DES MOINES — The men’s special mile at the Drake Relays on Saturday was a particularly slow one. The pace runner ran alone, far ahead from the rest of the pack for 1,300-meters before being caught and dropping from the race.

With 250 meters left, ISU sophomore Edward Kemboi, competing for Kenya, made his signature push from the back of the pack to the front, trying to gain the lead but came up short.

Kemboi finished third in a time of 4:05.91. Boaz Lalang of Kenya won the event (4:04.29).

“That was a tactical race,” Kemboi said of his first mile run this season. “I just had to stay behind until the last 400-meters. The race was kind of slow and the last 250 meters, I tried to move a little bit but I made a mistake because I applied all of my energy and the last 50 meters, I was really dying.”

Kemboi said while this race didn’t really follow exactly what he had planned on, he was happy with how he performed since it was his first mile this season. The next competition for Kemboi would now be the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, something he will decide if he is participating in next Saturday.

If Kemboi decides not to go to the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, he said he will sit down and talk with ISU coach Corey Ihmels about moving forward and getting ready for national and international competition.

“I will talk with my coach about changing my training,” Kemboi said. “I usually do two workouts a week and I will try to change that to three times a week.”