BOSTON (19-April) — On a long-awaited April morning that finally sang of spring, a multi-national quartet led a field of 9,137 finishers in the 15th-annual Boston 5K presented by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care – this year on a new course that ended at the Boston Marathon finish line.
A few hours later, the B.A.A. Invitational Mile took center stage, with the defending professional men’s champion going into the record books with the first back-to-back victory in more than a decade.
First across the line in the 5K was Marcel Hug of Switzerland, winning the men’s wheelchair division of the 3.1-mile race (10:02) for the fourth-consecutive year. Taking the women’s crown was Eden Rainbow-Cooper in 12:08.
“It’s great warm-up for Marathon Monday,” said Hug, the defending Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America champion who will be seeking his eighth win when he lines up in Hopkinton.
Rainbow-Cooper, the defending marathon champion from Great Britain, agreed. “To win the 5K, it’s such a good omen for me,” she said. “I won it last year and then I had one of the best races [at the marathon] so I’m hoping I can emulate that.”
In the footrace, 20-year-old Dawit Seare became the first Eritrean winner in the race’s history when he triumphed in 13:33, two seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Patrick Dever and four seconds up on Kenya’s Amon Kemboi.
Seare, a 2024 Olympian at 5,000-meters, fought exhaustion to take the lead with about 600 meters to go after throwing in a series of surges over the last mile.
“I knew they would be exhausted and beat up [too,]” he said through a translator of his rivals. “So then I felt like I had the energy to go.”
Winning for the women was Gela Hambese, 22, of Ethiopia, notching a time of 14:53 in her debut at the distance. Runner-up was Grace Loibach of Kenya (14:55), with Taylor Roe of the U.S. third in a personal best (14:57).
Roe, the 2022 NCAA indoor champion at 3000 meters, is enjoying a breakout season as a pro, having notched national titles at both 10 miles and the half marathon in the past two months.
“It’s been fun trying out all different things,” she said of her swing at the shorter distance today.
The Boston 5K appears to be the first time either winner has raced in the U.S.
In the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, American Casey Comber became the first back-to-back winner since two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis did it in 2014.
Experience, he said, was the key. “I’ve been here three years in a row,” said Comber, 28, the 2023 Pan Am Games bronze medalist at 1500 meters. “Every year I come down and look at where the cones are laid out … that last corner, it’s really hard to pass after that.”
Comber, who plans a quick turnaround to run the U.S. Road Mile Championships in Iowa on Tuesday, added: “It’s fun and there’s a lot of people watching, which is cool for this sport. Anytime you get to compete in front a crowd and people are engaged and cheering, it’s awesome.”
The women’s professional mile crown went to 28-year-old Dorcus Ewoi of Kenya in 4:42.
“It’s such a great race, a great weekend,” said Ewoi, winner of the 2024 Falmouth Mile and second in the Fifth Avenue Mile last fall. “So many people!”
In the high school division, which features runners from each of the eight cities and towns – Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Boston – along the Boston Marathon course, the boys’ race was won by Altamo Aschkenasy of Brookline in 4:25, while Newton’s Ciara Evans (5:12) won for the girls. Aschkenasy won the MIAA Division 1 state indoor title at 1000 meters this winter, with Evans anchoring Newton North’s DMR team to a state crown.
The middle school 1000-meter races were won by Brookline’s Bryce Hellendrung and Hopkinton’s Nina Clement.
But the day was about more than breaking the tape: the 5K also featured a bevy of celebrities and at least one very happy 12-year-old.
Boston Marathon champions Uta Pippig (22:28) and Meb Keflezighi (18:44) both stepped down in distance; Red Sox manager Alex Cora (24:47) switched sports entirely. Kara Goucher, the 2007 World Championships silver medalist at 10,000 meters and co-host of a popular podcast with 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, won the 45-49 age group in 19:18; her son, Colt, was third in his (10-14, 17:30). Linden will be part of the World Feed broadcast of Monday’s Marathon.
And one pre-teen stood beaming just past the finish line, proudly declaring that she had just run a personal best and won 250 candies in a bet. All were celebrating memorable moments and milestones achieved on Boylston Street.
Complete results of the Boston 5K, including complete Para Athletics Division champions, can be found here.
Complete results of the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, can be found here.
Photo courtesy B.A.A.