A number of high class road running events were held in the weeks prior to the big city marathons in April. Among them were the Berlin Half Marathon and the Washington’s Cherry Blossom. On 17th April the London Marathon will be started. KIMbia runner Evans Rutto will be the defending champion. On the next day the Boston Marathon will feature 2004 champion Timothy Cherigat, another KIMbia runner. There was some success already for KIMbia in recent weeks.
KIMbia’s John Korir made it two wins from two races this year. On Sunday (3rd April) the Kenyan won the Cherry Blossom, a high-class 10-mile race in Washington DC. In his only other race this year he had won the World’s Best 10K in Puerto Rico. John Korir clocked 46:55 minutes in Washington to win with a three second advantage from Reuben Chebii. It was the third time Korir had won the Cherry Blossom. There were two more athletes from KIMbia in this traditional road race in the US capital: Gilbert Okari finished fourth with 47:16 minutes while Paul Koech came in 6th in 47:49. John Korir, who was described as the ‘Whiz of American Road Running’ by the ‘Washington Post’, had before won the race in 2001 and 2003. On the homestretch he had left behind his last rival, fellow Kenyan Reuben Chebii, to win a tactical race. “I like this race. And I had especially prepared for it. I hope to be back next year,” John Korir said.
Kenyan Paul Kimugul ran the second fastest time of the year to continue Kenya’s win streak in the Bewag Berlin Half Marathon and to win the race. The 24-year-old Kenyan clocked 61:04 minutes on the flat city course which was lined by a record number of more than 150,000 spectators in perfect weather conditions. Kimugul was followed by nine countrymen, and it was the second time in a row that the Kenyans took the first ten places in Germany’s biggest and best quality half marathon event. Joseph Ngolepus was second (61:16) and Moses Kigen took third (61:39). While it was the fourth win in a row at the event for Kenyan men in the women’s race the Kenyan win streak came to an end. Kenyan women had won the race six times in a row. Luminita Zaituc of Germany became the first national winner of the event since 1994. She clocked 71:04 and beat Lee Eun-Jeong (South Korea/71:15) as well as Beatrice Omwanza (Kenya/71:18). A record number of 18,331 participants from 69 countries had entered the event.
There was more success for KIMbia in the US: Paul Koech had a very good start into his road race season. The Kenyan dominated the 8-kilometer race in Dallas on Saturday (26th March) and won the event in 22:56 minutes. Together with Sammy Kipketer, who won the 10K in New Orleans, he thus produced a perfect Easter weekend for KIMbia. Two athletes had entered two different races—and both of them won. Originally Paul Koech intended to chase the world record for the 8K distance, which is held by Peter Githuka (Kenya/22:02). But on race day a thunderstorm with rain and wind as well as much cooler temperatures ruined his record plans. “This is awful—but you cannot do anything against the weather,” Paul Koech said.
In his road race debut of the 2005 season Sammy Kipketer started in style: The 23-year-old Kenyan won the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans against a top field. Sammy Kipketer clocked 27:47 minutes for the 10K distance on Saturday (26th March). It was on the same course where he had set a world record for the distance back in 2002 (27:10 minutes). Kipketer finished two seconds ahead of John Cheruiyot Korir, another very strong Kenyan road runner. Third was John Kibowen (Kenya) in 28:01.
