Posted: March 6, 2005

Athletics: KIMbia Athletic Management Founded

We are pleased to announce the establishment of KIMbia Athletic Management. Founded by Tom Ratcliffe (US) and Dieter Hogen (Germany), KIMbia will concentrate on long distance track events, cross country and road running, with a special emphasis on the marathon. Joining the management team will be former athlete Godfrey Kiprotich (Kenya) and Jane Howarth (Great Britain) who was formerly of the IAAF and a long time KIM employee.

KIMbia is the Swahili word meaning "to run". The selection of this name is both an acknowledgement of the impact Kenyan runners have had on international athletics, as well as serving to continue the legacy of the late Kim McDonald. KIMbia Athletic Management would surely not exist without the successful work done by Kim McDonald, one of the world’s finest athlete managers until his untimely death in 2001. Kim McDonald’s efforts served to guide a large number of runners to the world class level. Today his name as well as his philosophy lives on in KIMbia.

The list of KIMbia athletes features a number of prominent names in international running, including Evans Rutto (Kenya), Bob Kennedy (US), Elana Meyer (RSA) and Abraham Chebii (Kenya) as well as Sammy Kipketer (Kenya). A comprehensive web page is being developed, but if you click on http://www.kimbia.net you will have access to selected information and up to date news.

A selection of KIMbia team members:
Evans Rutto (Kenya / Marathon)
Winner of his first three marathons: Chicago 2003 (2:05:50, the fastest debut of all time), London Marathon 2004 (2:06:18), Chicago 2004 (2:06:16). Evans will run the Flora London Marathon this April.

Paul Koech (Kenya / Marathon)
Second in the Chicago Marathon 2003 (2:07:07 in his marathon debut), 1998 World Half Marathon champion with a 26:36.26 10,000m best.

Timothy Cherigat (Kenya / Marathon)
Winner of the 2004 Boston Marathon.

Elana Meyer (South Africa / Marathon)
World record holder at the half marathon distance (66:44) and 1992 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist.

Bob Kennedy (USA / Road and marathon)
American record holder at 5000m and 3000m.

Abraham Chebii (Kenya / Track)
In 2003 he defeated both Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie over 5000 meters.

Sammy Kipketer (Kenya / Track)
Holder of the 5k road world best of 13:00 and in 2002 he ranked as the world’s top 10,000m runner.

Daniel Komen (Kenya / Track)
The former world record holder at 5000m (12:39.74), Kenya’s super talent still holds world records at 3,000m (7:20.67) and 2 miles (7:58.61).

The company's website is at: http://www.kimbia.net.