Week in Review: Fisher's roll continues
American record-holder leads sensational mass finish in 10,000 in The TEN meet
You have to love U.S. distance ace Grant Fisher.
Shortly after running a yearly world-leading time of 26 minutes 52.04 seconds in the men’s 10,000 meters in The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, last Saturday night, Fischer took part in a trackside interview that was part of the FloTrack streaming coverage of the event.
After answering questions about his performance, how it figured into his plans for the Olympic Games in Paris in August, and how his training was going, the interview concluded with Fisher being asked where would he be seen next, as in where would his next race be?
He paused briefly, before answering, “Aaah, in and out.”
The interviewer chuckled, then said, “In and out. We’ll see you there. Order one for me.”
In-N-Out Burger is a fast food restaurant that was founded in southern California in 1948 and has long been revered in the greater Los Angeles area — and beyond — for making delicious burgers, fries, and milkshakes.
The fact that Fisher was headed there after running the fourth-fastest 10,000 time in U.S. history shows me that even though he’s in the midst of what might be the best stretch of racing during his American-record setting career, he’s not so regimented that he can’t take time to enjoy some of life’s simple pleasures, such as eating a tasty burger.
There was a lot to report on from last week. Therefore, this column is on the long side. If this email appears clipped or truncated in your inbox, you should be able to click on “View entire message” to read it in its entirety.
His performance at JSerra Catholic High School on Saturday night was his third stellar race of the year and came after he ran in sixth place for much of the race before moving into fourth at 7,000 meters, and into third behind Mo Ahmed of Canada and fellow American Nico Young of Northern Arizona University with 650 meters left. He then surged past Young as he entered the final turn and overtook Ahmed with 130 meters to go.
While Young and Swede Andreas Almgren passed Ahmed in the home straightaway, no one seriously challenged Fisher for the win as he led one of the greatest mass finishes in history in which the first eight men — hailing from six countries and three continents — ran under the Olympic qualifying standard of 27:00.00 and another five runners broke 27:10.
Bettering the Olympic standard does not always guarantee a runner of a berth in the Games, but it can be very helpful in the qualifying process.
“Getting the standard. That was the goal and I got it done,” Fisher said in the FloTrack interview. “So it feels good. It’s a perfect race, a perfect set-up. A lot of guys did a lot of work, not including myself, so I really appreciate them… I haven’t seen the final results, but it seemed like a lot of people went under 27. That was the goal for everybody, so yeah, it was good.”
With a 27-minute clocking in the 10,000 requiring an average pace of 2:42 per kilometer or 64.8 seconds per lap, Kenyan Amon Kemboi brought the field through the first 1,200 meters in 3:14.14 and fellow pacesetter Ahmed Muhumed of the U.S. brought the field through 2,000 meters 5:23.87, 4,000 in 10:47.84, ad 5,000 in an unofficial 13:30.8 before pulling off the track.
American Abdi Nur briefly took the lead after that, but Luis Grijalva of Guatemala, the fourth-place finisher in the 5,000 in the World Athletics Championships in 2022 and ‘23, was in the lead by 5,100 meters and he led the field through 6,000 meters in 16:13.96. But Ahmed had moved into first place by 6,400 meters and he would remain there until just before eight kilometers when Habtom Samuel of the University of New Mexico and Eritrea brought the field through that mark in 21:38.20.
Samuel’s split was 2.2 seconds slower than what was required for an evenly-paced 27-minute race, but it was obvious at that point that the tempo was going to pick up substantially during the last two kilometers.
Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa, who had outkicked Young to win the second of two invitational sections of the 5,000 in 12:56.76 in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic in late January, moved into the lead shortly after 8,800 meters and led the field through nine kilometers in an unofficial 24:21.0. But Ahmed had retaken the lead with 700 meters to go and he would maintain it until Fisher went past him with 130 meters left in the race.
The lead pack consisted of seven runners when Ahmed came through the bell lap in 25:54.91. He was followed by Young, Fisher, Almgren, Wildschutt, Samuel, and Edwin Kurgat of Kenya. But the front group had been reduced to Ahmed, Young, Fisher, and Almgren by the end of the backstretch.
The incredibly-fresh looking Fisher shifted gears entering the final curve and no one could match him after that.
