KIMbia Athletics

KIMbia athletes did the memory of Kim McDonald proud on Saturday night, as Chris Solinsky and Simon Bairu smashed the American and Canadian national records, respectively, in the 10,000m race that bears McDonald’s name.

Last year, Tim Nelson won this race in a strong 27:39. In 2010, seven KIMbia athletes toed the starting line for the Kim McDonald 10,000m at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Invitational, and this time, the results were outright astounding.  Chris Solinsky ran steadily in the lead pack for the duration of the race, before stepping around race leader Galen Rupp and making an explosive move with 900 meters to go. Solinsky covered the final two laps in under 2:00 to shock running fans the world over and stop the clock at 26:59.60 — a new American record by an eye-popping fourteen seconds.  Moments later, teammate Simon Bairu would complete his own impressive run, logging a 27:23.63 to set a new Canadian national record. Bairu’s time peeled 12.38 seconds off of the previous record.

Oh, and Tim Nelson? He ran 27:31.56 — an terrific eight-second PB. But this year, on an historic night, it would “only” place him seventh. Clearly, the legacy of Kim McDonald lives on in the performances of the athletes running under the “KIMbia” banner and in the ever-improving performances of athletes around the world. Following Nelson in were Brent Vaughn, making his professional debut at this distance (13th, 28:05), Boaz Cheboiywo (14th, 28:06), and Jason Hartmann (19th, 28:25). Full results can be found here, and a video of the race is at the bottom of the page.

We will have much more on Solinsky and Bairu’s record-breaking races as we move into the week.

Once again, Tim Nelson stepped away from the track and collected a runner-up finish at a USATF Championship, placing 2nd at the Gate River Run 15k in 43:52.  Nelson laid off the hot early pace set by eventual race winner Mo Trafeh, who hit one-mile in 4:22, allowing Nelson to cross the line four seconds before recent USATF Half Marathon champion Antonio Vega, who placed third. Also running a credible race, Boston-native Sean Quigley came 5th in 44:05, while Jason Hartmann finished 13th.

In the women’s race, Rebecca Donaghue took 4th place, ahead of Olympians Blake Russell and Lindsay Anderson. Donaghue completed the 15k in 51:13.

Full results can be found here.

In a match-up pitting Canada’s best distance runner against the fastest American half-marathoner in history, KIMbia’s Simon Bairu came home the victor, winning the Rock and Roll Arizona Half Marathon over Olympian Ryan Hall. Bairu’s 1:02:47 not only won the day, but also took nearly of two-minutes off of the course record. Running just his second half-marathon, Bairu used the 11th mile to put 26 seconds between himself and Hall, and only lengthened his lead to the tape. With high hopes for his next race — the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland — Bairu certainly seems on the right track.

Meanwhile, a hop, a skip, and a very long jump away in eastern Texas, the USATF Half Marathon National Championships brought together a deep domestic field.  Houston has a history of auspicious, break-out races — from Hall’s own AR, to KIMbia’s Jim Carney winning the National Championship in his debut in 2008 — and Tim Nelson and Brent Vaughn looked to add their own chapter to that story as each took his first swing at the 13.1-mile distance. Read the full article

The domestic professional season kicks off this Sunday with the American southwest serving as ground zero.  The US Half Marathon Championships will run through the streets of Houston and feature a handful of KIMbia athletes, while the Rock and Roll Arizona Half Marathon goes off in Phoenix, with Simon Bairu taking on American Record Holder Ryan Hall.

There is plenty to be watching and a couple of Running Times pieces have gone inside the KIMbia stories that will be playing out this weekend. Chief among them? The half marathon debuts of Tim Nelson and Brent Vaughn. Vaughn expressed his confidence as he looks ahead with a new coach and new training approach:

“I’m training harder. I’m doing a lot more general strength stuff. My coach now is Jay Johnson. I think he’s a great coach. One of his strengths is knowing how hard I can push once the running is done.”

The full interview can be found here.  Read the full article

As we move into 2010, our athletes will each be sharing a look back at 2009, which we will be running throughout the next two weeks.  First up, Tim Nelson, arguably the most-improved male American distance athlete in 2009.

