Among the Eritrean expats living and training in Flagstaff under the McKirdy Trained banner, it usually is Yemane Haileselassie who garners the most attention. But Tsegay Wildibanos made a lot of noise, himself, on Sunday.
While Haileselassie, as expected, won the Honolulu Marathon with a time of 2:11:59, across the Pacific Ocean in Sacramento, his teammate and countryman Wildibanos not only was victorious at the California International Marathon but obliterated the course record by almost three minutes with a winning time of 2:07:35.
Wildibanos, 28, has run solid marathons before. His personal best coming into the CIM was 2:09:07 at the Daegu International Marathon in Korea in 2019. He is an experienced marathoner who has had ups and downs in the event in recent years. His most recent marathon effort was last April in Boston, when he finished a distant 33rd in 2:22, well below his ability. In 2023, he won the McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York state in 2:11:04 after running 2:12:15 at Grandma’s in Minnesota earlier in the year. He ended 2023 with a did-not-finish at the Honolulu Marathon.
But he more than made up for that on Sunday. His main competition, American C.J. Albertson, trying to double back after running well at last month’s New York City Marathon, wasn’t close. Albertson finished two and a half minutes behind Wildibanos in 2:10:06. The two ran together through the first half, before Wildibanos put on a surge to pull away, and he never relented the lead.
Flagstaff’s Nick Hauger finished third in 2:11:55, a personal best. Hauger’s previous marathon was a 2:15:56 effort to place 24th at the Boston Marathon. And Sunday’s time also gave Hauger redemption after running 2:16:02 to finish 11th in last year’s CIM.
Hauger’s wife, British Olympian Calli Hauger-Thackery, held on to beat American Jackie Gaughan by 12 seconds in 2:24:28. At the half marathon mark. Hauger-Thackery held a 2 minute 18 second lead over Gaughan, but by 30K, the lead had been shaved by a minute. And by the 40K mark, entering the flat section in downtown Sacramento, Gaughan came within three seconds of Hauger-Thackery.
Flagstaff’s Stephanie Bruce placed third in 2:28:41., a minute off her PR from Chicago in 2019. But it was Bruce’s fastest marathon since 2022, when she ran 2:28:02 in Boston. Two other Flagstaff runners, Jeralyn Poe Kiprotich (2:32:58) and Shannon Smith (2:34:24), finished eighth and 12th, respectively.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Haileselassie, a 2016 Olympian in the steeplechase, ran a big personal best in beating Kenya’s Reuben Kerio by 17 seconds in 2:11:59. That’s a significant bounce back from April in Boston, when he ran 2:144:44 for 14th place.
After Boston, though, Haileselassie put in some good road racing performances, winning the BAA Half Marathon in Boston in 1:01:46 slightly less than a month ago.
Haileselassie’s teammate and countryman, Amanuel Mesel, finished fifth in Honolulu at 2:17:33.
In the Honolulu 10K, run in conjunction with the marathon, Dark Sky Distance dominated. Olympic steeplechaser Matt Wilkinson easily took the victory in 29:05, beating teammate Kasey Knevelbaard by 35 seconds.
In the women’s 10K, it was a Dark Sky podium sweep. Former NAU stars Gracelyn Larkin and Annika Reiss went 1-2, with Larkin winning by seven seconds in 33:32. The other Dark Sky runner, Canadian Olympian steeplechaser Regan Yee, was third in 33:55. Another NAU alum, Jessa Hanson, of the Verde Track Club, was sixth in 37:19.
— McDowell Mountain Frenzy: Saturday’s top trail race, the McDowell Mountain Frenzy in the Valley, saw Amy Lew of Bellemont finish fourth overall for the women in the 50-mile race in 11:15:27. Nick Smotek was Flagstaff’s top male in 11:27:43, 18th among the men.
In the 50K, Flagstaff’s Jesse Chettle was the sixth male in 4:30:53, while Tara Friend finished ninth among women at 5:28:16 and Sarah Anderson 11th in 5:35:43. And in the 25K, Nicole Hanson of Flagstaff was the third woman in 2:04:09, and Ryan Guldan was the seventh overall in 1:52:56.
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