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(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved ALBANY (01-Jun) -- As expected, former USA marathon record holder Keira D'Amato won today's 46th Delightful Run for Women 5-K in 15:41, but not without a fight.  The 39 year-old from Midlothian, Virginia led from gun to tape, but the entire way she was shadowed by three athletes from the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project --Amy Davis-Green, Jessie Cardin, and Anne-Marie Blaney-- who kept it close.  D'Amato tried to stay cool and stick with her plan, but there was an unexpected wrinkle. "The plan was to go out and run every mile faster," D'Amato told Race Results Weekly.  "Somewhere in the first mile I tweaked something, kind of in my upper (left) quad.  I was like, OK, I'm going to have to just chill and conserve so I can kick.  I wasn't planning on kicking so hard, but these women were on my heels pushing me." D'Amato split the first mile just past the entrance to Washington Park in Downtown Albany (which is mostly uphill) in 5:15.  The Davis-Green/Cardin/Blaney group was three seconds behind.  They were running close together, supporting each other. "I think for Anne-Marie, Jess and I it was all just to work together," Davis-Green said.  "Keira, just going out in the front knowing how great of a runner she is, I think we were like, as long as we don't lose contact with her we're going to be able to run really fast." The race's second mile is a bit of a roller coaster, going down, up, and down again with several turns.  D'Amato didn't have time to notice the park's lovely evergreens and tranquil lake as she covered the second mile in 5:09.  Her three-second gap on the Hansons-Brooks team stayed the same, but she was concerned about her leg, despite the extra steps she took to get ready for such a short, fast race. "I did a longer warm-up, I did much longer strides and sprints and I got myself ready to run fast right from the gun," D'Amato said.  "My body doesn't move that quick anymore without getting warmed up, so I definitely have to respect that." As athletes exited the park, and turned right for the long --and ultimately downhill-- straightaway to the finish on Washington Avenue, Blaney had drifted back into fourth place leaving Davis-Green and Cardin to chase D'Amato.  Davis-Green dug deep and got within one second of D'Amato at the three-mile mark (15:16).  She thought, maybe I can catch her? "I was trying," said Davis-Green whose mother, Nan Doak-Davis, was the USATF 5000m champion in 1987 and 10,000m champion in 1989.  "I've been trying to work on my closing speed.  It was so fun having somebody to chase down, and just practice that." In the end, D'Amato put four seconds on Davis-Green, who had to settle for second in 15:45, eight seconds faster than her mother ran here in 1989 when she finished third.  Cardin, a marathoner like D'Amato, got third in 15:51, and Blaney --who was third here last year-- finished fourth in 15:57.  D'Amato earned $3,000 in prize money today, and $2,500 went to Davis-Green, $2,000 to Cardin and $1,500 to Blaney.  Overall, the race will pay out $24,050 in prize money to both individuals and teams. Before the race D'Amato said how much she had always wanted to run this race, formerly called the Freihofer's Run For Women, but could never fit it into her schedule.  She said she was delighted to join the other 2091 women who had started here today on a picture-perfect, sunny morning. "I finished strong; it was a fun race," D'Amato said.  "I loved being in a run for women.  It's so important for our sport to continue empowering, to give women the opportunity to participate in stuff like this.  When we came in and registered they gave us a loaf of bread and some cookies from Sara Lee and the Delightful brand, and I was sold on the race ever since." PHOTO: Keira D'Amato wins the 2024 Delightful Run for Women 5-K in Albany, N.Y. in 15:41 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. (29-May) -- Even elite athletes have bucket list races, and for former USA marathon record holder Keira D'Amato the Delightful Run For Women (formerly the Freihofer's Run for Women) has been high on her list.  The 39 year-old D'Amato has wanted to do that classic all-women's 5-K in Albany, N.Y., for years, and this Saturday she'll be on the starting line for the first time.  It will be the 46th edition of the race which was founded in 1979. "I am so excited," D'Amato told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview from her home in Virginia.  "I've had this race on my radar for years."  She continued: "I've always wanted to do it and it finally worked out this year." D'Amato, who dropped out of the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon last February after 20 miles, is using the Delightful Run as part of her preparations for the USA Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field next month in Eugene, Ore., where she'll run the 10,000m.  She and coach Scott Raczko had already planned for her to do a fast three miles this weekend, and D'Amato thought that doing it in a race would provide her with an extra level of motivation. "I was going to have to do, like, a quick three miles this weekend," D'Amato explained.  "So, it's really easy to substitute that for a race because that would have mirrored what I would have simulated in training.  