Kimobwa Ran Into Record Book In 1977

This 10,000 meters was one distance fans waited for.

It would be one to remember.

Craig Virgin of Illinois had the home crowd heartily cheering for him, while Washington State teammates Henry Rono and Samson Kimobwa got their outer encouragement from each other.

This 10,000 meters – in the 1977 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium – would be the trio’s first track meeting, and their first of any kind since they went 1-2-3 at the previous fall’s NCAA cross country championship, with Rono and Kimobwa over defending champ Virgin.

“From the beginning, the race was an absolute delight to watch,” wrote Dave Dorr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was 10,000 meters – a distance of 6 miles, 376 yards, a foot and 2 inches of tactics, surges, collisions and national pride.”

Virgin ran the first lap near the back, then moved up just behind the duo wearing Cougar crimson and gray who set the pace and traded the lead.

Each lap provided a mixture of lead changes, surges in pace and even “conversation” as Rono and Kimobwa spoke in their native Swahili language except in English when talking with Virgin – each claimed the others were crowding, pushing and stepping on them.

Every time one of the WSU athletes threw down a surge – a sporadic 64- or 65-second lap versus a 70 – Virgin responded. After a 14:22.1 first 5k (28:45 pace), the amount of surging increased to the point where Virgin got the crowd roaring with one of his own, and with about two laps to go it was just him and Kimobwa.

Kimobwa stuck right with Virgin’s move then overtook him as the hometown favorite faded. Kimobwa’s time – 28:10.27 – was a collegiate record, while Virgin (28:22.48) was also under the old NCAA meet record.

“Emotions can help at times,” Kimobwa told Rich Perelman for Track & Field News, who wrote, “Then he pointed to his head, saying, ‘But usually it’s here. You have to be tough’.”

Of the crowd? “Maybe I imagined they were cheering for me,” Kimobwa told Bob Payne of the Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review.

Epilogue

Rono – then a freshman and not yet the supreme force he would become – dropped off to finish 10^th and a day later was second in the steeplechase. A year later he would set four world records in 81 days.

Virgin – the all-dates CR holder at 27:59.43 from when he made the 1976 U.S. Olympic team – would go on to win world cross country titles in 1980 and 1981, still the only such victories by an American male.

Kimobwa was in the best shape of his life and three weeks later set a world record of 27:30.47. Four days after that he followed with a 27:37.3 – with a 13:21.9 5k PR in between, second-fastest ever by a collegian regardless of the season.