KIMbia Athletics

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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Four KIMbia athletes took the line at the IAAF World Championships in Cross Country, with Lineth Chepkurui captaining her Kenyan team, Shalane Flanagan and Brent Vaughn headlining the US senior women’s and men’s teams, respectively, as the reigning national champions, and Andrew Bumbalough making his senior debut after competing in the junior race in 2006.

Brent Vaughn placed 55th, which was something of a disappointment to the Boulder-based runner.  He positioned himself to take a shot at a Top 25 finish, sitting in the chase pack through three laps, and hitting 6k in 30th place. After one more steady circuit in the mid-30′s, he began to struggle and said the conditions didn’t agree with him.

Reached briefly via Skype, Brent offered the following thoughts from Spain when asked to summarize his race:

No good — it was warm. I was out perfectly and covered all the moves well. I had the fitness to be in it, I still believe. I managed the chaos well… I thought I just had some heat problems.

Brent returns to Boulder to prepare for Stanford’s Payton Jordan Invitational on May 1st.

Four KIMbia athletes took the line at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, with Lineth Chepkurui captaining her Kenyan team, Shalane Flanagan and Brent Vaughn headlining the US senior women’s and men’s teams, respectively, as the reigning national champions, and Andrew Bumbalough making his senior debut after competing in the junior race in 2006.

Shalane Flanagan affirmed her status as one of the world’s best runners, once again, taking bronze in the deepest distance race on the planet. Flanagan planted herself among the leaders from the very start, and prepared to be a part of any late-race maneuvering, even making an appearance at the front of the lead pack.  When the race broke open on the penultimate lap, the Massachusetts native lost a little ground, but battled back over the final 2k loop to pass Ethiopia’s top entrants in Meselech Melkamu and Wude Ayalew and make a play for second place. Read the full article