Although his winning time was well off the American record of 26:33.84 that he had set at The TEN meet in 2022, he was quick to point out that that performance had been the result of him and Ahmed duking it out over the final few laps as they both looked to lower the respective national records of the U.S. and Canada.
“It was a little different this year,” he said. “Last [time], Mo and I were just going as fast as we could. This time, the time goal was so specific. I mean, I think anybody in this race would rather get 15th place and run 2659 than win it in 2701.”
Young, who was running in his first-ever 10,000 on the track after winning the 5,000 and 3,000 in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships that concluded a week earlier, finished second in 26:52.72, followed by Almgren in 26:52.87, Ahmed in 26:53.01, and Samuel in 26:53.84.
Wildschutt placed sixth in 26:55.54, followed by defending champion Woody Kincaid of the U.S. in 26:57.57 and Kurgat in 26:57.66.
Young’s time made him the third-fastest American in history and smashed the collegiate record of 27:08.39 that was set by Kenyan Sam Chelanga of Liberty University in 2010.
Almgren, who was running his first 10,000 on the track after clocking 27:20 to finish sixth in a 10k road race in Valencia, Spain, in late January, moved to third on the all-time European performer list while slashing more than a minute off the previous Swedish record of 27:55.74 that had been set by Jonny Danielsson in 1989.
Wildschutt cut nearly 28 seconds off the South African record he had set last year, while Kincaid moved to fourth on the all-time U.S. performer list and Kurgat increased the number of Kenyans to have run under 27:00 to an amazing total of 42.
Fisher ran his final lap in 56.77 seconds, his last 800 in 1:57.93, and his concluding 1,600 in 4:07.89.
“This was a key step to get to Paris,” he said. “I needed this in my pocket. So good to have it done. Now focus on the [Olympic Trials]. Last year was a bummer, got injured, missed the team, salvaged the season at the end. But in our sport the most important thing is the Olympics. Second most is the World Championships.”
Fisher had finished fourth in the 10,000 and sixth in the 5,000 in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, after placing fifth and ninth, respectively, in those events in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. But he did not make the U.S. team for the World Championships last year after he finished a disappointing fourth in the 10,000 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships before withdrawing from the 5,000 due to a stress reaction in one of his shins.
Although he ran 12:54.49 in the 5,000 and an American record of 7:25.47 in the 3,000 after the World Championships, Fisher raised some eyebrows when he announced in October that he was leaving the highly-regarded Bowerman Track Club in Eugene after being with the team for four years following his collegiate career at Stanford.
He eventually relocated to Park City, Utah, where he is now training under the auspices of Mike Scannell, who was the coach at Grand Blanc (Michigan) High School when Fisher won a pair of Foot Locker national cross country titles and ran 3:59.38 in the mile and 8:43.57 for two miles as a prep.
While his running has no doubt benefitted from training at Park City’s elevation of roughly 7,000 feet (2,133 meters), Fisher is also thriving under the tutelage of Scannell as he ran an American indoor record of 8:03.62 in the two mile and a personal best of 12:51.84 in the 5,000 during a six-day span in February.
“I feel great. I’m really happy. Things are clicking,” he said when asked about his training situation “My body feels good. I feel healthy. I’m checking off the boxes that I need to check off so it’s going great. I love living in Park City. I love it up there.”
Historically speaking: The only men’s 10,000-meter race in history to have produced more sub-27:00 clockings than the eight from The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, last Saturday was the 2011 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, in which nine men accomplished that feat.
Mo Farah of Great Britain set a European record of 26:46.57 in winning that race in which the other eight sub-27:00 finishers were comprised of five Kenyans, two Ethiopians, and an Eritrean.
When it comes to the most sub-27:00 finishers in a global title meet, Farah ran 26:49.51 in winning the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London in which seven men broke that barrier.
Sensational debut: After becoming the first collegian to better 13 minutes in the 5,000 meters when he ran 12:57.14 in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on January 26, breaking 27 minutes in a 10,000 seemed doable for Nico Young of Northern Arizona University as he entered The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, last Saturday night.
However, being capable of doing something and actually accomplishing it are two different things. And producing a sub-27:00 clocking in your first-ever 10,000-meter race on the track is a tall order, no matter what kind of shape you are in.
