NEWPORT, Kentucky (AP) — The runners came in all sizes, shapes and ages, from 5 to 99. Celebrating the Fourth of July, some raced in starry tops, shorts and headbands. For them, the 5K through the grounds of a Kentucky whiskey distillery, raising funds for that night’s Independence Day fireworks, was strictly fun.
For super-fit Kenyans at the front chasing cash prizes, it was strictly business.
Stragglers in the 2015 Great Buffalo Chase were still catching their breath as Lilian Mariita bashfully climbed onto the second step of the winners’ podium, $2,500 the richer. But her whole way of life — crisscrossing America, cashing in at small races, sending winnings back home to her dirt-poor village in Kenya — was about to crumble.