KIMbia Athletics

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.

With January’s Olympic Marathon Trials keeping most elite American distance runners off of fall marathon starting-lines, the New York Road Runners injected some domestic star-power into the New York City Marathon weekend with a new professional 5k road event. Called the Dash to the Finish, Britain’s Chris Thompson of the Oregon Track Club took home top honors, while Andrew Bumbalough placed fifth in 13:59, six seconds back. With a course that went past New York City landmarks throughout Midtown — including the crossroads of the world, Times Square — the event was approached by Bumbalough and teammates Matt Tegenkamp, Evan Jager and Lopez Lomong, as a fun way to check their fitness and stay excited about their running, as they continued the thankless job of packing in the miles, back home. Tegenkamp took 7th in 14:02 with Lomong 8th and Jager 10th.

Each of the athletes will be buckling down in off-season base-building mode for the coming months, with no immediate plans for indoor competitions on the books.

Erin Donohue was not about to sit back and run everybody-else’s race. In the 1500m at London’s Diamond League meeting, New Jersey’s #1 Fan got right on the pacesetter from the gun and went after the fast time that her recent performances had suggested. The hot pace got to her, however — the first 400m was reached at 4:00 1500m pace —  and she finished in 4:09.68. Not only was that time still good for a very credible 6th, but there’s no doubt that she won many admirers on Saturday for refusing to let the rabbit go, as happens all too often in big mile races.

That same day, just across the pond, Allan Kiprono took fifth place in 28:10 at Beach to Beacon after sticking his nose in with the leaders from early on. Boaz Cheboiywo placed 14th, while James Koskei finished 15th — the first Masters runner by a whopping three minutes and five seconds.

It was his first race outside of Kenya. Yet, Allan Kiprono took the lead in the 2010 edition of Beach to Beacon, nonetheless. And although he was kicked-down and finished as runner-up, taking position two by one second to the World Cross Country Champion — and soon-to-be New York City Marathon Champion — still makes for a heck of a performance.

Now he’s back in Cape Elizabeth and was the subject of an outstanding profile from the Portland Press Herald:

Wearing a plaid short-sleeved button-down shirt, khaki shorts and lime green flip flops, Kiprono, 21, looked as if he’d feel at home in the Old Port, just another college-age kid on summer break.

Instead he’s a working professional about to run his eighth race of the year. He won the Bellin Run 10K in Green Bay, Wis., in June and finished second in three other major races: the Bix 7-miler in Davenport, Iowa; the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Wash.; and the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans.

KIMbia’s Boaz Cheboiywo will also be toeing the line on Saturday. Read the full article here.

Although Haron Keitany is already a distinguished international performer, he is a relatively new addition to the KIMbia roster — but he has very quickly shown why we are so proud to have him in our family. On Sunday in Hengelo, the man they call “Land Cruiser” clocked 3:31.86 to take second place behind Mohammed Shaween, a mere four-hundredths away from the win. Left in his wake were thirteen men, including a sub-3:30 rising star in Silas Kiplagat, and the reigning Olympic Champion (steeple), Brimin Kipruto. The time is Keitany’s third-fastest all time, and was just a few tenths away from Nixon Chepseba’s world lead.

One day later, Lineth Chepkurui won Bolder Boulder by over four seconds, claiming an enjoyable victory in the town where she sets up shop for her US season, each year. Along with runner-up Mamitu Deska, Chepkurui broke away from the rest of the field in the third mile, only securing her win over the Ethiopian — and two-time defending champion — with a final kick. Read the full article