Yet the 21-year-old Young became the third-fastest American in history when he ran 26:52.72 to finish second behind the winning 26:52.04 effort by American record-holder Grant Fisher in the meet at JSerra Catholic High School.
Racing in cool and calm conditions, the first eight finishers bettered the Olympic qualifying standard of 27:00.00. Bettering that standard does not mean that Young has a guaranteed berth on the U.S. team that will compete in the athletics portion of the Games in Paris from August 1-11. But if he were to place among the top three finishers in the 10,000 in the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June, he would earn a spot on the national squad because he has met the Olympic qualifying standard.
Young had used a powerful kick to win the men’s 5,000- and 3,000-meter races in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Brighton, Massachusetts, on March 8 and 9, but he was running against a slew of more accomplished runners on Saturday night.
Given that, he positioned himself toward the back of the lead pack for much of the race. Not counting any pacesetters, Young was in 12th place after 2,000 meters and in 11th at 4,000. He remained in 11th at 6,000 meters after both pacesetters had dropped out of the race, but he had moved into seventh — in the nine-runner lead pack — by 8,000 meters.
He was in third at 8,800 meters before surging into second behind Mo Ahmed of Canada 500 meters later. He maintained that position until Fisher went by him with about 170 meters left in the race, but he was able to pass Ahmed in the final 50 meters on his way to obliterating the previous collegiate record of 27:08.39 that was set by Kenyan Sam Chelanga of Liberty University in 2010.
“I really wanted to run this race,” Young said in a post-race interview on FloTrack. “I wanted to run a 10K throughout college and [Coach Mike Smith] helped me pick the right time and I think it was the right time to run one… I trust him and he made the decision to run this one.”
Runaway victory: While Grant Fisher won a highly competitive men’s 10,000 meters in The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, last Saturday night, Tsigie Gebreselama of Ethiopia dominated the women’s race while moving to ninth on the all-time performer list with a time of 29:48.34.
The 23-year-old Gebreselama finished more than 45 seconds ahead of Weini Kelati of the U.S., who placed second in 30:33.82. She was followed by Lauren Ryan of Australia in 30:35.66, Megan Keith of Great Britain in 30:36.84, and Rachel Smith of the U.S. in 31:04.12.
The top four finishers all set personal bests while also bettering the Olympic qualifying standard of 30:40.00.
Kelati’s time was the sixth fastest in U.S. history and moved her to sixth on the all-time national performer list, while Ryan’s clocking broke the previous Australian record of 30:37.69 set by Benita Willis-Johnson in 2003.
The race had been billed as a duel between Gebreselama and Alicia Monson of the U.S., who had set an American record of 30:03.82 in finishing second to Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan (30:00.86) in The TEN meet last year. But the Ethiopian had broken away from the American by the 4,000-meter mark and Monson would later drop out of the race.
Nikki Hiltz of the U.S., who had won the silver medal in the women’s 1,500 meters in World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, two weeks earlier, paced the race for the first 3,200 meters.
Taylor Werner of the U.S. then took over the pacesetting duties, but she suddenly dropped out of the race about 70 meters later.
That left Gebreselama and Monson well clear of the rest of the field and Gebreselama had a 10-meter lead on Monson when she came through 4,000 meters in 11:59.11.
Gebreselama, who had run a personal best of 1:05:14 in winning the women’s division of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 24, had a 25-second lead over Kelati when she came through 6,000 meters in 17:57.32 and she was up by 33 seconds when she clocked 23:57.44 at eight kilometers.
She then ran her final two kilometers in 5:50.90 while posting the 12th-fastest women’s time in history, becoming the 16th woman to run under 30 minutes in the 10,000, and bettering her previous best of 30:04.45 from last year.
“My target was under 29:30, but I missed it, 20 seconds. But I’m happy,” Gebreselama said in an interview on runnerspace.
Impressive opener: Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High School in California kicked off her outdoor season with a victory in the women’s 1,500 meters in The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano last Saturday.
Engelhardt, who will bypass what would have been her junior high school season this spring so that she can compete against professional and collegiate runners in open competition, ran 4:09.70 after overtaking leader Lauren Gregory in the home straightaway of the meet at JSerra Catholic High School.
Gregory finished second in 4:10.03, followed by Jenn Randall in 4:11.49.
