PRESS KIT: World-Class Athlete Bios - 2015 TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race

Updated July 31 - FINAL

 

Elite Men

(Course Record: Gilbert Okari, Kenya, 27:28 - 2003)

 

 

 

Stephen Kosgei-Kibet

Bib#: 1

Age: 28

Country: Kenya

Best 10K: 27:43

Of note: After runner up finishes at the TD Beach to Beacon last year (a PB 27:43) and 2012 (28:01), Stephen is looking to break through with a win. He also recorded a 27:52 on the course in 2010 to place fourth. His half marathon PR of 58:54 ranks him in the top 10 all-time for the distance. He was fifth in the World Half Marathon Championships in 2012.

 

 

 

Moses Kipsiro

Bib#: 4

Age: 28

Country: Uganda

Best 10K: 27:52

Of note: Moses has a fine pedigree across all surfaces. He has won three Commonwealth Games titles (5000m and 10,000m in Delhi 2010 and defended his 10,000m title in Glasgow 2014), two individual World Cross Country medals (one silver and one bronze) and was the World Championships bronze medalist over 5000m in 2009.  Moses's has PR's of 12:50.72 at 5,000m and 27:04.49 at 10,000m. He has also won major road races across the globe, including the Great Manchester Run and Silvesterlauf Trier).  On his fist visit to the U.S. for a road race in 2013, Moses finished second (28:02) at the Healthy Kidney 10K. He has returned this year, taking fifth at the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League 5,000m in June before his arrival in Maine for the TD Beach to Beacon.

 

Micah Kogo

Bib#: 5

Age: 29

Country: Kenya

Best 10K: 27:01

Of note: A two-time TD Beach to Beacon champ (27:47 in 2011 and 28:03 in 2013), he took fifth (28:15) last year. He won Bronze at the 2008 Olympics at 10,000m – and has recorded a 26:38 on the track. Micah once ran 27:01 in a 10K road race to set a world record and finished second (2:10:27) in his marathon debut at the 2013 Boston Marathon. He is in top form after placing a strong third at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 in Iowa over the weekend.

 

 

Daniel Salel

Bib #: 7

Age: 24

Country: Kenya

Best 10K: 27:41

Of note: Daniel won the rain-soaked B.A.A. 10K (28:09) in June after finishing third there in 2014 (a personal best 27:41) and 2013. He won the 3000m in the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2007 (7:57.18). Daniel has run 27:07 at 10,000m.

 

Christo Landry

Bib #: 8

Age: 29

Country: USA (Charlotte, NC)

Best 10K: 28:25

Of note: The Wisconsin native and All-American at William & Mary finished second to True in the USA 15K (44:14) at the Gate River Run. He also recorded a 27:55 in the 10,000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational in May. In 2014, Christo set the American 25K record (1:14:18) at the USA 25K Championship and also won the USA 10K Championship in Atlanta in a personal best 28:25.

 

Riley Masters

Bib #: 9

Age: 25

Country: USA (Seattle)

Best 10K:

Of note: The Veazie, Maine native is a former Bangor High School standout and All-American at the University of Maine and University of Oklahoma. He set a PB 13:17.97 at 5,000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational in May, and placed ninth at 5,000m at the U.S. Championships in June. Riley recently recorded a 3:36.49 to set a PB at 1500m. He won the Maine category (30:19) at the 2013 TD Beach to Beacon.

 

 

Will Geoghegan

Bib #: 10

Age: 23

Country: USA (Eugene, OR)

Best 10K: 29:53

Of note: Took big step forward in his professional career with a PB 13:17.85 at 5000m in Belgium recently, following an eighth-place finish at 1,500m (3:40.05) at the U.S. Championships in June. The Brunswick native is a former Dartmouth All-American who transferred to Oregon to finish his collegiate career. Capped off his lone season with the Ducks by finishing fourth in the 5,000m at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Will won the Maine category (29:53) at the 2014 TD Beach to Beacon.

 

Eric Jenkins

Bib #: 11

Age: 23

Country: USA

Best 10K:

Of note: Eric is a two-time NCAA champ at Oregon who grew up in Portsmouth, N.H., and began his collegiate career at Northeastern. He launched his professional career this summer on the Europe track circuit, finishing just behind True recently in Belgium with a 13:07.33 at 5,000m and also recording a 7:40 3,000m. Eric won the 3K and 5K at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track Championships. Noted for the much-publicized rivalry between he and Oregon teammate Edward Cheserek. Finished second to Cheserek in both the 10,000m (28:59.13) and 5,000m at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships.

Abdi Abdirahman

Bib #: 14

Age: 38

Country: USA (Flagstaff, AZ)

Best 10K: 27:16.99 (track)

Of note: Abdi is one of only two American male distance runners to make four Olympic teams. He ran the 10,000m in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, and was on the 2012 marathon team, though he failed to finish the race due to injury. He ran his marathon PR of 2:08:56 in 2006. Abdi won the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000m and is a four-time U.S. 10,000m champion (2001, 2005, 2007, 2008). The Somali-American placed seventh (28:32) in his only previous TD Beach to Beacon appearance in 2002.

 

 

Aaron Braun

Bib #: 16

Age: 28

Country: USA (Alamosa, CO)

Best 10K: 27:41 (track)

Of note: An elite-level American distance runner who tends to fly under the radar, Aaron won the U.S. National 12K Championship in 2013 (34:28). He also ran a personal best 27:41 to finish fifth at 10,000m at the 2012 Olympic Trials. He was the runner-up at the 2014 USA Half Marathon Championships, crossing in 1:01:38. His 28:52 placed him fourth at the 2014 USA 10K Championships.

 

 

 

 

Danny Abera

Bib #: 17

Age: 26

Country: Ethiopia

Best 10K: 30:49

Of note: Danny has a personal best 2:08:52 marathon time and won the 2011 Sevilla Marathon.

 

Maksim Korolev

Bib #: 18

Age: 23

Country: USA (St. Louis)

Best 10K:

Of note: The Harvard record holder at 3,000m and 5,000m has a PB 13:42 at 5,000m.

 

Chris Solinsky

Bib #: 19

Age: 31

Country: USA

Best 10K: 26:59.60

Of note: A five-time NCAA Track Champion at the University of Wisconsin, he is the former American 10,000m record holder with a time of 26:59.60 in 2010 – the first non-African to break the 27-minute barrier in the 10,000m. Also in 2010, Chris recorded a PB 12:55.53 at 5,000m. Injuries have slowed his career ever since. He is now an assistant coach at the College of William and Mary.

 

Ethan Shaw

Bib #: 20

Age: 25

Country: USA (Allston, MA)

Best 10K: 28:41.86 (track)

Of note: Ethan was a standout runner at Falmouth (Maine) High School and at Dartmouth College who won the Maine category (30:37) at the 2012 TD Beach to Beacon. He made his marathon debut last year at Twin Cities in Minnesota, where he finished 13^th in 2:17:26. In January, he recorded a PB 1:03.41 at the 2015 USA Half Marathon Championships.

 

Andrew Springer

Bib #: 21

Age: 25

Country:  USA

Best 10K: 29:29 (track)

Of note: A two-time All American and three-time Big East champion at Georgetown, Andrew clocked at PB 13:37 at 5,000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational in May. He is originally from Westerly, R.I.

 

 

Elite Women

 

(Course Record: Lineth Chepkurui, Kenya, 30:59 - 2010)

 

 

 

Gemma Steel

Bib#: 100   

Age: 29

Country:  Great Britain

Best 10K: 31:26

Of note: Gemma always brings her best to Maine. She held off Olympian Shalane Flanagan to win the 2014 TD Beach to Beacon (31:27), one year after setting a PB 31:26 as a runner up to Joyce Chepkirui. She has placed second the past two years at the Falmouth Road Race. Gemma won Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in 2011. She placed seventh at the 2012 World Half Marathon championships.

 

 

 

 

Sentayehu Ejigu

Bib #: 102

Age: 30

Country: Ethiopia

Best 10K: 31:33

Of note: A 2004 Olympian, Sentayehu won bronze at the 2010 African Championsihps and the World Indoors. She was the silver medalist at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup. In April, Sentayehu placed second at the BAA 5K (14:51).

 

Wude Ayalew   

Bib #: 104

Age: 28

Country: Ethiopia

Best 10K: 31:07

Of note: Back for the fourth time, Wude owns the second fastest time ever on the TD Beach to Beacon course – a PB 31:07 in 2010 that saw her place second, eight seconds behind course record breaker Lineth Chepkurui. A short time later, however, she beat Chepkurui to win the Falmouth Road Race. Wude won Bronze at 10,000m at the 2009 World Championships and placed second at the 2011 All-African Games.

 

 

Alexi Pappas

Bib#: 106

Age: 25

Country: USA  (Eugene, OR)

Best 10K: 32:32

Of note:  A five-time All American at Dartmouth and Oregon, Alexi made her professional road racing debut at the TD Beach to Beacon in 2013, finishing tenth, and moved up to seventh in 2014 with a personal best 32:32. She will be looking to move up again this year after recording a 32:02 on the track in May in Palo Alto, CA and winning the prestigious Peachtree 10K Road Race (33:28) in July.

 

 

 

 

 

Diane Nukuri

Bib #: 107

Age: 31

Country: Burundi

Best 10k: 31:52

Of note: Diane has three top-10 finishes at the TD Beach to Beacon, including a strong third last year in a personal best 31:52. She is arriving in Maine fresh off a fourth place finish at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 in Iowa over the weekend. Diane is a two-time winner of Bay to Breakers and finished second at the 2013 ING New York City Half Marathon. She is a two-time Olympian who first competed for Burundi in the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a 15-year-old. She later fled the country to escape civil war, learned English and eventually received a scholarship to the University of Iowa, where she won two Big 10 championships. The holder of all Burundian distance records, Diane competed in the marathon for her native country at the 2012 London Olympics.

 

Liz Costello

Bib #: 109

Age: 27

Country: USA (Boston)

Best 10K:

Of note: Liz just missed a medal, finishing fourth (32:53.52) at 10,000m at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto last week. She took seventh at 10,000m (33:06.66) at the U.S. Championships in June. The former University of Tennessee standout also set PBs in the 3,000m (8:56) and the 2-mile (9:42) earlier this year.

 

Katie Matthews

Bib#: 114

Age: 24

Country: USA  (Boston)

Best 10K: 32:23

Of note: Katie was a five-time All-American at Boston University who placed fifth at the 2013 NCCA Outdoor Championships at 10,000m.

 

Sarah Pagano

Bib #: 115

Age: 24

Country: USA (Boston)

Best 10K: 33:00.46 (track)

Of note: Sarah was a distance runner at Syracuse University, setting her personal best to finish seventh in the 10,000m at the 2013 NCAA Championships.

 

Laura Thweatt

Bib #: 116

Age: 26

Country: USA  (Boulder, CO)

Best 10K: 32:37

Of note: A graduate of the University of Colorado, where she earned All Big 12 honors five times, Laura has personal bests of 15:04 at 5,000m and 32:15 at 10,000m.

 

Stephanie Dinius

Bib #: 118

Age: 25

Country: USA  (Boston)

Best 10K: 32:56.14 (track)

Of note: The former Stanford track & cross country standout has recently relocated from California to Boston. She ran a PB 32:56.14 at 10,000m in 2014. Steph broke the course record to win the 2013 Disneyland Half Marathon.

 

Chrystal Burnick  

Bib #: 119

Age:

Country: USA

Best 10K: 36:21

Of note: Crystal was the first American at the 2014 Blue Cross Broad Street Run in Philadelphia, completing the 10-mile course in 58:31.

 

Katie DiCamillo

Bib #: 99

Age: 28

Country: USA

Best 10K:

Of note: Katie was the second American finisher at the 2013 New York City Marathon.

* Primary sources for information on athletes from Wikipedia and IAAF website.