USA’s Leonard Korir pulls away for win in men’s pro race – Estes Park Trail-Gazette

In many ways, Leonard Korir embodies the American dream.

A decade ago, Korir traveled from his native Kenya to begin a collegiate track and cross country career at Iona, where he later won an indoor NCAA national championship in the 5,000 meter run and an outdoor title in the 10K.

His passion to be part of American culture hardly ended there.

Not only did Korir eventually gain dual citizenship, but he took it a step further by enlisting in the US Army in 2016. That made Korir’s Memorial Day triumph that much sweeter on Monday, as a dominant final push lifted Korir to victory in the men’s professional race at the 42nd Bolder Boulder.

Korir is the first American to win the men’s professional race since Herb Lindsay in 1984

“This is ridiculous. I’ve come to many races. You don’t get this atmosphere,” said Korir, who is stationed at Fort Carson. “Today, to come into this atmosphere, go for a win, celebrate and people are cheering for you, it’s like a football game. This year, I wanted to win this race because I’m a member of the US Army. It means something for me to win on Memorial Day.”

For much of the 10-kilometer race, Korir was part of a lead quartet that included fellow American Jared Ward and the Tanzanian duo of Joseph Panga and Fabiano Nelson Sulle.

Eventually, though, Korir and Panga pulled away, and by the time the runners hit the grueling climb up Folsom Street and into Folsom Field, Korir quickly left Panga behind. Korir finished in 29 minutes, 28 seconds, outpacing Panga (29:36) by eight seconds. Nelson Sulle finished third (29:53), followed by Ward (29:55).

“I saw (Panga), he was pushing and I wanted to push hard,” Korir said. “I wanted to finish him early so I could start my celebration.”

Behind Panga and Nelson Sulle, Tanzania won its first team title in the men’s international team challenge, which, in the return from the pandemic hiatus, featured just two runners per team instead of three.

Both Tanzania and the US Red team of Korir and Ward finished with five points, but Tanzania gained the top spot via a tiebreaker — in this case, the team with the higher No. 2 finishers. Korir was part of the winning team from Kenya in the 2013 team challenge.

In a new twist for the 2022 Bolder Boulder, organizers added a combined team prize allocation for the top men’s and women’s teams from a single country. That honor when to the US Red (Korir and Ward for the men, winner Aliphine Tuliamuk and Makenna Myler for the women), which outpaced Mexico and Tanzania.

“I’m a marathon runner, and so typically when I come to Bolder Boulder, some of these guys just take off,” Ward said. “I kind of play the whole race trying to hunt them down. It was really fun today to be in that race for the first half until they took off and I was tracking them. It was exciting. For a marathoner like me to be close in a 10K like this, it’s exciting.”

team standingsRk. Country (prize) Points1. TANZANIA ($5,000) 52. USA RED ($3,000) 53. KENYA ($2,000) 154. MEXICO ($1,000) 155. USA BLUE 166. GREAT BRITAIN 227. ETHIOPIA 27individuals1. Leonard Korir ($8,000), USA (Colorado Springs), 29:282. Joseph Panga ($3,500), Tanzania, 29:363. Fabiano Nelson Sulle ($2,500), Tanzania, 29:534. Jared Ward ($3,500), USA (Provo, Utah), 29:555. Clayton Young ($1,000), USA (Provo, Utah), 30:016. Victor Gonzalez ($1,000), Mexico, 30:197. Dennis Kipkosgei ($750), Kenya, 30:388. Dominic Korir ($500), Kenya, 30:459. (11) Fernando Cervantes ($400), Mexico, 30:5210. (7) Callum Hawkins ($300), Great Britain, 30:5811. (3) Lawi Lalang ($200), US (Colorado Springs), 31:0412. (8) Derek Hawkins ($200), Great Britain, 32:1113. (6) Tsegay Berhe, Ethiopia, 33:0114. (5) Birhanu Kemal, Ethiopia, 37:22

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