Engelhardt’s time bettered her previous personal best of 4:11.79 that she set in 2022 and came six days after she had won the girls’ mile in 4:36.36 in the New Balance Nationals Indoors meet in Brighton, Massachusetts.
In an interview posted on FloTrack, Engelhardt said that her coach had told her heading into the race that she could contend for a victory while running against the field of professionals, and after wrapping her head around that, “I came out here with the mentality to win and to compete.”
Sarah Adler handled the pacesetting duties for the first 580 meters of the race, but after she dropped out, Engelhardt was in the lead at 700 meters in 1:58.05 and at 1,100 meters in 3:06.68.
Gregory moved past her midway through the first curve on the last lap, but the North Carolina State University-bound Engelhardt stayed close behind her down the backstretch and through the final turn before taking the lead with 70 meters left in the race.
Her winning time moved her to fifth on the all-time U.S. high school performer list and her final 400 in 63.02 seconds bodes well for a season in which Engelhardt hopes to meet the automatic qualifying standard of 4:06.00 for the U.S. Olympic Trials that will be held in Eugene, Oregon, from June 21-30.
Solid opener: Fred Kerley of the U.S. ran 10.03 seconds in winning the men’s 100 meters in the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida, last Saturday.
Taking advantage of a 1.9 meters-per-second tailwind, Kerley finished well in front of second-place Andrew Hudson of Jamaica, who ran 10.12.
It was the first outdoor race of the season for the 28-year-old Kerley, the 2022 World champion and the silver medalist in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Kerley had run well during the first part of the 2023 outdoor season, but he was eliminated in the semifinals of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last August and he then finished third in 9.96 in a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, in early September in which compatriot Christian Coleman placed first in 9.83.
He had a season best of 9.88 last year, but he had run 9.86 or faster five times in 2022, topped by a 9.76 clocking in a semifinal of the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships.
Back on the track: Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas won the men’s 300 meters in the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida, last Friday in his first race since sustaining a season-ending injury in last year’s World Athletics Championships.
The defending Olympic champion in the 400, the 28-year-old Gardiner ran 31.99 seconds in the 300 while finishing well ahead of Asa Guevara of Trinidad and Tobago, who placed second in 32.78.
After missing the 2022 World Championships with an Achilles injury, Gardiner had entered last year’s meet in Budapest, Hungary, as a favorite. But he pulled up coming out of the second curve of his semifinal after suffering what was later described as a “grade-one sprain of the tendon extending into his right knee from the right posterior thigh.”
Fast start: Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia rolled to an impressive victory in his first race of the year when he won the Villa de Laredo 10k road race in Laredo, Spain, last Saturday.
Kejelcha ran 26:37, the third-fastest road 10,000-meter time in history, in finishing 16 seconds ahead of Joshua Cheptegai of Uganda. Addisu Yihune of Ethiopia placed third in 27:28 after acting as a pacesetter for Kejelcha for the first four kilometers of the contest.
The race had been billed as a duel between the 26-year-old Kejelcha and the 27-year-old Cheptegai, with the winner having a chance to break the world record of 26:24 set by Rhonex Kipruto of Kenya in 2020. But a hard-fought race between the two stars never materialized as Kejelcha and Yihune had a seven-second lead on three-time World 10,000-meter champion Cheptegai when they came through three kilometers in 7:54 and Kejelcha was nine seconds ahead of Cheptegai and Yihune when he clocked 13:10 at the halfway point.
Kejecha’s hot pace continued through eight kilometers, but he slowed quite a bit over the last 2,000 meters of the race and fell four seconds short of the Ethiopian record that Berihu Aregawi had set in Laredo last year.
It is rare for Chetegai to be so soundly beaten in a 10k race, but he seemed happy to have bettered the Olympic qualifying standard of 27:00. He is also scheduled to compete in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 31, so it seems unlikely that he was going to put forth an all-out effort in Laredo.
“I came to Laredo to break the world record but it was not possible,” Kejelcha was quoted as saying in a World Athletics post. “I felt some discomfort in my hip around the eighth kilometre and could not maintain my speed.”
The women’s race did not receive the hype of the men’s contest and Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany placed first in 31:07, followed by Purity Gitonga of Kenya in 31:24 and Irene Sanchez-Escribano of Spain in 31:35.
Klosterhalfen had dropped out of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 24, but she had a five-second lead on Gitonga and a 25-second advantage over Sanchez-Escribano when she came through the halfway point in 15:07.
