The two ex-Chaps ran together for much of the race, and Hussein pulled away from Sawe at the 25 mile mark but was unable to keep his distance.  Though he was able to run 4 minutes faster than he did in 2005, and eventually ended up winning his second consecutive Twin Cities marathon with a time a 2:13:50, he did so by a slim 17 second margin.

"They drove me to the last mile this time," said Hussein, 41, who lives and trains in Albuquerque, N.M. He won both the overall and masters division, pocketing nearly $40,000 in prize money. "I was struggling a little bit in parts, but I pulled through," he said.

With Sawe living in Santa Fe and Hussein living in Albuquerque, the two have remained close since their collegiate days and often still get together on the weekends to go on leisurely runs; however, their experience in Minneapolis this past weekend was a bit more intense.

Jason Lehmkuhle of Team USA Minnesota, determined to push the pace, took off in the second mile, opening a 20-second lead by the 5-mile mark. The pack caught up to him in the eighth mile, with Hussein still lagging behind as he fought a tight hamstring. By the 11 mile mark, Hussein, his leg finally stretched out, was with the lead group that included Lehmkuhle, Sawe, 2003 U.S. Marathon champion Ryan Shay, Faxil Bizuneh, and Team USA Minnesota's Chris Lundstrom.

That group was still tightly packed halfway through the race, and it was still close at 20 miles.  Shortly thereafter, Sawe and Hussein broke out.

"I looked back and I knew it was me and him," said Sawe, 32. "It didn't matter who won, honestly."

Hussein wanted to make his move long before the finish to avoid a sprint with the younger Sawe so he did just that, pulling away with a mile to go.  As for Sawe, "If it wasn't him maybe I could have fought," he said. "But he's Hussein. He's one of the nicest guys, one of my best friends."

The long-time friends, who grew up less than ten miles away from each other in Kenya, did not first met each other until 1993, when Sawe arrived at LCU, where Hussein had just completed his standout career with NAIA Hall of Fame Coach Darrell Price’s cross country squad.

During Hussein and Sawe’s years at Lubbock Christian, the Chaps raced to seven consecutive NAIA National Titles with Sawe winning back to back individual titles in 1994 and 1995.  For their overall collegiate careers, Hussein was a fifteen time NAIA All-American while Sawe garnered nine such accolades.

Their continued success on the professional level is consistent with Lubbock Christian’s cross country legacy from the 1990s and comes at a convenient time for their alma mater as LCU has re-started its cross country program this fall after an eight year hiatus.

Special thanks to Kent Youngblood and the Star Tribune for the quotes and much of the information included in this article.