McKirdy Trained’s Tebello Ramakongoana, the Lesotho Olympian who trains in Flagstaff, had a speedy tuneup for the Paris Games’ marathon on Saturday morning, winning Duluth’s Grandma’s Half Marathon in 1:00:17.
Ramakongoana basically ran alone for much of the race, which had near perfect tconditions (55 degrees), but still managed to break breaking the course record of 1:01:22 by Meb Keflezighi set in 2013.
Afterward, Ramakongoana told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “I needed this race for confidence before going to Paris. I just took the lead from the start. That was my plan.”
It was a McKirdy podium sweep in the men’s half, officially called the Garry Bjorklund Half. Ramakongoana beat teammate Tsegay Weldlibanos (1:02:04), and another McKirdy runner, Nathan Martin (1:02:36). Weldibanos, of Eritrea, trains in Flagstaff; Martin is from Michigan.
In the women’s half, Flagstaff’s Katja Goldring and Shannon Smith cracked the top 10, with Goldring finishing fifth in 1:12:43 and Smith ninth in 1:13:22.
In the marathon, Flagstaff’s Hosava Kretzmann placed 17th in 2:18:59. It was a return to form for Kretzmann, who grew up on the Hopi’s Third Mesa. He ran 2:19:57 in March of 2023 at the Los Angeles Marathon, but later in the year ran 2:29 (McKirdy Micro) and 2:35 (CIM).
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