Although the pace slowed considerably in the second half of the race and Klosterhalfen struggled through the final kilometer, in particular, she still won comfortably.
Performing well at home: Frenchman Jimmy Gressier set a European record for the men’s 10-kilometer road race when he edged Jacob Krop of Kenya for the victory in a race in Lille, France, on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Gressier and Krop were each credited with times of 27:07 as the Frenchman’s performace bettered the previous European record of 27:13 that was first set by Julian Wanders of Switzerland in 2020 and then tied by compatriot Dominic Lobalu in January.
Grace Nawowuna of Kenya won the women's race in 30:27.
The 5k races were won by Edinah Jebitok of Kenya on the women’s side and Birhanu Balew of Bahrain on the men’s.
Jebitok ran 14:38 to finish a second ahead of Ethiopia's Likina Amebaw, and Balew’s 13:07 gave him a four-second margin of victory over Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris.
Big Apple victors: Abel Kipchumba of Kenya and Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdahl of Norway won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in the New York City Half Marathon on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Kipchumba, who was racing in New York for the first time, crossed the finish line in 1 hour 25 seconds after breaking away from Moroccan Zouhair Talbi with about four kilometers left in the race. Talbi finished second in 1:00:41, followed by Yemane Hailesellasie of Ethiopia in 1:01:37.
Those three runners and American Hillary Bor comprised the four-runner lead pack that went through the first five kilometers in 14:23 and Kipchumba led a group of five other runners when he passed the 10-kilometer mark in 28:38.
The battle for first place was down to Talbi and Kipchumba when they came through 15 kilometers in 42:54, but the Kenyan, who has a best of 58:07 in the half marathon, broke away from the Moroccan about two kilometers later and he was 10 seconds ahead of him when he passed the 20-kilometer mark in 57:18.
Bor was 21 seconds ahead of Hailesellasie at 15 kilometers, but his advantage was down to a second at 20 kilometers and he ended up finishing fourth in 1:01:47, 10 seconds behind the Ethiopian.
Grovdahl, 33, got her first win in the New York City Half Marathon after finishing third in 2022 and ’23. Her time of 1:09:09 gave her an 18-second margin of victory over Kenyan Gladys Chepkurui (1:09:27), who finished 19 seconds in front of 44-year-old compatriot Edna Kiplagat (1:09:46).
The women’s race started cautiously as Grovdahl, the three-time defending European cross country champion, was part of a seven-runner lead pack that went through the first five kilometers in 17:07.
The lead group was down to Grovdahl, Chepkurui, Kiplagat, and Kenyan Cynthia Limo when they passed through 10 kilometers in 33:26, and Kiplagat led Chepkurui and Grovdahl past the 15-kilometer mark in 49:39.
However, Grovdahl had a six-second lead over Chepkurui and a 21-second advantage over Kiplagat when she came through 20 kilometers in 1:05:45.
Tuning up for London: Brigid Kosgei of Kenya, the former world record-holder in the women’s marathon, posted a runaway victory in the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal on Sunday.
Kosgei, who is scheduled to be part of a stellar women’s field in the London Marathon on April 21, ran 1:05:51 while running in warm and humid conditions. She finished more than three minutes in front of Ethiopians Bosena Mulatie and Tigist Gezahagn, who placed second and third, respectively, in times of 1:09:00 and 1:09:14.
The 30-year-old Kosgei was well ahead of her closest competitors when she came through the first 10 kilometers in 31:23 and her lead grew ever larger during the last 11-plus kilometers of the contest.
The men’s race was won by Ethiopian Dinkalem Ayele, who ran 1:00:36 to finish four seconds in front of Kenyan Dominic Kiptarus. Germany’s Amanal Petros finished third in 1:00:56.
The 30-year-old Ayele was part of a five-runner lead pack that went through 10 kilometers in 28:35. The group was still together at 20 kilometers before Ayele began to pull away from the others.
Contrasting wins: Ethiopians Jemal Yimer and Fikrte Wereta each set personal bests while winning the men’s and women’s divisions of the Seoul Marathon in South Korea on Sunday, but they employed different tactics in their victories.
While Yimer ran 2:06:08 after winning a sprint finish, Wereta broke out of a three-runner lead pack shortly after the 35-kilometer mark while on her way to a 2:21:32 clocking.
