KIMbia Athletics

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

Canada might observe Thanksgiving in early October, but while Simon Bairu’s American OTC compatriots were celebrating Thanksgiving back in Portland this weekend, the Canadian had every reason to be thankful as well, after traveling to Guelph, Ontario and collecting yet another National Title. Bairu tallied his seventh national cross country title, and did so in dominating fashion, besting Eric Gillis (28:07 10k PB) by over one minute. With a winning time of 28:49, Bairu laid claimed to the course record and, though unconfirmed officially, there was speculation that the time was a meet record, as well.  Not unexpectedly, the Regina native was ebullient in describing his feelings:

The performance is a testament to just how well I have responded to the increase in work that I’ve been putting in. Things are definitely starting to get exciting!

The win qualified him for March’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland, and having put good training volume in the books right up to the Canadian championships, Bairu is looking for big things in his 5th appearance at Worlds.

Two days prior, Boaz Cheboiywo took to the roads, placing 10th in the 73rd annual Manchester Road Race, held on Thanksgiving Day. Running 22:08 for roughly 4.75 miles, Cheboiywo was in the thick of things late, where a bang-bang finish saw seven competitors finish within a 9-second span.  Manchester is one of the older races in the country, and, despite being contended on a major holiday, it routinely attracts a very deep domestic field each year.

photo courtesy Dave McNamee

Select shots featuring KIMbia athletes racing in the 2009 Chicago Marathon. Race recap here.

Though young and with nary a marathon to his name, KIMbia’s Charles Munyeki showed no hesitation to mix it up with the world’s finest in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon.  At the halfway point, the lead pack consisted of Vincent Kipruto (PB 2:05:47) Sammy Wanjiru (PB 2:05:10 and possessor of the marathon Gold from the Beijing Olympics) and Munyeki.  The pace was just a handful of seconds away from World Record pace, at 62:00.

Yet Munyeki didn’t flinch until 35k, when the pre-race favorite Wanjiru broke things open.  In his debut at the distance, Munyeki would come home in 2:07:06, having held on for 4th, as standout Abderrahim Goumri made a late charge from 4th all the way into 2nd.  Ben Maiyo, 2nd here in 2005, took 11th with 2:16:38, after attempting the very tough early pace.

Check back Tuesday for a full gallery of photos from the race!

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

With so many strong KIMbia showings at Maine’s Beach to Beacon, we are pleased to share some thoughts from those athletes who turned in such solid efforts.  Leading all KIMbia athletes, Boaz Cheboiywo took 2nd by just a few seconds and, according to Race Results Weekly, explained his runner-up finish, by saying of race-winner Ed Muge, “When you have an athlete of that caliber, he gets ten meters on you, you’re not going to catch him.”  Muge was the defending champion, while Boaz’s placing was an improvement on finishing fifth in 2008. Read the full article

Boaz Cheboiywo put another notch on his road racing belt Saturday by snagging the runner up spot and $5,000 in prize money at the Beach to Beacon 10k in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. This result, on the heels of a 4th place finish at the Peachtree 10k a month ago, serves as evidence of Boaz’ emergence as one of the most prominent runners on the U.S. Road Racing Circuit this summer.

Boaz was with the lead group of five runners until the 8k when the eventual winner, Ed Muge, pulled away. Despite the strong move from Muge, Boaz tried to battle back in the last mile but Muge was able to hold him off for the win in 28:04 with Boaz four seconds back finishing second in 28:08.

Also from KIMbia, Gilbert Okari finished fourth in 28:21, Simon Bairu, in his first race in his build up to the NYC Marathon, was 7th in 28:44, and James Koskei finished 14th in 30:00.

In the women’s race, KIMbia’s own Rebecca Donaghue was fifth place in 32:46. An impressive 22 second personal best for Rebecca in her first race since coming back from a European campaign that saw her post two other PB’s in the 1500m and 5000m.

Full Results and Prize Money information for the Beach to Beacon can be found here.

