The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mutai wins comfortably in men’s race
It may have been an unfamiliar course in an opposite corner of Ohio from which he resides.
But July 8 during the Johnnycake Jog, Kiprop Mutai looked like he had run Ohio’s Finest Five-Miler over and over again before.
Mutai won the men’s race with a time of 23 minutes, 53.50 seconds, well ahead of runner-up Eric Lagat of Toledo (24:13.73) and third-place Aimon Scullion of Akron (24:38.90).
Last year’s Jog champion, Evan Schwartz, was sixth with a 25:40.
The 16th men’s Jog champion to break 24:00, the 31-year-old Bowling Green resident left no doubt as he raced down Mentor Avenue to the finish.
“I’m very happy, because this is my first time to join this race,” Mutai said. “It was a good race.” That it was. Mutai went out with 12:02 to take the lead in the first half of the race, then went 11:53 on the back end. The latter had a 4:45 pace, about six seconds better than Lagat and eight seconds better than Scullion, who won the Jog in 2014.
“Because I never knew who was fast, I was around 5:00,” Mutai said. “Then I got around 4:40. I think I did well.” It capped a busy week. On July 4, Mutai competed in the Great Buffalo Chase 5K, taking third in the men’s 30-34 age division with a 14:34.
“We Kenyans, we try to work hard,” Mutai said. “We try to maximize our speed for the best performance.
“I’m training at Bowling Green, and Bowling Green has a good track. We have a group of Kenyan people, and we train together. So it makes our training perfect.”
As does the feeling of walking up to collect the rewards for a job well done, as Mutai accepted his prize for capturing the Jog to warm applause.
Unfamiliar course or not, opposite corner of Ohio or not, Mutai looked very comfortable as he reaped dividend from a long road trip.
“Sometimes, some races are too competitive,” Mutai said. “I’m trying to do my best, but sometimes, I have some competitors that are faster than me.” But not on this day. The highest-placing area finisher was Wickliffe resident Luke Hickman, who was fourth with a 25:06.
Among familiar area high school distance performers, former Madison standout A.J. Dietrich was 14th overall in 28:52, and recent Mentor graduate Michael Ferro was 15th in 29:21. Harvey sophomoreto-be J.T. Basco won the male 13-15 division with a 29:47.
Other area division winners were Nathan Montgomery (12-and-under, Madison), Julio Hernandez (masters, Madison), James Gazso (45-49, Eastlake) and Bruce Orosz (6064, Painesville).