To me, it's much more fun to do it in a race."  She added: "Training has been going well, workouts have been going well.  I feel like my speed has been coming back."   Moreover, D'Amato would love to get a win.  She hasn't won a race since last October when she won the Abbott Chicago 5-K --held the weekend of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon-- in 15:51. "This year I don't have a lot of wins under my belt," D'Amato observed.  "My coach and I were like, Keira, you're having the most fun when you're racing.  I think going to a race and just competing, and getting back to the core of what I love about running, I think that would be really good for the season." D'Amato is coming off a DNF at the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs in London 11 days ago.  She had hoped to hit the Olympic Games qualifying standard of 30:40.00, or at least run well enough to raise her ranking in the World Athletics points system.  However, the conditions weren't to her liking, and about three quarters of the way through the race she decided to step off the track. "It was warm and it was humid and I realized about four miles in that I wasn't going to hit the time I was going for, and it wouldn't help my ranking," D'Amato said.  "To be really honest, track is a lot harder on my body than the roads.  It takes me a lot longer to recover from a track race than a road race.  When I realized I wasn't hitting the time I wasn't going to risk something going wrong with my body.  I really thought I was in shape to hit the Olympic standard." The Delightful Run for Women should also help D'Amato sharpen up for the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K which takes place in New York City a week later.  D'Amato will face a loaded field there, including the 2024 USA Olympic Marathon team of Fiona O'Keeffe, Emily Sisson and Dakotah Lindwurm. "Before a fast 10-K next week, hopefully running something a little bit faster this weekend will just help my body get ready to go out hard in that 10-K," she said. Looking ahead to the race in Albany --where her top competitors will be Anne-Marie Blaney, Jessie Cardin, and Amy Davis-Green of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project-- D'Amato has studied the fast, out-and-back course.  The overall event record is 15:12 by Kenya's Emily Chebet set in 2010, and the fastest time ever by an American is 15:25 by Marla Runyan in 2003.  The race had served as the USATF 5-K Championships for women from 1993 through 2004. "I've seen that you kind of climb a hill, run around a lake, and climb back down," said D'Amato, who delivered that line like a stand-up comic.  "It seems like a course where experience running it will be helpful.  I'll go around Friday and run it just to make sure I know what I'm doing."   PHOTO: Keira D'Amato finishing fifth at the 2023 Mastercard New York Mini 10-K in 31:23 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved PHOTO: Josh Kerr winning the Bowerman Mile at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly) EUGENE (25-May) -- Making a bold push to the front with about 600 meters to go, Britain's Josh Kerr held off both Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Yared Nuguse of the United States to win the Bowerman Mile at today's Prefontaine Classic in a world-leading 3:45.34.  Kerr, the reigning world 1500m champion, also broke Steve Cram's British record which had stood for nearly 39 years, and gave fans at Hayward Field a preview of what the Olympic 1500m final might look like in Paris in August. "I was available for whatever pace it was," the bearded Kerr told reporters.  "I didn't ask for any certain 800 splits, or anything like that.  I just rolled with the punches a little bit and raced it like a championships race." Kerr, 26, who won the World Athletics Indoor Championships 3000-meter title 84 days ago, demonstrated his mastery of tactics today.  He ran in the pack behind pacemaker Abe Alvarado through 800m in 1:52.8, then surprised his main rivals by moving brusquely to the lead in the third quarter of the race.  It was a risky call, but there was no time for self-doubt. "Because I thought it was a dumb decision," he said when asked why he surged so early.  "I knew if I thought it was a dumb decision then it probably was, and that was going to scare myself and everyone else around me.  Just testing myself early-on in the season." Both Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse reacted, as did Kerr's fellow Scotsman Jake Wightman, the 2022 world champion.  The field stretched out and Kerr just kept pressing. "Today it was like, how can I win this race, and if I'm going to win this race it's probably going to be under 3:46," Kerry continued.  "So, it was a good day." Ingebrigtsen, who told reporters yesterday that his winter training "wasn't perfect," demonstrated excellent speed for an athlete who had just come off of altitude training and hadn't raced since last September.  He clocked 3:45.60, comfortably ahead of Nuguse (3:46.22).  The always-combative Ingebrigtsen was satisfied with his race which demonstrated that his fitness was headed in the right direction. "I feel that it was a pretty good performance," said Ingebrigtsen.  "It's a pretty good start.  I'm not a fan of the mile event by itself because it has nothing to do with my culture --it's definitely something British and American which I'm not that familiar with. It's a very good start.  