Runners to watch Sunday at Prairie Fire Marathon

Stanley Boen

Boen returns to defend his title after winning last year’s marathon in thrilling sprint to the finish in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 47 seconds, which is the fifth-fastest time recorded in Kansas and the fastest winning time in Prairie Fire history. Boen also ran the marathon in 2014, placing second with a time of 2:30:54. Boen, 38, is coming off a marathon victory in Provo, Utah on June 11 with a winning time of 2:23:41.

Peter Chebet

The runner who pushed Boen in that sprint to the finish line in last year’s marathon, Chebet, will be making his second appearance in the Prairie Fire Marathon. The 34-year-old’s time of 2:20:47 last year is the sixth-fastest in Kansas history and second-fastest in the Prairie Fire’s history. Since racing last October, Chebet has been absent from marathons since.

Nicholas Kipngetich

The defending half-marathon champion will be back, returning after winning last year’s race in 1:05:21 for the third-fastest time in Kansas history. The 23-year-old has since lowered his career-best half-marathon time down to 1:03:58, which makes him a threat to top the state record set earlier this year by Joe Moore in 1:04:09.

Peter Chebii

Chebii finished second to Kipngetich at last year’s fall half-marathon in 1:05:37, then came back in May to win the spring half-marathon without a push in 1:07:42. The 31-year-old has had a busy year and recorded his fastest half-marathon earlier this year in St. Louis in a time of 1:04:48.

Katie Kramer-Ochoa

The 2013 Prairie Fire marathon winner will return for the fifth time to run in Wichita from her home in Broken Arrow, Okla. After suffering a hip stress fracture in her debut in 2011, Kramer-Ochoa returned to win the race in 2:59:07 —the sixth-fastest women’s marathon in Kansas — and has sinced placed third in 2014 and fourth in 2015. This will be her eighth marathon of 2016, as she looks for her sixth victory.

Cindy Blakely-Cameron

One of the most accomplished runners in Kansas, Blakely-Cameron returns to defend her title in the 5-kilometer race. She is all over the state record book all the way up to the half-marathon, as the former cross country and track standout at Emporia State has now made her niche in the 5K.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Runners to watch Sunday at Prairie Fire Marathon."