The 27-year-old Yimer, who had won the Houston Half Marathon in January, was part of a large lead pack that went through 10 kilometers in 29:43, 20 kilometers in 59:54 (30:11), and 30 kilometers in 1:29:35 (29:41).
A 12-runner lead pack at 30 kilometers had been reduced to six when it came through 35 kilometers in 1:44:27 and the front group was down to Yimer, compatriot Balew Yihunie, and Kenyans Rhonzas Lokitam Kilimo, Edwin Kiptoo, and Mike Kiptum Boit when they passed 40 kilometers in 1:59:19.
Kilimo, Kiptoo, and Yimer soon broke away from Boit and Yihunie, and Yimer spurted away from Kilimo and Kiptoo rounding the final corner on the course while headed to a time that bettered his previous best of 2:08:58 that he had run in finishing eighth in the Boston Marathon in 2022.
Kilimo finished a second behind Yimer in 2:06:09, followed by Kiptoo in 2:06:10, Boit in 2:06:20, and Yihunie in 2:06:22. Boit was the only top-five finisher who did not set a personal best.
The lead pack in the women’s race covered the first three 10-kilometer segments of the contest in 33:28, 34:01 (1:07:29), and 33:36 (1:41:05). But a front group of eight had become a trio when Wereta, compatriot Betelihem Afenigus Yemer, and Desi Jisa Mokonin of Bahrain passed the 35-kilometer mark in 1:57:42 after running the previous five kilometers in 15:37.
The 23-year-old Wereta broke open the race soon thereafter and she was 23 seconds ahead of Jisa and 49 seconds in front of Yemer when she came through 40 kilometers in 2:13:54.
Her advantage would grow during the last two-plus kilometers of the race as her time of 2:21:32 left her 47 seconds ahead of second-place Jisa at 2:22:19. Visiline Jepkesho of Kenya finished third in 2:22:52, followed by Yemer in 2:23:22.
Wereta’s time lowered her previous best of 2:22:07 that she had set in winning the Shenzhen Marathon in China on Dec. 3 of last year.
Rolling in Rome: Kenyan’s Asbel Rutto and Ivyne Lagat recorded huge personal bests in winning the men’s and women’s division, respectively, of the Rome Marathon on Sunday.
Rutto, 22, cut more than three minutes off his previous best when he set a course record of 2:06:24 in the Italian capital. It was Rutto’s third marathon in the last six months as he had run 2:10:38 to place fifth in the Lisbon Marathon in Portugal last October and a then-personal best of 2:09:46 to finish second in the Mersin Marathon in Turkey in December.
Compatriots Brian Kipsang and Sila Kiptoo placed second and third, respectively, in Rome with times of 2:07:56 and 2:08:09.
Lagat won the women’s race in 2:24:36 while cutting more than 17 minutes off of her previous best. Compatriot Lydia Simiyu finished second in 2:25:10, followed by Ethiopia’s Emebet Niguse in 2:26:41.
Lagat’s fastest previous marathon had come in 2019 when she ran 2:41:54 to place fifth in the Sofia Marathon in Bulgaria. That was a busy year for Lagat as she ran 10 half marathons, including three during the month of September.
She did not compete in another high-level race until 2022, when she ran 1:14:46 to finish eighth in the Nairobi Half Marathon in Kenya.
Peruvians shine: Cesar Rodriguez and Evelyn Inga of Peru won the men’s and women’s divisions of the 20-kilometer walk in the Dudinska 50 race walking event in Dudince, Slovakia, on Saturday.
Rodriguez, 26, set a national record of 1:19:41 while finishing three seconds ahead of World Championship silver medalist Brian Pintado of Ecuador in the second World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold event of the year.
Pintado had a two-second lead on the chase pack when he came through the first five kilometers of the men’s race in 20:10. However, compatriot David Hurtado was in first place when he came through 10 kilometers in 40:20.
Pintado and Rodriguez were part of a five-walker lead pack that came through 15 kilometers in 1:00:11. The two of them soon separated themselves from that group, with Rodriguez eventually breaking away from Pintado. Ram Baboo of India placed third in a personal best of 1:20:00 after closing the race with a final kilometer of 3:49.