Battling a very competitive field in Atlanta on Saturday, Lineth Chepkurui, was able to score a huge win, a fast time, and a hefty paycheck at the Atlanta Journal Constitution Peachtree Road Race.  The 21 year old Chepkurui kept a phenomenal 2009 going by edging out Ethiopia’s Meseret Mengsitu by just one second while also running a PB time of 31:31. She also collected $32,500 in race earnings after sharing a $35,000 bonus prize purse from the Professional Road Racing Organization with the men’s winner, Sammy Kitwara. Lineth became eligible for the purse by winning other PRRO road races earlier in the year. Lineth’s KIMbia mate, Elva Dryer, placed 18th overall and was 6th American in the women’s race.

With the win, Lineth has added one more reason for her to be considered the most feared young Kenyan on the road. Just this year she has won Peachtree, Cherry Blossom, Crescent City, and Bloomsday, a veritable “who’s who” of non-marathon American road races.

In the men’s race, Boaz Cheboiywo was an impressive 5th* 4th place in 28:05. James Carney ran 28:19 finishing 10th* 9th overall and was 3rd American in the Peachtree race, which served as the USATF 10k National Championship. Abdi Abdirahman won the US Championship in 28:11 and Anthony Famiglietti was 2nd in 28:15.

*Updated results after 4th place finisher, Tadese Tola was DQ’d for unsportsmanlike conduct after elbowing Boaz in the final 30 meters of the race.
Full Results for Peachtree here.

KIMbia’s youngest American athlete, Evan Jager, continued a strong early season of competition Saturday with a personal best of 3:40.60 in the 1500.  Jager finished 8th  in a strong international field that included three Olympians at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, CA.  Following his 13:29 5000m PR of a few weeks ago in Stanford, Jager has started his 2009 campaign brilliantly. 

After spending a year at the University of Wisconsin in 2007-’08, Jager decided to forego his college eligibility last year and turn professional, following his coach, Jerry Schumacher, to Portland.  He currently resides in Portland as part of the Oregon Track Club.

 In road racing news, Lineth Chepkurui narrowly missed out on her fourth huge road race win of the year and John Yuda finished third in an impressive field at the infamous Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco, CA.  Chepkurui finished second in 38:35, losing to Teyba Erkesso of Kenya by just 6 seconds.  Lineth defeated third place American and Olympic Bronze Medallist Deena Kastor by 29 seconds.

On the opposite coast, KIMbia’s Boaz Cheboiywo finished third clocking a time of 28:31 at the New York Road Runners Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park.  Tadese Tola, the Healthy Kidney champion, smashed the Central Park 10k course record in 27:48.

The Nelly Train rolls on.  After pushing Olympians to the limit at the US Cross Country and 15k Championships earlier this year, Tim Nelson cut a huge swatch from his former 10k PB of 28:05, running a terrific 27:36.99 to earn an automatic World Championships Qualifying Standard and win the Kim McDonald 10k out at Stanford.  Fellow former Badger Simon Bairu took 2nd in 27:50.76 — just .05 slower than his PB — and James Carney was 5th in that same section, running 28:23.  On the women’s side, Rebecca Donaghue ran 33:08.97 to win the race and cut almost half a minute from her previous best on the track. Fitting to have two winners and two more Top-5 showings from KIMbia athletes in the 10k races bearing Kim McDonald’s name…

Pace in the top flight of the Men’s 5k sagged midrace, scuttling any hopes of achieving World Champs standards, but KIMbia athletes remained competitive.  Matt Tegenkamp and Olympian Alistair Cragg met the line in quick succession — with Teg 2-tenths behind, 2nd in the race and a 13:22 to his name.  Boaz Cheboiywo manged 7th in the same section, finishing in 13:30.  Evan Jager acquitted himself well in his professional debut at the distance, running 13:29.65 which was good for 2nd in the 2nd section.

Finally, in the Men’s 1500, Brent Vaughn was 5th in the 2nd section, clocking 3:43.89 — just 2-tenths shy of his PB — while Michelle Sikes continued a whirlwind tour of American competition with a 6th place finish in the 5000, hitting the line in 15:56.

Full results here; to see KIMbia-only results…. Read the full article