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Fifth Avenue Mile: Americans Bernard Lagat, Jenny Simpson Victorious
Photo by Jane Monti, RRW: Bernard Lagat and Jenny Simpson after winning the 2011 Fifth Avenue Mile.
By Sharon Ekstrom
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.
Used with permission.
NEW YORK (24-Sep)--Bernard Lagat of Tucson, AZ and Jenny Simpson of Monument, CO won the 31st edition of the Fifth Avenue Mile here in humid, overcast conditions. This double USA victory also marked the first time two Americans won the event since 2000. According to NYRR, both winning times (3:50.5 for Lagat, 4:22.3 for Simpson) were the sixth fastest times ever run in the men's or women's Fifth Avenue Mile races; the event was first held in 1981.
Bernard Lagat, 36, out-kicked defending Fifth Avenue champion Amine Laalou of Morocco, crossing the finish line in 3:50.5, his fastest time here in four appearances at the race. Laalou was second in 3:51.7, followed by David Torrence of San Francisco, CA, sporting a freshly shaven Mohawk who took third in 3:52.4.
The race heated up with Anthony Famiglietti, a former New Yorker and specialist in the 3000m steeplechase, throwing surges on the uphill in the second quarter as the men reached the half-way mark. Jon Rankin of Seattle, WA slid into the lead at the three-quarter mark with Torrence and Lagat in tow. Rankin's move was premature and he fell back into the pack. As Laalou positioned himself for the final sprint, the race culminated in a finish where Lagat's strategy of "relaxing" before breaking away in the last 100m proved successful. Rankin fell into sixth place and Famiglietti finished tenth.
Bernard Lagat's win here was a long time coming. He finished second (3:53.30), fourth (3:52.7) and second (3:50.6), in the past three consecutive years.
"To win this race was so important for me," said the two-time Olympic medalist. "I was thinking to myself I will come until I win this race. And now, I'm going to keep coming. I won and it feels so good. He continued: "This was my time. I never really stopped training after Worlds. I wanted to be as ready (for this) as going into a big meet in Europe."
Jenny Simpson, 25, the 1500m World Champion, took front and center at the start of the women's elite race and had resolved to be the first to cross the line. But Hannah England of Great Britain, Morgan Uceny of Mammoth Lakes, CA, and Kenyan Sally Kipyego of Eugene, OR would not make it easy for her.
Despite Uceny's early move to the front and Kipyego's control of the field after the halfway point (Kipyego picked up the $1000 prime for leading at halfway), Simpson made up about ten meters on Kipyego in the final quarter to win her debut road mile race in 4:22.3. Kipyego just managed to hold of the charging England to capture second; both women were clocked in 4:22.6. Uceny, who was a favorite in the field fresh off her 1500m victory at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, finished sixth. Defending champion Shannon Rowbury finished seventh.
"I knew I needed to stick with the top and then with 100 meters or 200 meters to go really gun for the lead," Simpson told reporters. "That's what I did today and it was a successful race."
Both Lagat and Simpson earned $5000 in prize money for their victories, part of a $30,000 total prize money purse.
2011 Fifth Avenue Mile
| Professional Men | ||||||||
| Pl. | Time | First | Last | Age | City | State | Country | Time |
| 1 | 03:50.5 | Bernard | Lagat | 36 | Tucson | AZ | 03:50.5 | |
| 2 | 03:51.7 | Amine | Laalou | 29 | Morocco | 03:51.7 | ||
| 3 | 03:52.4 | David | Torrence | 25 | San Francisco | CA | 03:52.4 | |
| 4 | 03:52.9 | Jeff | See | 25 | Columbus | OH | 03:52.9 | |
| 5 | 03:54.4 | Craig | Miller | 24 | Madison | WI | 03:54.4 | |
| 6 | 03:54.7 | Jon | Rankin | 29 | Seattle | WA | 03:54.7 | |
| 7 | 03:55.3 | Garrett | Heath | 25 | Palo Alto | CA | 03:55.3 | |
| 8 | 03:56.6 | Jeff | Riseley | 24 | Australia | 03:56.6 | ||
| 9 | 03:57.0 | Haron | Lagat | 28 | Lubbok | TX | Kenya | 03:57.0 |
| 10 | 03:57.1 | Anthony | Famiglietti | 32 | Davidson | NC | 03:57.1 | |
| 11 | 03:57.5 | A.J. | Acosta | 23 | San Diego | CA | 03:57.5 | |
| 12 | 03:57.5 | Christian | Hesch | 32 | Hollywood | CA | 03:57.5 | |
| 13 | 03:57.8 | Kyle | Miller | 26 | Austin | TX | 03:57.8 | |
| 14 | 03:59.1 | Boaz | Lalang | 22 | Tucson | AZ | Kenya | 03:59.1 |
| 15 | 03:59.4 | Abiyot | Endale | 25 | Bronx | NY | Ethiopia | 03:59.4 |
| 16 | 04:00.4 | Ben | Bruce | 29 | Eugene | OR | 04:00.4 | |
| 17 | 04:04.9 | Nick | Symmonds | 27 | Eugene | OR | 04:04.9 | |
| 18 | 04:10.8 | Will | Leer | 26 | Ann Arbor | MI | 04:10.8 | |
| Professional Women | ||||||||
| Pl. | Time | Name | Age | City | State | Country | Time | |
| 1 | 04:22.3 | Jenny | Simpson | 25 | Monument | CO | 04:22.3 | |
| 2 | 04:22.6 | Sally | Kipyego | 25 | Eugene | OR | Kenya | 04:22.6 |
| 3 | 04:22.6 | Hannah | England | 24 | Birmingham | Great Britain | 04:22.6 | |
| 4 | 04:24.6 | Ingvill | Makestad Bovim | 30 | Oslo | Norway | 04:24.6 | |
| 5 | 04:25.5 | Susan | Kuijken | 25 | Melbourne | Netherlands | 04:25.5 | |
| 6 | 04:26.2 | Morgan | Uceny | 26 | Mammoth Lakes | CA | 04:26.2 | |
| 7 | 04:27.0 | Shannon | Rowbury | 27 | San Francisco | CA | 04:27.0 | |
| 8 | 04:29.1 | Sara | Hall | 28 | Big Bear | CA | 04:29.1 | |
| 9 | 04:29.6 | Brenda | Martinez | 24 | Alamosa | CO | 04:29.6 | |
| 10 | 04:31.7 | Barbara | Parker | 28 | Atlanta | GA | Great Britain | 04:31.7 |
| 11 | 04:31.9 | Treniere | Moser | 29 | Knoxville | TN | 04:31.9 | |
| 12 | 04:33.0 | Maggie | Infeld | 25 | Washington | DC | 04:33.0 | |
| 13 | 04:33.0 | Heather | Kampf | 24 | Minneapolis | MN | 04:33.0 | |
| 14 | 04:34.0 | Alysia | Montano | 25 | Canyon Country | CA | 04:34.0 | |
| 15 | 04:34.1 | Kaila | McKnight | 25 | Australia | 04:34.1 | ||
| 16 | 04:34.5 | Elina | Sujew | 20 | Potsdam | Germany | 04:34.5 | |
| 17 | 04:35.2 | Diana | Sujew | 20 | Potsdam | Germany | 04:35.2 | |
| 18 | 04:36.7 | Gabriele | Anderson | 25 | Minneapolis | MN | 04:36.7 | |
| 19 | 04:39.7 | Lea | Wallace | 22 | Sacramento | CA | 04:39.7 | |
| 20 | 04:44.6 | Maggie | Vessey | 29 | Santa Cruz | CA | 04:44.6 | |