10K Race in PA??

i just finished talking to those guys. they said gilbert okari ran 27:40 (which could mean any time a couple of seconds on either side) so he got what he needed. what's sick is that he ran 27:28 last weekend at beach to beacon and is heading to falmouth on friday before returning to kenya. one of his pacers said "there was some crazy white guy who went out with us for a long time." anybody out there to ID this madman? i think three people ended up finishing, okari, henry kipchirchir, and "some white guy." that's all the details i have.

mark carroll

Here is what I wrote on it earlier:

"unofficially I had Gilbert at 27.41!

I was cheering from the infield at 275m so its +/- a second. Sorry I didn't get the names of the other guys but one of them took it through about 5 laps and dropped out. 2 others went through about 12 laps before dropping. Half was at about 13.53. He ran the 2nd half alone though he was lapping runners every lap (there were a few other runners in the race spread out they all moved into lane 2)."

Mark must have been the white guy that went about 1/2 way. He was never at the front and I don't recall seeing him in front of Gilbert for too long but he was up there.

I was there. It was cool to see someone run that fast. Another thing, I was surprised at how slow Gilbert and the guys that helped pace him were cooling down after the race.

ME - did you notice an unusually tall and skinny guy in the pacing group - henry kipchirchir? i coached him as a 7th/8th grader in kenya and was curious how he ran yesterday. you're right about how slow the kenyan cool down run is. it seems even slower when you are waiting around to drive them back home after the race.

Not sure, he had 2 laps to go when Gilbert crossed the line though. He fell off the pack around 5K. I think he ran right around 30 min maybe just under, I kinda stopped paying attention to my watch after Gilbert finished.

this from gilbert's manager:

Here is recap of the race. There were a hundred

people or more who came to cheer and clap--some were even stomping the

bleachers. It was definitely great motivation for Gilbert to do a good job and

he was there for them 100%. He ran very relaxed and confident and looked like a

machine. Here are the splits from our side.

There were three pacemakers. Mohammed Ar-Ar was the first guy and he opened in

2:45, followed by David Korir and Patrick. It was 4:26 for the first mile, 5:33

at 2000 (2:48 for 1000m). Mohammed dropped at 6 laps and Korir took over. They

were 8:18 at 3000m (2:45) and 8:52 at two miles. At 4k, 11:05 (2:46). At 3

miles, 13:20 and 13:53 at 5k (2:48). Mark Carroll dropped a little past 5k

(13:57). From there it was Gilbert the whole time. At 6k, 16:38 (2:44) and

then 17:44 at 4 miles. At 7k, 19:23 (2:45) and 5 miles was 22:10 (2:46). At

9k, 25:05 (2:47) and 6 miles was 26:37. The official time was 27:40.9 by USATF

officials. Henry looked great and had a strong finish. He said he felt good.

Here are the results:

1. Gilbert Okari (KEN) 27:40.9

2. Henry Kipchirchir (KEN) 30:10.7

3. Terrence Mahon (USA) 32:46.2

4. Michael McKeeman (USA) 34:00.3

DNF Mark Carroll (IRL)

DNF Mohammed AR-AR (MAR)

DNF David Korir (KEN)

DNF Patrick Nthiwa (KEN)

*You can go to

www.chestercountyrunningstore.com

for official results (it should

be posted later today)

here are a few pictures from the race:

http://carlosshultz.home.comcast.net/

For some reason Gilbert was not chosen to go to the WCs but at least he just made the Kenyan team going to the ALl-Africa championships:

"John Korir, Charles Kamathi, Wilberforce Talel and Salim Kipsanga are out of the 10,000 m side to be replaced by Commonwealth 5,000m champion, Sammy Kipketer, Nicholas Kemboi and Gilbert Okari."