By Tim Parry
(See Flickr photos from the event)

Last year at the Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon, Kenyan runner Phillip Koech helped a teammate pace himself for 12 miles before that countryman pulled away for the victory.

That strategy turned out to bring Koech some good karma. This year, Koech won the race in 1:03:44, besting countryman Valentine Orare after the two ran neck and neck - for the most part - for 12 miles.

Other than at the 12-mile mark, the only time the two separated was around mile eight, when Orare appeared to be suffering from a side stitch. Orare recovered, and finished 14 seconds behind Koech.

The two separated themselves from the pack will before the two mile mark (see video below).

But there were some slight mishaps along the course. The first was at the nine-mile loop back under Route 1 in Southport, where spectators were seated on the roadway. The second came less than a mile later at Rose Hill and Harbor roads, where a driver made his way onto the race course and blocked the pace truck. Both Koech and Orare were forced to sprint ahead of the pace truck to avoid a potential catastrophe.

More than 3,000 runners participated in either the half marathon, 5K, and kids fun races. Click here for the results.