The final day on the track and the roads of Paris in the Olympics saw Flagstaff-based runners put in quality, impressive performances but could not crack the podium.
Saturday began with the men’s marathon, held in 68-degree weather with 86% humidity, and McKirdy Trained athlete Tebello Ramakongoana ran a disciplined consistent race, moving up at the big hill at 30K and finished seventh with a Lesotho national record (and personal best) of 2:07:58. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won gold in Olympic record time of 2:06:26.
Then, on the track, Flagstaff’s Nikki Hiltz, coached by NAU’s Mike Smith, finished seventh in the contentious 1,500-meter final in 3:56.38, one place behind Dark Sky Distance’s Susan Ejore (sixth, 3:56.07, a personal best). No one, though, was catching Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who won her third straight Olympic title in 3:51.29.
The men’s 5,000 meter final, Dark Sky’s Edwin Kurgat, of Kenya, stayed in the lead pack the entire race, but when the pace picked up, he failed to move up. He was seventh at the halfway point, seventh with a kilometer to go and finished seventh in a race won by Norway’s Jacob Ingebrigtsen ,with the U.S.’s Grant Fisher taking the bronze. Kurgat’s time was 13:!7.18 (second among Kenyans), with Ingebrigtsen winning in a season best of 13:13.66.
And the day at the track began with the U.S.’s only hope in the 800-meter final Bryce Hoppel, who has been training in Flagstaff with Hobbs Kessler, finishing just out of medal-contention in fourth with an American record of 1:41.67.
In the marathon, Ramakongoana’s race was a lesson in pacing and consistency. He started relatively slowly, 70th after the first 10K, but he moved up to 14th at the half marathon split at 1:05:01. That’s when Ramakongoana started picking it up. At 30K on the extended uphill that broke many runners, he moved into eighth, ahead of both Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young. He picked off one additional runner in the final 5K to place seventh — setting his personal best by nine seconds on a course with 1,200 feet of elevation gain.
Flagstaff’s Rory Linkletter, who runs for Canada, finished 47th in 2:13.09. Linkletter was as far back as 64th at 15K, but picked up ninth places in the final 12K, taking advantage of the uphills and downhills.
Running events at the Olympics end tonight with the women’s marathon (11:30 p.m., Arizona time), with Dark Sky’s Sharon Lokedi representing Kenya.
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