Mile posts: Items on Edwin Kurgat, Biya Simbassa, Will Ryan, Adva Cohen, Mallory King Lindaman, Austin O'Brien

The heart of summer means a mix of road racing, track and field and triathlon results for the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Will start by heading way east and Maine, where two former Iowa collegians were battling for the victory at the Beach to Beacon 10K on Saturday. Edwin Kurgat, the 2019 NCAA cross country champion for Iowa State and a 10-time All-American, finished fourth among the male elites at Cape Elizabeth. The Kenyan and UT-Martin graduate student ran the 10-kilometer distance in 28 minutes, 15 seconds, to grab a $2,000 paycheck. Kurgat owns a runner-up finish at the B.A.A. 10K in Boston already this summer.

Coming in next across the line at Crescent Beach State Park was former Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College great Biya Simbassa. The USA 7 Mile and Quad-City Times Bix 7 champion on July 29 ran 28:19 and picked up $4,000, including a $3,000 bonus as the second-best American. Simbassa, an Under Armour athlete, is now based in Flagstaff, Ariz. The winner was Ethiopian Addisu Yihune in 27:56.

"Great competition this morning on the street of Maine," Simbassa wrote on Instagram. "I'm happy that I got mixed up with the best of the best!"

Moving to the track, where current University of Iowa sophomore Will Ryan finished third in the 5,000 meters at the Pan American U20 Track and Field Championship. The former Dowling Catholic star from Waukee ran 14:52.06 in the race held Friday in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Fellow American and Virginia Tech runner Ethan Coleman was the winner in 14:44.58.

Former Iowa Central great Adva Cohen placed second in the top heat of the women's 1,500 at the Flanders Cup DCLA event in Leuven, Belgium, on Saturday. The native of Jerusalem, Israel and former New Mexico All-American ran 4:13.29 to trail only Jamaican Natoya Goule-Toppin. Cohen's best time is a 4:12.95 run at Belgium in July 2021.

At the seventh annual Ed Murphey Classic on the campus of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., former Davenport Assumption star and Iowa All-American Mallory King Lindaman claimed third place in the women's 800-meter B section on Friday. The Iowa City resident ran 2:04.62 in a race won by Canadian Aurora Rynda in 2:03.35.

Shifting to triathlon and the PTO (Professional Triathletes Organisation) US Open in Milwaukee on Saturday, where former Iowa City resident Lesley Smith finished 23rd in 3:54:25 over the 100-kilometer course. Smith posted the 18th-best swim of 30:20, the 25th-best bike and the 19th-best run of 1:14:07. The Boulder, Colo., resident was coming off a runner-up honor at Ironman 70.3 Oregon in Salem two weeks ago. The winner was Taylor Knibb in 3:32:58.

In the men's competition, former University of Iowa student Justin Metzler finished 25th in 3:30:01. Metzler had a best finish of 20th in the swim of 26:44. He ranked 26th on the bike and 24th on the run. Germany's Jan Fredeno was the champion in 3:14:11.

Metzler was coming off a third-place podium finish at Ironman 70.3 Maine on July 30 when he had an elapsed time of 3:45:11. The winner in that race was Trevor Foley in 3:33:57.

A central Iowa road race produced a thrilling finish Saturday. Runablaze Iowa teammates Austin O'Brien, 31, of Waukee and Karim Achengli, 31, of Ankeny dueled over the 10K course at the 37th annual Monroe Annual Micro Marathon, with O'Brien holding off the former Iowa Central athlete by .7 of a second. O'Brien, a former Pleasant Valley prep and Central College star, ran 33:25.21 to claim the victory.

"Ripping off the bandaid with my first race in a few months," O'Brien wrote on Instagram. "Still working on building fitness but this is a great reminder of how fun this sport is!"

O'Brien's wife, Callie, 30, and a Runablaze athlete, took the women's 5K victory in a new personal-best time of 19:20.17.

Running Wild Elite's Becca Mallon, 29, of West Liberty was the women's winner and finished third overall at the Watermelon Days 5K in Atkins on Saturday. The former Davenport Assumption and Northern Iowa runner clocked a 19:00 time. She was only 36 seconds behind the winner.

Incoming Wartburg College freshman Isaiah Hammerand was the overall winner of the 19th annual Town and Country Days Road Race in Dubuque on Saturday. The Western Dubuque graduate ran the 8K in 27:30 to top current Western Dubuque prep Quentin Nauman by nine seconds.

NOTE: The Mile Posts blog and Weekend Update will return on August 22.

MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.

Want to hear more about distance running in Iowa. Listen to my podcast here: https://anchor.fm/lance-bergeson8

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Edwin Kurgat, Biya Simbassa, Will Ryan, Adva Cohen, Mallory King Lindaman, Austin O'Brien