Kimberly Garcia of Peru was the favorite in the women’s race. But when the 2022 World champion in the 20- and 35-kilometer events dropped out of the contest after the first two kilometers due to an illness, lesser-known compatriot Inga posted a runaway victory with a 1:27:42 clocking that left her well ahead of second-place Mariia Sakharuk of Ukraine in 1:29:14.
After Mary Andia, yet another Peruvian, led the women’s race through five kilometers in 21:44, Sakharuk, Andia, Inga, and Ilse Guerrero of Mexico were clear of the rest of the field when they came through 10 kilometers in 43:44.
After Andia, and then Sakharuk fell back during the next two kilometers, the 25-year-old Inga broke away from Guerrero during the 14th lap of the one-kilometer layout.
Inga had a 12-second lead over Guerrero after 14 laps and her advantage had doubled when she came through 15 kilometers.
Guerrero eventually finished fourth in 1:29:33 as Sakharuk and Andia (1:29:19) passed her during the last five kilometers of the race.
The men’s 35-kilometer race, which were held in conjunction with the 20-kilometer events, was won by Teodorico Caporaso of Italy, whose 2:34:44 clocking left him nearly seven minutes ahead of second-place Jinson Octavio-Calderon of Ecuador, who timed 2:41:38.
Awards time for men: Grant Holloway of the U.S. has been selected as the men’s indoor athlete of the year for the second time in three years by Track & Field News.
Holloway capped the indoor season by winning his second consecutive title in the 60-meter high hurdles in the World Athletics Indoor Track & Field Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 2.
The 26-year-old Holloway ran eight races, only three of which were finals, in the 60 high hurdles this season. But he lowered his own world record to 7.27 seconds in a qualifying heat of the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Feb. 16 and also posted times of 7.29, 7.32, and 7.35 and has ow run 13 of the 16 fastest times ever in the event.
Americans Ryan Crouser, Christian Coleman, and Daniel Haugh received honorable mention.
Crouser won his first World title in the shot put in the indoor championships in Glasgow, where Coleman won his second World 60-meter title in the last three meets.
Haugh raised the best in the 35-pound weight throw to 26.35 meters (86 feet 5½ inches) in the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Christopher Morales Williams of the University of Georgia and Canada was selected as the men’s collegiate indoor athlete of the year after running the first- and seventh-fastest times in indoor history in the 400.
Morales Williams posted the fastest time ever run with his 44.49-second clocking in the SEC Championships at the University of Arkansas on Feb. 24, but it was not eligible to be ratified as a world record because the starting blocks in use at the meet were not the type required for record purposes by World Athletics.
Seemingly unfazed by his misfortune in regards to the starting blocks, Morales Williams ran 44.67 in winning the NCAA title two weeks later.
Juniors Terrence Jones of Texas Tech and Nico Young of Northern Arizona received honorable mention after each of them won a pair of individual titles in the NCAA indoor championships.
Bahamian Jones won the 60 and 200 in leading Texas Tech to its first indoor team title.
Young was victorious in the 3,000 and 5,000, and lowered the collegiate record to 12:57.14 in the latter event earlier in the season.
Awards time for women: Femke Bol of the Netherlands was selected as the women’s indoor athlete of the year for the second year in a row by Track & Field News.
The 24-year-old Bol twice lowered the world record in the 400, but her selection as the indoor athlete of the year was not a slam dunk because Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas also set two world records in the women’s 60-meter hurdles.
Bol was ultimately given the nod for the award because she was undefeated in the 400 while Charlton had a loss in the 60 hurdles.
Bol set her first world record in the 400 on Feb. 18 when she ran 49.24 seconds in the Dutch national championships to trim two hundredths of a second off the 49.26 mark she had set in the same meet in 2023. She then sliced seven hundredths of a second off her 49.24 time when she ran 49.17 in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 2.
She also had clockings of 49.63 and 49.69 to give her five of the top 10 indoor times in history and seven of the fastest 13.
Charlton and Elle St. Pierre of the U.S. received honorable mention.
The 28-year-old Charlton set her first world record when she ran 7.67 seconds in the 60 hurdles in the Millrose Games in New York City on Feb. 11, and she lowered that mark to 7.65 in the final of the World indoor meet on March 3.
St. Pierre, 29, produced the fourth-fastest time in history in the women’s 3,000 meters when she ran 8:20.87 in winning the World indoor championships and she also ran the third-fastest time ever in the women’s mile when she clocked 4:16.41 in the Millrose Games.
Junior Parker Valby of the University of Florida was selected as the women’s collegiate indoor athlete of the year after winning NCAA titles in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, and twice lowering the collegiate record in the 5,000.
The NCAA cross country champion became the first collegiate woman to break 15 minutes in the 5,000, indoors or outdoors, when she ran 14:56.11 to win the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 2. She then bettered that mark when she ran 14:52.79 in the NCAA indoor meet on March 8.
She also ran the third-fastest time in collegiate history in the 3,000 when she clocked 8:41.50 in winning that event the following night.
Lamara Distin of Texas A&M and Rachel Glenn of Arkansas received honorable mention after each of them cleared a collegiate record of 2.00 (6-6¾) in the high jump during the season.
Distin cleared that height when she defeated Glenn for the SEC title and Glenn equaled that mark when she beat Distin in the NCAA meet.
Terrific trio to clash: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, Yared Nuguse of the U.S., and Josh Kerr of Great Britain, the top-three ranked men’s 1,500-meter/mile runners in the world by Track & Field News for 2023, are expected to race each other when the Bowerman Mile is held in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, on May 25.
Ingebrigtsen, the defending Olympic champion in the 1,500, has been the top-ranked 1,500 runner in the world for the past three years by Track & Field News, but he has finished second in that event in the past two World Championships, with Kerr outkicking him for the gold medal in the meet in Budapest, Hungary, last August.
Ingebrigtsen rebounded from that loss by lowering the world record to 4:43.13 in the 2,000 in the van Damme Memorial in Brussels on Sept. 8 before turning in a scintillating double victory in the Prefontaine Classic when he ran 3:43.73 in the mile on Sept. 16 and 7:23.63 in the 3,000 the following day.
Both of those times were the third-fastest in history in their respective event, with Nuguse’s second-place time of 3:43.97 in the mile being the fourth fastest ever run.
Ingebrigtsen, 23, has not raced since the Prefontaine Classic due to injuries, but Kerr and Nuguse are coming off short but impressive indoor seasons.
Kerr, 26, lowered the world best in the men’s two-mile to 8:00.67 in the Millrose Games in New York City on Feb. 11 before winning the 3,000 in 7:42.98 in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 3.
Nuguse, 24, ran a personal best of 13:02.09 in the 5,000 while finishing third in the first section of the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26 before running the third-fastest indoor mile in history when he clocked 3:47.83 in the Millrose Games.
He then won the 3,000 in 7:55.76 in the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, five days later before finishing second — in 7:43.59 — to Kerr in the same event in the World indoor championships.
Nearing the finish line: Matthew Centrowitz of the U.S., the 2016 Olympic champion in the men’s 1,500 meters, said in an interview last week that he plans to retire after this season.
After finishing fifth in the 1,500 in 3:38.88 in The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, on Saturday night, the 34-year-old Centrowitz said in a FloTrack interview that “This is it for me. This is my last year. This is it.”
Centrowitz, whose father Matt competed in the 1,500 meters in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, also won the World indoor title in the 1,500 in the 2016 championships in Portland, Oregon.
He developed a reputation for being a very good tactician during his career and his winning times of 3:50.00 in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and 3:44.22 in the World indoor meet were testaments to his ability to compete well in slow-paced races.
In addition to his two global titles, Centrowitz won a silver medal in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and a bronze medal in the 2011 meet in Daegu, South Korea. He also placed fourth in the 2012 Olympic Games in London and eighth in the 2015 and 2019 World Championships.
Track & Field News ranked him among the top 10 men’s 1,500-meter runners in the world five times during his career, topped by No. 5 rankings for 2012 and ’16.
Centrowitz, who has personal bests of 3:30.40 in the 1,500, 1:44.62 in the 800, and 13:00.39 in the 5,000, was eliminated in the semifinals of the 1,500 in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 before missing all of 2022 after undergoing ACL surgery. He finished 10th in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships last year and is hopeful of making his fourth Olympic team when the U.S. trials are held in Eugene, Oregon, from June 21-30.
“I’m just really grateful for the career I’ve had,” he said. “Now I want to ride off into the sunset with a smile on my face.”