Solomon Kagimbi first to cross the finish line

PARKERSBURG — Clear weather and high humidity welcomed runners during Saturday’s 36th Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon, which saw Kenyan Solomon Kagimbi cross the finish first with a victorious clocking of one hour, seven minutes and nine seconds.
Kagimbi, who lives in South Carolina, made the most of his first race in the Mid-Ohio Valley and walked away with the top prize of $1,000.
“I’m here to explore America. I ran good,” said Kagimbi, who back in January captured the Life Time Miami Half Marathon.
“It was up and down, sometimes flat. I enjoyed. Downhill I enjoyed. It was tough, but I ran hard.”
Once the race began it was obvious Kagimbi was going to be the pace setter as he led from start to finish.
Despite the victory, Kagimbi admitted “I think I need to do some type of workouts to improve my performance. I enjoyed it. It was good,” Kagimbi also claimed the Road Runners Club of America Regional Championship.
A pair of familiar names finished behind Kagimbi – Andrew Taylor of Hilliard and fellow Buckeye and Belpre High School graduate Breydon Gates of Columbus.
Taylor, who picked up $750 for finishing runner-up, crossed in 1:15:46, which was slightly off his 2023 effort of 1:11:44.
“A lot slower. It was a lot more humid this year,” admitted Taylor, who was not quite two minutes ahead of Gates’ 1:17:38 clocking. “It’s just a really hard course. Lots of hills and then the humidity this year just made it tough, but when you get to a cheer station that always is like motivation to pick it up a little bit right there.”
Although Taylor won the Manitoba Marathon in June he knew Saturday was going to be difficult with Kagimbi in the race.
“He said he was going to go like 63 minutes at the start so I knew just don’t even try to go with that,” admitted Taylor, who just earned his doctorate from Butler University in pharmacy.
Taylor, who is preparing to move to Wabash, Ind., for a pharmacy job, finished runner-up at the Ogden Half Marathon in May.
“I had this one circled on the calendar since last year,” Taylor added of coming back to Parkersburg as he’s preparing for the Columbus Marathon in October.
Gates, who won $500 for finishing third, also was slightly off his pace from a year ago when he finished in 1:12:09.
Morgantown’s Logan Arnold, who completed the 13.1-mile race in 1:19:23, was the first West Virginian to cross the finish line. The Parkersburg Catholic grad earned $250 and the Norma Phillips Award, which is sponsored by The River City Runners and Walkers Club.
Columbus’ Taylor Gleaves placed fifth with a time of 1:21:04.
Beckley’s Timothy Bowman, who was sixth overall with a time of 1:23:19, claimed the masters title (40-49), while Parkersburg’s Matt Fluharty (11th, 1:29:35) was the masters runner-up.
Huntington’s John Archambault (1:23:43) finished seventh. Rounding out the top 10 were Morgantown’s Sean Flanagan (1:25:25), Evans’ Jonathan Schiefer (1:29:09) and Marietta’s Ben Williams (1:29:11).
Cleveland’s Chad Jones (1:35:05) and Jackson, Ohio’s George Sellers (1:34:21) were the grand masters and senior grand masters division winners, respectively.
In the walk division, the Keystone State’s Lee Stough added another championship to his collection after finishing with a winning effort of 2:08:35.
“This year because of the heat I wasn’t able to train the way I wanted to,” admitted Stough, who was followed by Virginia Beach’s Michael Villani (2:19:21) and Blacklick, Ohio’s James Lapinski (2:27:14). “The heat wasn’t bad. It was warm and humid, but the lack of that beating sunshine was very good. Even though I didn’t train well for distance, my overall fitness level was good.
“It did hurt me in the late part of the race. I went out at a much faster pace than I figured I would. I was comfortable going much faster than I had anticipated, but I couldn’t hold the pace. After nine miles, that’s when reality set in and I started slowing down. My last mile was two minutes slower than my early miles.”
Katherine Mader (2:31:51) was the first female walker and finished fourth overall, just ahead of husband Jason Mader, who completed the course in 2:35:04.