Competitors become friends two years after the Midrace fight

Two years ago, Silas Kipruto and Teshome Mekonen made the headlines when Kipruto took a right shot at his competitor in the Bix 7 road race. The runners consider themselves warmly as friends.

"We were friends before," Kipruto told Quad-City Times earlier this week. "But I came to him after the race, and now we are friends like brothers, really good friends."

John Schultz / Times Quad-City Via ZUMA Press

On Saturday morning, the pair's Is again met in Davenport, Iowa, for the 44th edition of the Bix 7 Elite, where Belay Tilahun won the last kilometer. Tilahun became Ethiopia's first rider to win the Bix 7. 32: 37. Tilahun told KWQC after defeating 10K NCAA champion Ben Flanagan and American Olympian Leonard Korir. the last stretch. Kipruto finished fifth and Mekonen crossed the line a few seconds later in sixth place.

During the 2016 race, Kipruto missed his attempt to contact Mekonen who was running directly behind him around mile five. Kipruto, who competes overseas for Kenya, won the title while his Ethiopian rival finished eighth. Immediately after the race, Mekonen filed a protest but was denied by the race director because Kipruto did not make contact and the incident did not affect the result of the race. arrival.

On Thursday, Don Doxsie of Quad -City Times caught up with Kipruto and Mekonen before ending up on the starting line. While the midrace brawl captured a hot moment that made national news, runners can now laugh and even relate to each other as "brothers."

"Mekonen is my friend," said Kipruto. "But when I run with him, he kicked me in the leg, and I said, 'What's going on?' It was not something to hit him because he was my friend … It was just to say "What's up?"

At age 33 Kipruto is an experienced road racer with three wins in Bix 7 and a recent victory at Wharf's six mile race in Wharf in 2018 in Capitola, Calif. He also finished fourth at the World Half Marathon World Championships. The IAAF in 2010.

Mekonen, 22, took 11th place at the 2016 IAAF Half Marathon World Championships, and recently ranked fourth with a record of 62:44 in New York half-marathon in 2018.

"I really respect my friend," said Mekonen about Kipruto. "Now we have a very good relationship. He is my friend. "

The Bix 7 scored the second time the riders competed this season, with Mekonen finishing second on July 8 and Kipruto finishing sixth at Utica Boilermaker 15 K.