Kenya’s Kirui, American Wade the Winners in 31st annual California International Marathon

Published by the Sacramento Bee on December 9, 2013

As the first pack of lead runners formed in the early stages of Sunday’s California International Marathon, Weldon Kirui was nowhere to be seen. Even after joining the leaders, the Kenyan seemed content to hover toward the back of the pack, which still numbered a dozen at the halfway point of the Folsom-to-Sacramento course.

Yet as the group dwindled to six runners near mile 20, then to three by mile 23, Kirui did not falter. And rounding the race’s final turn toward the finish at 9th Street and the Capitol Mall, he used a burst of speed to separate from his lone remaining challenger, crossing the finish in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 34 seconds to win the 31st annual CIM.

Wearing black long sleeves to help ward off the cold, Kirui crossed the finish line with arms raised and went straight into a hug from his agent, Brad Poore, an Auburn resident. Rebecca Wade of Houston, Texas, won the women’s race with a time of 2:30:41, passing Sarah Kiptoo in the final mile after trailing for much of the race. While Kirui was a favorite in the men’s field entering the race, Wade, 24, was making her marathon debut.

Kirui, admittedly not accustomed to running in cold weather, said he allowed the other leaders to set the pace for most of the race. “I was staying with the fast group up to the last mile, when I went to the front,” he said. “It was the plan to go to the front near the finish.”

By that point, the race was between Kirui and Julius Koskei, a native of Kenya who trains in the United States, as the two had shed the rest of the lead group between Carmichael and the numbered streets of East Sacramento.

“I tried to push to see if I could win,” said Koskei, 32. “But the winner was very strong.”

Kirui edged Koskei by three seconds to claim the $10,000 winner’s check by the thinnest margin in the men’s field since 2006, with Jacob Chemtai – one of several late entries to CIM after the Dallas Marathon was canceled because of weather – placing third in 2:15:35.