Two Kenyans-turned-Tucsonans emerged victorious in both the men's and women's fields of the 13.1-mile Valley of Gold Half-Marathon — the main event at the Arizona Distance Classic in Oro Valley on Sunday morning.
Joseah Matui, a 29-year-old native of Bomet, Kenya, finished the race in 1 hour 5 minutes 28 seconds, setting a scorching pace of just over five minutes per mile.
Although Matui did not approach his personal record of 1:03:17, he was pleased with his performance considering it was his first race of the year.
"For the opening race of the year, I felt like this went all right," said Matui, who moved to Tucson last year for the climate.
"I live and train in Tucson now," he added. "It's the warm weather and the high elevation. That makes for a good (environment) for long-distance running."
People are also reading…
The only runner that came within two minutes of Matui was fellow Kenyan Daniel Cheruiyot, who trains in Albuquerque. Cheruiyot finished second with a time of 1:05:41.
"I started to fall back towards the end," Cheruiyot said. "He knew I was there, behind him, and he just pushed when he needed to."
Kyle Goklish, a former UA runner from Whiteriver, finished third.
Greg Wenneborg, the track coach at Pima College and a former Olympic hopeful, finished eighth overall.
Jemima Jelagaf of Eldoret, Kenya, snared the women's half-marathon title, finishing in 1:16:42. Jelagaf also recently moved to the Tucson area.
Salpointe Catholic High School graduate Bryce Livingston — now enrolled at West Point — won the 5K race in 18:05.
"I'm debuting in the 5,000 meters, outdoors, at West Point this coming Saturday," Livingston said. "I wanted to use this as a tempo race to get ready for the track. I wasn't really expecting to win. I just turned out to get a quick workout."
5 takeaways from Arizona’s season-ending loss to Michigan at the Final Four | Michael Lev
