Tim Nelson once again ran a PB and continued his ascension on the All-Time Top 10 list, Matt Tegenkamp made a strong debut, and Shalane Flanagan battled in an exciting women’s race as part of the Kim McDonald Memorial 10,000m races at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. KIMbia highlight performances also included Evan Jager running a 3:40.52 1500m — a mere two seconds off of his PB — in his very first race back from a fractured navicular bone in his foot last summer, and Erin Donohue hanging tough in an over-distance 5000m appearance. Donohue was also competing for the first time after an injury and clocked a 15:41.78 in her professional debut at the distance.  Joining Jager with a quality 1500m was Andrew Bumbalough, who defeated Jager to place fourth and clock 3:39.70 — just shy of his own personal best.

While the performances may not have been as explosive as last year’s American Record run-for-the-ages by Chris Solinsky, KIMbia athletes honored our namesake, Kim McDonald, in the 10,000m races that also memorialize him. Read the full article

Tim Nelson is the 10th-fastest American over 10,000m of all time, and is looking for more. He will run the Kim McDonald Memorial 10,000m this Sunday at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, the site of his two fastest 10,000m runs ever… including a break-out 27:36 win in 2009 that launched him just outside the list of Top 10 All-Time Americans. He will race in Stanford coming off of a disappointing 5000m in Melbourne, and a very impressive 3000m indoors in Seattle.

You won the Kim McDonald 10,000m at Stanford in 2009, and came back with another very strong performance in 2010 (albeit one that may have been overlooked in such an exceptionally strong overall field). Do you feel like you’ve got a special thing going with his race or venue? And if so, why?

I’ve raced at Stanford nearly every year since I was a sophomore in high school, and I almost always have run a personal best time, regardless of the event. Also, Stanford is only a few hours drive from my folks’ place, so I always have a cheering section when I’m there. All that to say, yeah, I certainly get excited every time I step on the track at Stanford.

C’mon now, honestly: how mad are/were you at Chris for stealing your thunder last year? Does your quiet surface mask raging currents beneath? Read the full article

Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, Tim Nelson and Andrew Bumbalough journeyed to Australia for a fast, uber-competitive early season 5000m in Melbourne, and got just that. Of course, going half a world away, they got much more, as well.

Tim Nelson took many beautiful photos throughout the trip and we’re happy to share them below. (A hat-tip, as well, to Pascal Dobert who photographed the quartet in a race-week training session at the stadium.)

Of course, in order to show the guys themselves, we had to enlist outside help, and we extend many thanks to Athletics Victoria and RunnersTribe.com for graciously allowing us to share several of their photos from the proceedings in Melbourne: Read the full article

It was a deep field for such an early season outdoor meet and a well-paced race, and the conditions allowed some of KIMbia’s finest to compete very well in Melbourne on Thursday. Three will return home with World Championships “A” standards in the books, and while Bernard Lagat proved once more to be virtually unbeatable, Chris Solinsky did make him work for his win, leading until about 250m remained in the race.

Solinsky, as it his preferred style, tucked in just behind the pacesetters and his fellow competitor, Lagat, almost immediately. With the World Championships “A” standard of 13:20.00 a stated goal for many in the race, a target of 8:00 was set for 3000m, and the pacers hit their marks relatively smoothly, before giving way to Lagat with two kilometers to go. Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp and Andrew Bumbalough were in tow, along with Australian Ben St. Lawrence, with Bumbalough pulling up the rear but very much in contact.Less fortunate was Tim Nelson, who got caught in traffic early in the race, and, along with Australian star Craig Mottram, found himself gapped. Each tried to reclaim contact with the lead pack, but without success.

Read the full article

Matt Tegenkamp, Chris Solinsky, Tim Nelson and Andrew Bumbalough have journeyed to Australia for a fast, uber-competitive early season 5000m in Melbourne, Thursday March 3rd.  During this week, we’re sharing some reports from them.

Matt Tegenkamp contributes this final pre-race account of The Day Before:

Good Day, Mates!!  A pocket full of change…..It always happens traveling to any other country outside the US.  The addition of $1 and $2 coins really adds alot of clutter and weight to the pockets.  I don’t really understand why they don’t just make them into bills.  Another piece in the puzzle is the sizing of the “gold” colored coins: the $1 is bigger than the $2?  It really doesn’t make sense when you look at the silver coins and see that THEY get bigger in size as the numerical value increases!  About the only thing they got right is rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents!  Seems smart as the cost of making a penny is more then its value, right? Read the full article