Some 1,500 runners expected in Peace Race

October 24, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The 41st annual Peace Race gets underway Sunday at 11 a.m. with 34 elite and approximately 1,500 total runners once again anticipated in this year’s field.

In addition to its 10k main race, which commences at Kirkmere School (located on the corner of Schenley and Kirk roads on the city’s West Side), winds through Mill Creek Park and ends in downtown Youngstown, a 400-meter kid’s run will go off at 9 a.m. with a two-mile walk/run beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Both of those races end on Youngstown’s Downtown Square.

“The annual Peace Race is one of the premier running events in the entire Mahoning Valley and attracts many of the top runners, not only locally but statewide, nationally and even internationally,” said Al George, Peace Board president. “We’re a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization that earmarks all profits for local charities. In recent years we have donated over $100,000 to local agencies such as St. Vincent DePaul Society, Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, Fairhaven School Special Olympics, Tod Children’s Hospital and Beatitude House, among others.”

Last year, Patrick Cheptoek (29:17) was the overall winner with Shadrack Kiyai (29:33) the runner-up and Alfred Kitak (30:19) rounding out the top three finishers.

On the women’s side, Mary Wangesi (24th overall, 33:20) was the top female, Jane Murage (27th overall, 33:40) placed second and Keisi Nutter (39th overall, 34:33) third, 73 seconds off the pace.

This year’s elite list reads like a “Who’s Who” of runners and features 20 male and 14 female entries.

Male runners to keep an eye on are Justin Dickman, Bobby Over, Scott Mate, Eric Rupe, Craig Rupe, Ceth Parker, Andy Morgan, Luke Grau, Richard Kessio, Nicholas Too, Peter Chebii, Kip Tisia, John Mirth, Samuel Malakuen, Julius Koskei, Philip Lagat, Luke Hickman, Geoffrey Kenisi, Andrew Riggins, Peter Kiprotich Kosgei and Mitchel Thornton.

The Peace Race will be Kosgie’s American debut, having already run a 28:27, 10k in Kenya earlier this year at altitude.

He also won the Standard Chartered Marathon (2:12.24) in Nairobi, Kenya last October, also at altitude and on a very hot day.

Koskei, 33, has run three, half-marathons this year in 1:03.00 and has a personal record (28:13) in the 10k in New Orleans (2006).

Lagat, 32, hails from Kenya and has a 28:35 clocking in the 10k in 2006 in Mobile, Ala. He has also posted a 3:57.5 mile in Des Moines, Iowa (2011).

Eric and Craig Rupe, and on the women’s side Michelle, are locals, hail from a distinguished local running family, know the course and will challenge everyone from start to finish.

Women runners to watch include Rachel Dickman, Michelle Corkum, Jessica Odorcic, Amanda Fire, Rupe, Ro Morgan, Megan Gibson, Hellen Jepkurgat, Weynshet Ansa, Erin Webster, Minicah Ngige, Abgael Wanjiku and Samantha Hamilton.

Ngige has won six road races in the United States this year, including the Probility 5K in a blistering 15:32. Her best 10k timing (31:38) came at First Lady’s, also in Nairobi earlier this year.

She blazed to a sizzling 49:54 at this-year’s Cherry Blossom 10-Mile in Washington, D.C., and is the only athlete to have ever pulled off a “double” at the Crim Festival of Races, earning top-three finishes in both the mile on Friday night, and then in the 10-Mile Race on Saturday this past Aug. 21-22.

Organizers say she is super-fit right now and has her sights set on the course record.

Wanjiku, just 18 years old, has won two U.S. road races including the Hyde Park Blast 5K in Cincinnati and the Health Resources 8K in Cedar Rapids.

She was also runner-up at the Steamboat Classic 4-mile event with a time of 20:52. Her 10-K personal best (33:32) was set at high altitude in Kenya and she has run 73:34 for the half-marathon, also at altitude in Kenya.

Ansa, also 18 and from Ethiopia, enters the weekend with a third-place finish at the 2013-IAAF World Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine as well as a fifth-place finish at the 2014-IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon on her ever expanding resume.