Updated on August 26, 2017 at 12:01 PMPosted on August 26, 2017 at 9:45 AM
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Gallery: Crim 2017 draws runners to Flint for 10-mile race, Michigan Mile
By Roberto Acostaracosta1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI – Slowed a little by the chilly weather, Kenya’s Julius Kogo still worked his way through the crowd for the 10-mile Crim Festival of Races course Saturday morning to take the victory for his sixth time.
Kogo finished with a time of 47:01, or a pace of 4 minutes, 43 seconds per mile. He will take home $3,000 for the victory.
“I’m happy with my time. Today the weather was difficult,” he said, with the temperature at the beginning of the race a chilly 48 degrees. “I want to thank God. I went and I tried my best.”
Kogo’s time was 22 seconds faster than the 2016 winner Dathan Ritzenhein, the first American to win the race in more than 20 years.
Five-peat: Kenyan runner Julius Kogo wins Crim’s 10-Mile race again
Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba Kejela was the top women’s finisher in her first-ever Crim race, crossing the finish line at 51:49, a pace of 5 minutes, 11 second per mile. She will also receive $3,000 in prize money.
“I like this race,” she told reporters shortly the end of her race. “I’m very happy.”
After a one-year hiatus for prize money, the first three male and female runners to cross the finish line on Saginaw Street will receive $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.
This year, the top five Michigan male and female runners will also receive prize money: $2,500 for first, $1,500 for second, $1,000 for third, $750 for fourth and $500 for the fifth-place finisher.
And they’re off: Thousands embark for Crim 2017 in Flint
Along the way, participants will pass the University of Michigan-Flint campus, hear music above their breaths along Atwood Stadium, traverse around Mott Park, and dig in up the Bradley Hills before powering through their final strides at the end.