I have lost quite a bit of training this winter, and for me I perform out of consistency, more or less." Nuguse, the USA mile record-holder both indoors and out, was also satisfied with how he ran. "I still feel like I'm in a good position strength-wise to keep with them and stick in a place that I wanted to be," Nuguse said.  "I think now it's just working that last little 100 bit that I usually have a little stronger."  He continued: "It's a really good start for the meat and potatoes of the outdoor season." Wightman ended up fifth in a personal best 3:47.83, bagging his 2024 Olympic Games qualifying mark (3:50.40 or better).  He was passed by another Scotsman, Neil Gourley, who finished fourth in 3:47.74.  Australia's Oliver Hoare, the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500m champion, finished ninth in 3:49.11, also getting a Paris qualifier. As exciting as the mile was, the meet started in the morning with a pending world record in the 10,000-meters by two-time world cross country champion Beatrice Chebet of Kenya: 28:54.14.  The 24 year-old was trying to secure her place on the Kenyan Olympic team by finishing in the top-2 here (Athletics Kenya had designated the Prefontaine Classic as their Olympic Trials race for the 10,000m).  Latching on to Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay for 22 of the 25 laps, she surged into the lead in the final kilometer and ran laps of 68.4, 68.1 and 63.7 to get the record. "We did not come for a world record," Chebet told reporters, looking a little stunned.  "For us, Kenya, we came for Trials for Paris.  When Gudaf asked for world record, then for me I decided to say, let me try to go with her to see how the body is."  She continued: "When I see Gudaf drop a bit I decide to push to see how it goes." Chebet broke the existing record of 29:01.03 set by Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey in Hengelo in 2021.  Tsegay, who finished second here today, got close to that mark, running 29:05.92. "My target is I try for world record," Tsegay told reporters in English.  She continued: "Sometimes it's like that.  No problem.  Congratulations for Chebet; very fast time." Third place Lilian Rengeruk (29:26.89) locked in the second Kenyan team berth (the third athlete will be picked by committee).  She finished just ahead of Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, who clocked 29:27.59 and also has a chance of being named to the Kenyan team. The men's 10,000m, which also served as the Kenyan Trials, saw the win go to Daniel Mateiko in a personal best and world-leading 26:50.81.  In a thrilling four-man sprint, Mateiko beat Nicholas Kipkorir (26:50.94), Benard Kibet (26:51.09) and Edwin Kurgat (26:51.54).  Kurgat was actually the race leader coming off of the final bend, but faded in the last 20 meters. "I wanted to give myself a chance," said Kurgat, who competed for Iowa State University during his collegiate career.  "I knew we were four and they only needed two as the one who would be chosen."  He continued: "I have no regrets.  I'm really, really happy." Daniel Ebenyo, the 2023 World Championships silver medalist in the 10,000m, fell and finished eighth. Also happy was Britain's Keely Hodgkinson in the women's 800m.  The 2021 Olympic silver medalist launched her long drive for home with about 120 meters to go and swept past reigning world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya, 2024 world indoor champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, and 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda to get the win in a world-leading 1:55.78.  She karate-chopped the tape with her right hand in triumph. "I decided to hang back and test my speed at the end," Hodgkinson told reporters.  She added: "But you have to think on your feet, see what's going on around you, and make your decision right there." Moraa finished second in 1:56.71 and another Briton, Jemma Reekie, came from behind to take third in 1:57.45.  American Nia Akins got fourth in 1:57.98. "To feel that good running a 1:57 is new territory for me," said Akins. In the three remaining distance events --the women's 1500m, 3000-meter steeplechase and the 5000m-- there were also excellent performances.  Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji ran a very fast 3:53.75 to win the 1500m over Australia's Jessica Hull.  Hull, who competed for the University of Oregon during her collegiate career, took second in a national record 3:55.97.  Elle St. Pierre, the newly-crowned world indoor 3000m champion, took third in a personal best 3:56.00.  That made her the second-fastest American of all-time. "One of my strengths is my strength," said St. Pierre, who ran a personal best 14:34.12 for 5000m one week ago in Los Angeles.  "I think that 5-K reflected that and gave me more confidence that I could hang on to a faster pace for longer." In a two-woman battle Peruth Chemutai of Uganda beat Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in the women's steeplechase, 8:55.09 to 8:56.51.  Chemutai's time was a world leader and national record.  Americans Valerie Constien (9:14.29), Courtney Wayment (9:14.48), Gabbi Jennings (9:18.03), and Kaylee Mitchell (9:21.00) all ran under the Olympic qualifying standard of 9:23.00. Finally, in the women's 5000m Tsige Gebreselama and Ejgayehu Taye battled right to the line and Gebreselama got the win, 14:18.76 to 14:18.92. Ethiopian athletes took the top-6 positions.  Back in ninth place, American Weini Kelati got the Olympic standard (14:52.00 or better) by running 14:35.43.  However, she said she was likely to stick with the 10,000m for the USA Olympic Trials next month. "I was really comfortable," said Kelati, who competed for the University of New Mexico during her NCAA career.  She added: "I'm leaning kind of the 10K.  We'll see." *  * Next year's Prefontaine Classic, the only stop of the Wanda Diamond League in the United States, will be the meet's 50th edition.  

