Men's Race: Kimining edges Twelde in a 2:10 thriller at Twin Cities

• Shadrack Kimining wins in 2:10:17, averaging 4:58/mi to claim the men's title by just four seconds over Tesfu Twelde (2:10:21) — with Dominic Ondoro just 15 seconds back in third (2:10:32).
• The top three separated by 15 seconds across 26.2 miles, with Matthew Richtman (2:10:45) making it four men under 2:11 — a remarkably deep finish at the front.
• Fastest segment honors were shared: Twelde owned the 10K→15K leg, Ondoro countered with the fastest men's split on 15K→20K, and Kimining answered with the fastest men's split on 20K→25K — the title was decided mile by mile.
• Local flavor in the top 10: Cosmass Kiplimo (5th, 2:12:32) and Ben Olson (7th, 2:14:35) both call the Twin Cities home, racing the streets they train on in front of a home crowd.

Shadrack Kimining led from the gun — briefly — before settling into a chess match that played out across every checkpoint of this point-to-point course from Minneapolis to Saint Paul. He held first at the opening split, slipped to second by 10K, then reclaimed the lead by 15K and never relinquished it. His 4:58/mi average held steady through 21 mph winds and a brisk 52°F morning, and his fastest split of the day — the 20K→25K stretch — was the decisive blow, the moment the race cracked open.

Tesfu Twelde's journey to the podium was anything but linear. Starting sixth, he surged to fifth by 10K, posted the fastest men's split on that leg, then faded back to fifth through the middle miles before rallying hard. He climbed from fifth to third to second in the final two checkpoints, crossing in 2:10:21 — four seconds behind Kimining after 26.2 miles. That's a catch-up story: Twelde ran the back half faster than almost anyone, but Kimining had just enough cushion built from that 20K→25K surge to hold on.

Dominic Ondoro, the 36-year-old from Grand Prairie, ran his own race. He was second at 10K, dropped to fifth briefly, then locked into second place from 15K onward — fueled by the fastest men's split on the 15K→20K segment — before finishing third in 2:10:32 at 4:59/mi. Matthew Richtman (24, Elburn, IL) was the quiet story of the front pack: fourth at the opening split, never flashy, but utterly consistent, finishing fourth in 2:10:45 with the second-fastest 10K→15K split in the men's field. Four men under 2:11 on a windy October morning along the Mississippi — the 2024 men's race at Twin Cities delivered.