Women’s 8K sees record set by Kenya’s Limo

CEDAR RAPIDS - As predicted by race officials, Kenyan runner Cynthia Limo cemented her name in the record books on Friday after the Fifth Season Health Solutions 8K race.

Now residing in Lansing, Mich., the 24-year-old clocked a time of 25:46, setting a new event record in the women's division at the Fifth Season races. Coming into the 29th annual event, the record stood at 25:50, set in 2012 by former University of Iowa runner Diane Nukuri-Johnson.

Limo said it was her first trip to Cedar Rapids and thought the roads were very kind to her.

'I felt very successful,” Limo said. 'It was a nice pace and a very nice course and a fantastic place.”

With the streets covered in red, white and blue and some runners sporting American flag running shorts, Limo said it was an exciting atmosphere to be a part of. But once it came down to running, she was focused in on her race.

'It was a very nice place and fun to see,” Limo said. 'It was a beautiful day. It was not too hot and it was not too cold.”

Weather wasn't able to hinder Limo's race on Friday. With a sunny sky and 70 degrees when the gun blew for the 8K, there weren't any obstacles standing in the way of a victory for the Kenyan.

While some will go on to celebrate their Fourth of July holiday weekends, Limo's manager, Owen Anderson, said she'll be getting right back to work.

'We leave this afternoon and head back home,” Anderson said. 'She'll be doing the Boilermaker next weekend.”

The Boilermaker is a 15K/5K road race set in Utica, N.Y., and Limo heads there for the race on July 13.

After spending just one month in the United States, Anderson said she is already becoming a natural.

Other finishers in the women's division of the 8K race included Ann Wanjiru of Lansing, Mich., with a time of 26:42, Samantha Bluske of Ames, with a time of 27:56, former Tipton and Nebraska runner Ashley Miller, with a time of 28:22, and Erin Moeller of Mount Vernon, with a time of 29:47.

l Comments: stephen.koenigsfeld@thegazettecompany.com