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission. EUGENE (24-May) -- As Phil Collins famously sang: "We wait and we wonder." That's the mood here less than 24 hours ahead of the Bowerman Mile at Saturday's Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field, the fifth stop of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League.  Tomorrow's race features the world's three top-ranked 1500m runners according to World Athletics: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway (Nike), Yared Nuguse of the United States (On Athletics Club), and Josh Kerr of Great Britain (Brooks Beasts Track Club). Ingebrigtsen is the reigning Olympic and European 1500m champion and is also the event record holder (3:43.73); Nuguse is the reigning USA 1500m champion and the American record holder for the mile (3:43.97); and Kerr is the reigning world 1500m champion and the 2021 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist.  It's a match-up so good that even sprinters are excited about it. "Yah I'm very excited to see this race!" reigning world 100m and 200m champion Noah Lyles posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.  "Idc if it's fast.  I just want to see who will win." That seems to be the opinion of the three protagonists who spoke to the media this afternoon at a press conference.  All three hope to mount the top step of the Olympic 1500m podium in Paris in August, and are looking at tomorrow's race more as a means to that end.  For an Olympic track season, it's still early. "For me, I've never run the Pre Classic or anything," said Kerr, who won the world 3000m indoor title last March in Glasgow.  "So, I wanted to add that to the list of races I wanted to go after that I wanted to win.  It fit in the schedule really well this year, and I'm just excited to open up my mile/1500m debut of the 2024 season." At last year's event --which was held in September and served as the Diamond League Final-- Ingebrigtsen ran just steps ahead of Nuguse, and the pair posted the third and fourth-fastest mile times in history.  But this year's race could be more tactical as all three men have to meter their effort prior to the Paris Olympics.  While Ingebrigtsen burned the last of his end-of-season fitness at last September's race, this year's is more of a rust-buster.  He hasn't raced in 251 days. "Winter's not been perfect which is why I have not been in cross country or indoor," Ingebrigtsen told reporters. "But, I'm definitely going to show up and try to do my best.  I think that's a big part of this sport is to not be only showing up when you are one hundred percent, or whatever.  I think a big part of the sport is to do what we all love, which is to run, compete against each other." Nuguse, who set the world-leading times in the mile this year both indoors and out (3:47.83 and 3:51.06, respectively) is sure that his world lead will be broken, but he didn't seem terribly concerned about putting up a super-fast time like last year.  He said that tomorrow's race will give him a preview of the Paris Olympics and act as a confidence builder ahead of the nerve-wracking USA Olympic Team Trials which will take place here in Eugene next month. "I feel like this race is really important because it's kind of like in a place where I have a lot of my world's best competitors that I'm going to be facing," Nuguse said.  "I feel like once you face them, I feel like that... makes (the Trials) feel a little more manageable, I think.  Being able to come out and race against these guys will give me a lot of confidence going into the Trials." Perhaps lost in the emphasis on the Big Three is the depth of the field.  Fifteen men will be on the track (plus pacemakers) including 2022 World 1500m champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain (a Scotsman, like Kerr), 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500m champion Oliver Hoare of Australia, reigning world indoor 1500m champion Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, and reigning world road mile champion Hobbs Kessler of the United States.  Any one of them could win the race, something that was not lost on Kerr. "You've got to give it up to the Pre Classic for being able to pull this together," said Kerr.  "That's what I'm excited about." * * * Athletes in the Bowerman Mile can also get credit for Olympic Games 1500m qualifying marks based on their mile times.  The Olympic standard for 1500m is 3:33.50, but is 3:50.40 for the mile.  Neither Hoare nor Wightman have the standard yet.  Hoare had hoped to get it last Sunday in Los Angeles, but only ran 3:34.73. PHOTO: Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen at a press conference in advance of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene Oregon on May 24 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)