Jenny Simpson and Bernard Lagat prevail at the 31st Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, USA
The Fifth Avenue Mile, which is an annual road race stretched upon a course of one mile in New York, has been bagged by Jenny Simpson and Bernard Lagat this year. The race, which marks its’ beginning at the famous East 80th street and while heading
down from Fifth Avenue finishes at the East 60th street, observed its’ 31st edition on this Saturday, September 24.
The race, which was first organised on September 26, 1981 and which is now held by New York Road Runners, witnessed the first American double triumphing the track since 2000, when Jason Lunn and Kim McGreevy had displayed similar results.
Simpson, the 25-year-old runner who also happens to be the 2011 IAAF World Champion over the distance of 1500m, had to encounter some of her strongest rivals to dominate her last run of the season. Simpson, who was lining-up for the first time in the Fifth
Avenue race, for bagging the title, defeated Kenyan runner, Sally Kipyego and UK’s Hannah England. The world champion breasted the tape in four minutes and 22.3 seconds for claiming the top position on the podium. Her rivals from Kenya and England finished
second and third, respectively.
Simpson, who is also the champion of this year’s USA indoor competitions and a dominator in the 1500m and 3000m events, while commenting upon her today’s performance said that it could only become possible as the success at the World Championships had brought
her great confidence.
She said, “I was focused on the World Championships this year, and that was a huge confidence booster for this race.” For the American girl, success which came this Saturday was the second triumph in New York City. Earlier, she had won the New Balance Games
Mile in January, where she observed a world leading finish of four minutes and 28.60 seconds.
Commenting upon the race, Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO of the New York Road Runners said, “This was the year with a brilliant women’s field, and what an amazing season-capping race this was today.”
On the Men’s side, the showdown observed Tucson’s Lagat turning the tables on Morocco’s Amine Laalou, who was the defending champion of the event. Lagat, who had marked a second place finish last year and could only end his race for a fourth position in
2009, finally managed to breast the tape for crossing the finishing line in three minutes and 50.5 seconds.
Laalou, the runner-up, ended his race in three minutes and 51.07 seconds. David Torrence, the American runner, claimed third position on the podium for finishing-off the race in three minutes and 52.4 seconds. The event offered cash prizes of $5000 for each
Men’s and Women’s winner in the run.
Tags: