10K winner sprints to the finish

Race results

Patrick Nthiwa spent the past three weeks in Utah preparing for his first-ever Deseret Morning News/KJZZ-TV men's 10K race. The preparation paid off for the native of Kenya.

Nthiwa, adjusted to the altitude and acclimated to the state's unusually hot, dry summer, set a new race record and personal best in winning the 10K in a blistering time of 27:15 on Thursday. Crossing a slightly altered course from previous years that was a bit more downhill but had extra turns, Nthiwa pocketed the first-place check of $2,500 and promised to return next year to his "favorite course."

"I really liked the start of the race, the way it headed downhill and gave everyone a quick start," he said. "I didn't have a very good warmup today, and it took me until mile two to really get going. So the downhill start was nice."

The race began with 11 top runners closely packed, but by the mile two marker, five had broken in front to stay. Nthiwa and former University of Utah star Teren Jameson were neck-and-neck most of the way through mile four, with Julius Kimbai, John Gwako and two-time champ John Kariuki all staying close. As runners reached 100 South, Nthiwa took his first substantial lead, still only about five meters over Kimbai and Jameson. That's when the crowd lining the race route for the Days of '47 Parade came into play.

"I could hear the people of Salt Lake City cheering us on, and that was very helpful," Nthiwa said. "I've never been on a course like this with a crowd like this."

He started to hear the cheers even louder when the race reached 200 East. Nthiwa leaned into the turn and seemed to gain a spurt of energy as he put distance between him and both Kimkai and Jameson. By time he reached the final turn on 900 South, his lead was more than 300 meters.

Nthiwa's winning time eclipsed the race record of Kariuki of 27:26, but was on a different course and would have been classified a "course record" anyway. Kimkai finished second at 27:51, taking home $1,500. Gwako won $500 for a third-place finish at 28:10, Jameson bagged $400 for fourth at 28:13, and Kariuki finished fifth at 28:54, winning $250.

Race director Scott Kerr said this year's registered participants grew markedly on Wednesday, when last-day signups pushed the total number of men's and women's 10K racers to more than 3,000.