kick on this day, pulling away from Nyariki and Yuda to win in 62:01. Nyariki ran 62:04 and Yuda 62:05. Charles Munyeki had a solid race, finishing 6th in 62:28. On the women’s side, Edna Kiplagat finished 3rd in 1:10:11. Pamela Chepchumba was the winner in 68:45.

Be sure to tune into Season Three of chasingKIMBIA starting tomorrow.

Better late than never…Labor Day Weekend produced two KIMbia victories. At the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon in VA Beach, Edna Kiplagat continued her dominant 2007 road season with an 8-second win over Akane Wakita. It was Edna’s second win in as many years at VA Beach. Tom Nyariki cracked the top-five of the men’s race, finishing 3rd in 1:02:30, just ten seconds off of winner Haron Toroitich.

Further south, at the U.S. 10K Classic in Atlanta, Simon Ndirangu got back to his winning ways with a 4-second win over teammate Luke Kipkosgei - 29:56 to 30:00. Richard Kiplagat finished 4th in 30:17.

This coming weekend five athletes will travel to the Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon. Nyariki, John Yuda, Charles Munyeki, and Gilbert Koech will face a tough men’s field in the city of brotherly love. On the women’s side, Edna Kiplagat will be looking to take the second step towards the $25,000 Triple Crown bonus, awarded to an athlete who wins all three fall half marathons put on by Elite Racing (Rock ‘n Roll VA Beach, Philly Distance Run, and Rock ‘n Roll San Jose). Edna finished 2nd in Philly last year and will face a strong field on Sunday.

Rock ‘n Roll Results
U.S. 10K Classic Results
Philly Race Preview

It was a battle of attrition won by Duncan Kibet. After a pedestrian first mile (4:36) Kibet made a strong push to the lead. It wasn’t enough to open up the race, but it was enough to bring the field through the second mile in 4:29. From there, the race got faster and faster and faster. And with each pace change another athlete fell off the back, one by one until there were only seven remaining - Kibet, Nyariki, Yuda, Munyeki, Meb Keflezighi, Evans Cheryiout, and William Chebon. Just after the 3.5 mile mark, Chebon made the strongest move of the day and the race was on. Meb looked very strong, leading for most of the next mile, but didn’t have the strength over the final stages to cover Kibet and Cheryiout; he finished 4th in 27:57. Yuda faded to 5th at one point, but was able to close strong, finishing in 3rd place at 27:55. Up front it was Kibet and Cheryiout, who sprinted stride for stride over the final 100 meters. Kibet was able to pull away just a few strides from the line to win in 27:51 to Cheryiout’s 27:52. It was Kibet’s second win in as many weeks (he outkicked Nyariki at Bix last weekend), good for $10,000. It marked the second time in Beach to Beacon history that the top four athletes all ran under 28:00.

On the women’s side, Elva Dryer ran a conservative first half of the race, moving up well in the second half to finish 5th in 32:53. Luminita Talpos got her first major road win, outdistancing Natalyia Berkut 32:20 to 32:28.

Men’s Results
1. 27:51 Duncan Kibet KEN
2. 27:52 Evans Cheryiout KEN
3. 27:55 John Yuda TAN
4. 27:57 Meb Keflezighi USA
5. 28:13 William Chebon KEN
6. 28:18 Nicholas Kamakya KEN
7. 28:22 Mohammed Amyn MAR
8. 28:25 Tom Nyariki KEN
9. 28:32 Charles Munyeki KEN
10. 29:12 El Hassan Lashimmi FRA

Women’s Results
1. 32:20 Luminita Talpos ROM
2. 32:28 Natalyia Berkut UKR
3. 32:39 Jessica Ruthe NZL
4. 32:41 Yamir Wude ETH
5. 32:53 Elva Dryer USA
6. 32:56 Galina Aleksandrova RUS
7. 32:59 Diribe Alemu ETH
8. 33:01 Genet Getnah ETH
9. 33:14 Susan Chepkomei KEN
10. 33:16 Blake Russell USA

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