Upload a Photo Upload a Video Add a News article Write a Blog Add a Comment
Blog Feed News Feed Video Feed All Feeds

Folders

 

 

Four Quick Thoughts from the NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile

Published by
DyeStatPRO.com   Sep 13th 2014, 5:44pm
Comments

Simpson, McNamara Take Home Titles

By Scott Bush

The NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile once again brought the finest of middle distance running talent in the U.S. (and a few stud international athletes) to the Big Apple, squaring off in the final contest of the season for many of them. Jenny Simpson led from start to finish holding off Brenda Martinez for the win, while Jordan McNamara held off Garrett Heath, as both finished in 3:51.0.

Event Page | Results

Here are four quick thoughts from the races.

Some Athletes Simply Thrive on the Roads

The men’s race proved it. With Matthew Centrowtiz, Lawi Lalang and Will Leer in the stacked field, it was OTC Elite’s Jordan McNamara and Brooks Beast Garrett Heath who pulled out the close 1-2 finish at the end. Heath has consistently come up big in non-track races like the Fifth Avenue Mile, while McNamara carried over his momentum from his big Liberty Mile road race victory in August.

On the women’s side, Heather Kampf continues to be one of the very best road milers in the world. Yes, she finished fourth and wasn’t at the same level as Simpson or Martinez, but she finished only two seconds off Simpson and beat a slew of other runners who have faster PRs on the track. Proving this point, Kampf dominated the Bring Back the Mile GP Tour this season.

Some athletes are just made for the roads!

Martinez Continues to Roll

Brenda Martinez had a tough first half of her season, falling well short of the expectations others placed on her after her medal winning performance at the IAAF World Championships last year. While the slow start took her off the radar of many fans, she jumped back on in late August, finishing sixth in the Zurich Diamond League 1,500m in a seasons best of 4:01.36. She then came back a week later to run an 800m seasons best of 1:58.84, winning the race in the Diamond League final in Brussels. Needless to say, Martinez is back!

So her narrow 4:19.4-4:19.6 loss to Simpson, the best 1,500m runner in the world this year, should come as no surprise. Martinez is running with the confidence and fitness she showed all of last season and U.S. distance running fans need to start getting very excited about the New Balance standout once again.

Huling Shows His Speed

Dan Huling is clearly the second best American steepler in the United States behind fellow Bowerman Track Club teammate Evan Jager. While Huling is one of the very best of all-time in the steeple event in the U.S., and is very competitive in the event at the world stage, he’s never been known as a speed demon. That might have changed Saturday in New York City, as he finished seventh overall in 3:52.9. Huling beat a rash of milers, including Lawi Lalang, David Torrence, Will Leer, Ciaran O’Lionaird and Kyle Merber. Huling showed his fitness all season long, so it was nice to see him flash some late season speed, too.

Cain Knocks Off Some Rust

It’s been a quiet outdoor season for Nike Oregon Project’s Mary Cain and her time away from the track showed in a big way Saturday. Cain was never truly a factor in the race, sliding all the way to tenth place overall in 4:25.5, six seconds off of Simpson’s winning mark. Cain’s been as consistent as they get over the past few seasons, which made her performance at the Fifth Avenue Mile a bit of a disappointment, but you can bet she’ll use it as a learning experience and come back stronger at the USA 5 km Championships next weekend in Providence (where she’s scheduled to compete as this article is published).



More news

History for New Balance 5th Avenue Mile presented by NYRR
YearResultsVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2023 1 17 4 67  
2022 1 17 6    
2021 1 5 5 137  
Show 17 more
 
+PLUS highlights
+PLUS coverage
Live Events
Get +PLUS!