Nick Willis (R) narrowly beat Bernard Lagat (L) at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in a time of 3:50.5 on Sept. 21, 2008. (© NYRR)
Olympians Lisa Dobriskey and Nick Willis capitalised on their form from Beijing at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile winning the women's and men's divisions of the famous street race yesterday (21).
The Briton and New Zealander respectively finished ahead Shannon Rowbury, 1500m Olympian and the second-fastest female miler in U.S. history, and Bernard Lagat, Olympic medallist and 2007 World 1500m and 5000m champion, who were in contention until the final moments of the race.
Women
Rose Kosgei of Kenya took an early lead, challenging the competition to match her pace through the half-mile mark. Dobriskey, the fourth-place finisher in the 1500 meters at the Olympic Games and Rowbury, who was seventh in that race, stepped up to the challenge and matched Kosgei’s pace with 400 meters to go.
Dobriskey and Rowbury then passed the frontrunner as they vied for first and second. In a close finish, Dobriskey out-kicked Rowbury to finish first in 4:18.6, and so enters the record books as the second-fastest Fifth Avenue Mile champion of all time. Only PattiSue Plumer with a 4:16.68 win in 1990 is faster. Rowbury, with 4:19.2, is third on that list. Kosgei took third in 4:23.9.
Men
In a race tactically similar to the women’s event, Willis and Lagat, who were expecting to match one another’s speed, did not count on Jon Rankin, who was third in last year’s race, to set the initial pace. By the halfway mark, Lagat had taken the lead, which caused Willis to react.
With 400m left, the two men were shoulder-to-shoulder in a battle for the finish line. But it was Willis who, in his own words “eked out the finish” in 3:50.5, to break the tape one-tenth of a second ahead of Lagat. Nate Brannen, a Canadian Olympian and Willis’ training partner in Michigan, finished third.
“Neither of us was kicking for the last 50 metres, and it was impossible to tell who was going to win,” acknowledged Willis. “I decided to listen to my wife and push through to finish out the season with a win.”
It was a year of great beginnings and endings, as the season came to a close for many of these Olympic athletes. Lagat and Rowbury each took second in their road-racing debuts, and Dobriskey was victorious in her first ever New York race.
“To save something for a sprint finish in New York City really means something,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
Rachel Wallack – NYRR - for the IAAF
