It has been three years since Matt Tegenkamp went to the East Coast and brought home a national championship at the CVS Downtown 5k. But on Monday, the two-time Olympian looked as good on the roads as ever, winning a second US road title at the New Haven 20k — in a championship-record time, no less.

After moving from 5k to 10k on the track, Tegenkamp got his first taste of longer road running in impressive fashion, clocking 58:30 to take down the old USATF record. In his wake was runner-up Luke Puskedra, who ran a sterling 61-minute half-marathon earlier this year, suggesting that Tegenkamp’s future in the half will be one to watch.

Three other KIMbia men took to the streets on Labor Day, as well: Sean Quigley, now based in Colorado, placed 6th in 1:00:02, with Brent Vaughn in 9th and Tim Nelson — fresh off his wedding — placing 11th.

There’s nothing better than surveying the previous fifty-two weeks of your life and realizing how fun and gratifying they were. Here’s a look back at just a handful of the memories we at KIMbia Athletics will take away from 2011. If you had your own memory from the year that included us or our athletes, please share it below!

10. Tim Nelson Steps Down and Beats Top-Flight 3000m Field in Seattle
Who doesn’t love a good underdog story? Nelly shocked American running fans when he dispatched middle-distance specialists German Fernandez, Alan Webb, and World Championship bronze-medalist-to-be Matt Centrowitz in a 3000m far below his comfort zone distances… and with a blistering kick, to boot. Read the full article

Simon Bairu and Shalane Flanagan notched victories in their final tune-ups before January’s Olympic qualifying attempts in Houston, each reaching the tape first at the Latin Music Miami Beach Half Marathon. Coming into the day under heavy training loads — a calculation intended by coach Jerry Schumacher to simulate running hard in the second half of January’s 26.2-mile efforts — Flanagan came in just below her prescribed goal, hitting 1:09:58, while Bairu clocked 1:05:38, just ahead of teammate Brent Vaughn and his 1:05:41. Tim Nelson took 3rd in 1:07:44.

Flanagan was fourth to the line, overall, beating all other entrants except for her male teammates. Her performance was just 81 seconds off of her personal best, set last year in Philadelphia.

Shalane Flanagan was all business at Sunday’s Rock ‘N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon, taking home the victory as part of her preparation for the upcoming Olympic Marathon Trials. With a goal of cracking 1:12:00, Flanagan cruised to a big win and an even faster time than expected, posting a 1:10:49 — just about two-minutes slower than her PB of 68:37, even while running a largely solo effort with her weekly mileage up in triple-digits. The time gave her a margin of over two minutes over top American marathoner Tera Moody — surely a dark horse candidate at January’s Olympic Trials after taking 5th in 2008 — who placed second in 1:13:23.

Meanwhile, Flanagan’s Oregon Track Club teammates Simon Bairu, Tim Nelson, and Brent Vaughn competed on the men’s side where they were credited with the same time of 1:05:25, crossing the line bunched in third through fifth positions. (Vaughn was given third place in the official results.)

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The KIMbia performances highlighting this year’s US Championships included four qualifiers to Worlds and one US title, plus one alternate spot and two other top-five finishes.

W10,000m — If you wanted a demonstration of the term “putting on a clinic,” Shalane Flanagan delivered one in the 10,000m, taking the lead almost immediately and methodically clipping off 74-second laps. No other athlete in the field tried seriously to match her pace, and she ended up soloing an extremely impressive 30:59.97 to dominate the field and claim yet another US title. That mark is the 6th-fastest American performance ever.

M10,000m — Matt Tegenkamp, possessor of the world-class gear-change that netted him 4th-place and 8th-place finishes at previous World Championships, was poised to strike late in a very pedestrian 10,000m. Read the full article