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First Time Philly Visitor Wesley Kiptoo Men’s Winner of Philadelphia Distance Run

By mitchpa on September 22, 2024 • ( 0 )

By David Block

Wesley Kiptoo, who won the Philadelphia Distance Run (PDR) 13.1 miles on Sunday, September 15 with a 1:01:21 finish, had never before set foot in The City of Brotherly Love.

“I got here two days ago,” said Kiptoo. A few hours after winning the first place cash award of $2,500.00, he flew back to Arizona where he trains. Asked what he saw in Philadelphia and what he will remember he said: “There are a lot of good places to run here.” He had no time for sightseeing. For him, the PDR was work.

Kiptoo was in the lead pack after the race began. After hitting four miles in 18:09, Kiptoo and second place finisher Athanas Kioko, 1:01:27, broke away. The two ran side by side. After hitting the five-mile mark with a 22:42 clocking, Kiptoo decided to push the pace. He did not see any of his splits.

“I just wanted to move,” said Kiptoo. He occasionally looked behind him to see if there were challengers, but they were nowhere near him. “I wish someone was behind me – I could have run faster,” he said.

After he hit the eight-mile mark in 36:55 everyone on the pace vehicle accurately predicted that he would win. Nobody was near him. He hit ten miles at 46:38, eleven miles at 51:23, and twelve miles at 56:03.

Kiptoo plans to run the NYC Marathon this November.

Finishing third behind Kioko was Tsegay Weldlibanos with a 1:05:50 clocking.

In the women’s field, Susanna Sullivan won with a 1:09:42 posting. She ran the PDR two years ago and finished sixth, with a 1:11:58 posting.

“I’m a lot stronger than I was two years ago,” said Sullivan. She attributed her improvement to her personal track coach Andrew Gerard, who is also the head women’s track coach for George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. For the past few months, he had her do a lot of aerobic strength training.

After the PDR began, Sullivan had the lead for the first two miles. Then Mercy Chelangat caught up to her. They ran together until about the nine-mile mark. Sullivan pulled away and Chelangat failed to catch her. She finished second,1:10:21.

The PDR was a tune-up for Sullivan who will run the Chicago Marathon in four weeks.