This weekend the London and Boston Marathons will be contested.
Did you know that in 2004, KIMbia athletes swept those, the major Spring Marathons… on successive days? On Sunday April 18th, 2004, Evans Rutto won the London Marathon, and on Monday — Patriots Day — April 19th, Timothy Cherigat won the 108th Boston Marathon.
This weekend, the world’s best distance runners will gather in Punta Umbia, Spain to contest the 39th IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Did you know that KIMbia athletes have collected NINETEEN Top 5 finishes at World Cross? Paul Koech leads the way with an impressive four, including a silver medal in 1998 that might have been gold, had the unbeatable Paul Tergat not been in the field. (Koech also finished sixth on two occasions.)
Individual medalists include Sammy Kipketer (silver, 2000 4k), Luke Kipkosgei (silver, 2002 4k), Daniel Komen (silver, 1998 4k), and John Yuda (silver, 2002 12k). Additionally, Top-10 finishes have come from Elana Meyer (6th in 1994 and 1995) and Elva Dryer (8th in 2002 4k).
A list of Top-10 finishes by KIMbia athletes is below. Read the full article
Tom Nyariki and Edna Kiplagat were both victorious at the BAA Half-Marathon. Nyariki’s time of 1:02:19 smashed the old course record by 38 seconds. Tom just held of Samuel Ndereba by one second. Edna cruised to a convincing 30-second win over Caroline Chepkorir. Richard Kiplagat struggled with blisters, finishing in 6th place in 1:05:13.
The results in Chicago were not as good. Ben Maiyo finished 5th and Christopher Cheboiboch 6th; James Koskei and Evans Rutto did not finish. Kathy Butler struggled in the heat, finishing in 2:48. It was a brutal day; race officials actually cut the race off short for people further back in the pack. Full Chicago coverage can be found at chasingKIMBIA. Results will be posted here.
In Minneapolis, Jason Hartmann finished 13th at the U.S. 10-Mile Championships in 50:15. Results can be found here.
Tomorrow we’re back in Boston for the Tufts 10K with Elva Dryer and Nicole Aish.
It’s a busy weekend for KIMbia, so here are a few things to add to your calendar:
4. …Tufts 10K on Monday. Elva Dryer is racing. She’s going to run fast, but she’s also going to get a preview of the US Olympic Marathon Trials course. Instead of running the regular Boston course, the women’s marathon trials will be on a loop course very similar to the Tufts course.
In one week the marathoning world will descend on the windy city for the 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. As part of their race coverage, RunningTimes.com has posted race previews for both the men and women (written by KIMbia’s Matt Taylor). For an in-depth look at the lifestyle and training of three of the elite athletes, head over to chasingKIMBIA for a glimpse of Evans Rutto, James Koskei, and Christopher Cheboiboch. Those three athletes will be joined in Chicago by Kathy Butler, who just returned from a training camp in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and Ben Maiyo, who has been training in Iten, Kenya.