This year you qualified for your first National teams, competed in your first World Championsip, became the 14th-fastest American at 10k, and twice took Olympians to the wire for a National Championship.  If you had to rank your races from 2009 based on how fondly you remember them, what would be #1 and what would be the runner-up?  And why?

My number one race would have to go to the Cardinal Invitational 10k.  It was an awesome experience to finally achieve my goal of running the Olympic ‘A’ Standard and getting under the 27:40 mark.   Read the full article

The conclusion of the World Athletics Final means that the 2009 track and field season has come to a close for us.  We saw many terrific performances, as our thirteen athletes who hit the track turned in a total of fourteen personal best performances, and with KIMbia talents collecting six top-five finishes in the 5000m and 10,000m races at the US National Championships — including four spots on the American World Championship team.  In particular, we were proud to dominate the Men’s 5000m in Eugene, with five runners in the top nine, and to see OTC member Matt Tegenkamp join one of the most exclusive clubs in US distance running, by going under 13-minutes in the 5000m with his 12:58.56 clocking on a chilly night in Brussels.

If you have questions for any of the members of Team KIMbia about this 2009 season,  please send them to questions[AT]kimbia[DOT]net or post them in the comments below!  If you need a quick refresher on some of the performances from the season, check the athlete bio pages or our race recaps, below.  Make sure you get your questions in by the end of the day Tuesday, September 22! Read the full article

Four KIMbia athletes wore the Stars & Stripes at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany.  Tim Nelson led things off on Monday evening in the 10,000m, where he finished 17th in a field of thirty-one.  With nine sub-27:00 athletes in the field, Nelson was shooting for a top-15 finish, representative of the number of finalists taken in the 5000m. Though he fell just short of that goal, Nelson clocked 28:18 in a credible World Championships debut, wrapping up what has been a banner 2009 year for him.

Three days later, his teammates hit the track in the prelim of the 5000m.  Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky ran intelligently in what turned out to be a rather briskly-paced first heat of two, keeping themselves within reach of one of the five automatic qualifying spots at all times. With six athletes getting separation in the final lap, Tegenkamp would secure automatic qualification to the finals by crossing the line second, behind Kenenisa Bekele, while Solinsky finished sixth, first in line to earn a time qualifier.  Coming home in 13:20, Solinsky admitted to easing back a bit in the final stretch, given that the pace was as fair as it was, and expecting that his time would hold up for one of the five time-qualifiers. Read the full article

Take a peek into the family dynamic of the KIMbia group as they prepare for the World Championships. From the father figure (Matt), to the optimist (Evan), to the Angry Bear (guess who?), and an appearance by Tim Nelson (nickname unknown), the group has a unique and fun attitude toward all the time they spend together while training in Europe.

After hearing James Carney’s comments on his strong 10.000m effort at US Champs, we wanted to open up the lines and let you pick the brains of the rest of our athletes, with regards to their efforts at Nationals.  You asked, now they respond:

Matt, how do you focus during a race, specifically on the last couple of laps? –Jacob McRoberts

Preparation for a race always starts in practice. (That sounds simple enough, right?) But this has been a very tough year of training and our races actually seem a little easier because of it.  It is always harder to get mentally prepared for practice, so we really try to concentrate on showing up to practice ready to put in the hard work.  Once in a race setting I just try to focus on competition!  If I worry about competing against the other athletes and forget everything else, it allows me to hurt that much more.  I don’t want to get in a situation where another athlete is able to run away from me so competition allows me to push through the pain as the race progresses. In the 5k, the race doesn’t really start until the last 1200m and we have worked on staying very relaxed until that point, trying to waste as little energy as possible. That allows me to stay mentally fresh and really get ready for the grind to the finish line. That last 1200m of the race has been a real work in progress the last few years and I am very confident in my finish. You just have to compete!!! Read the full article

After this past weekend, we couldn’t be any prouder of the athletes with whom we have the pleasure of working.  There was a sweep of 5000m titles north of the Rio Grande (Simon Bairu and Matt Tegenkamp) and three additional US athletes with podium finishes and a national team berth (Chris Solinsky, Evan Jager and Tim Nelson).  But moreover, KIMbia athletes competed this weekend with verve and with guts, even if, in some cases, the end result was not a full reflection of their efforts. Read the full article