Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp won the women’s division at the Philadelphia Distance Run Sunday.
Kemp, a six-time All-America at North Carolina State now based in Providence, ran 1:10.32 and edged Kenyan Catherine Syokau and Fiona O’keeffe to win the women’s race. Syokau ran 1:11.08 and O’keeffe 1:11.11. O’Keeffe is No. 7 in U.S. history with a 1:07:42 last year in Houston.
Kemp, 28, ran only 18 seconds off her half marathon PR of 1:10.14, which she ran in January in Houston. She finished 34th overall in a field of more than 2,400 runners.
She came through 5K in 16:10, 10K in 33:09 and 10 miles in 53:42. She averaged 5:22 and ran her last mile in 5:06.
The Philly Half course starts and finishes at Eakins Oval in Fairmount and is mainly an out-and-back along Martin Luther King Drive to the Falls Bridge.
Kemp ranks 9th among U,S. women this year in the half marathon with her 1:10.14 in Houston. That’s also 40th-fastest in U.S. history.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 