Event Operator 

(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. NORTHPORT, N.Y. (20-Sep) -- On a spectacular morning for road running in this harbor-front town on Long Island's North Shore, Ednah Kurgat and Anthony Rotich of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) won the 45th edition of the Great Cow Harbor 10K going away.  Kurgat, 34, the 2023 USATF cross country champion, broke away from her key rival just ahead of the 5K mark and ran solo to the finish line on Main Street in 32:11.  Rotich, also 34, a three-time NCAA steeplechase champion with the University of Texas at El Paso, fought off a late-race challenge from former University of Kansas star Chandler Gibbens to win in 28:27.  Both athletes won $7000 in prize money, including $500 primes for leading at halfway. ROTICH RAN SMARTER THIS YEAR Rotich competed at this race last year when organizers hosted the USATF 10K Championships.  Although he finished fifth, he was disappointed with how he executed his race. "I was here last year and I made some stupid moves here and there," Rotich told Race Results Weekly.  "Today I told myself I'll be patient.  When I make a move, that's it." Rotich stayed tucked in the lead pack in the early going when James Quattlebaum was setting the pace.  Quattlebaum split the severely downhill first mile in 4:24 with both Rotich and Gibbens right behind him.  At that point the lead pack had ten athletes, but the group would whittle down to eight when the race turned up the notoriously steep James Street Hill in the second mile.  Passing some of the town's most expensive homes with expansive views of the harbor, Rotich touched the lead for the first time just ahead of the three mile mark.  The former Kenyan scooped up the $500 halfway prime (14:26) and started to scoot away from the field. "Last year I made the same move, but I realized that my body shut down after that," Rotich said.  He continued: "I told myself when I made the move at 5K that will be it.  But I was surprised that one of the guys actually followed me." Gibbens, who did not surge at 5K, slowly closed-up on Rotich using the downhill on Eaton's Neck Road, and the two athletes were together at 4 miles (18:22).  Shuaib Aljabaly of Hansons-Brooks ODP was in third. "This is like my first race in eight months, or something," Gibbens told Race Results Weekly.  "I really wanted to put myself in that front group, kind of keep them close, and try to make a move at the end."  He added: "I just wanted to keep him in touch. When he started to make that move at the 5-K mark I just wanted to keep him where I could get him within the next mile or so." The mostly flat fifth mile went in 4:43 (23:05) and Rotich and Gibbens were still together.  Just after the five mile mark when the course turns right on to Main Street, Rotich used the little uphill there to get a jump on Gibbens.  The move stuck, and within a few seconds he was 30 meters up the road. "I knew there was still one more hill to go," Rotich explained.  "And I told myself, that is where I'm going to be making the move.  I did not want it to come (to the) downhill because anybody can run downhill." Rotich had the final downhill to the finish all to himself.  He waved once to the crowd, and when he arrived at the finish line he stopped abruptly at the tape, straightened his posture, and gave a military salute with his right hand. "That's for the Army," Rotich said.  "Every time you have a victory it is like that you are saluting the flag.  That's what I did today." Gibbens held on for second in 28:36, and former Utah Valley University athlete Habtamu Cheney passed Aljabaly to take third in 28:40.  Aljabaly was fourth, another seven seconds behind, and Merga Gemeda of Minnesota Distance Elite rounded out the top five in 28:58.  Quattlebaum, the early leader, was seventh in 29:10. NO DRAMA FOR KURGAT Kurgat was mostly worried about the threat from three-time Chevron Houston Marathon champion Biruktayit Degefa, and decided to put the former Ethiopian behind her early.  She moved away from her rival late in the third mile and had a four-second lead by the 5K point, 16:22 to 16:26.  From there she only had men for company, and time-trialed to the finish line to get the win, her first of the year. "It was pretty windy so I tried to hold on as much as I could," Kurgat told Race Results Weekly.  "Despite that, I was able to win.  I know it has been a long, rough season for me, but it is good to close it with a win." Degefa finished second in 32:31, and third place went to Kassie Parker in 32:57.  Steph Bruce, 41, finished fourth and was the top masters finisher in 33:03.  Lesley Boyd rounded out the top five in 33:12. SOLD OUT RACE Today's race sold out at 5000 entries in June, according to race officials.  A total of 4320 athletes crossed the finish line today, down slightly from 4524 in 2024.  The 2026 race is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 19. PHOTO: Ednah Kurgat and Anthony Rotich of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program were the winners of the 2025 Great Cow Harbor 10K (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. TOKYO (14-Sep) -- After two hours, 24 minutes and 30 seconds the women's marathon at the 20th World Athletics Championships had yet to be decided.  Two of the best marathoners in history, 2021 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia, had entered National Stadium with barely any daylight between them.  It was anyone's race. "I was so exhausted," Jepchirchir told reporters when asked to talk about the final 300 meters of the race on the track. Assefa made the first move, passing her Kenyan rival on the backstretch, but she did not shake her.  Jepchirchir stayed on her heels and tried to gather the strength for just one more push forward after running nearly 42 kilometers in hot and very humid conditions. "At 100 meters when I saw the finishing line... let me try if I'm going to win," Jepchirchir said she told herself.  "Thank God that I managed." Rounding the final bend Jepchirchir shot ahead of Assefa who, despite being a former Olympic 800-meter runner with a 1:59.24 personal best, had no answer.  Spreading her arms, Jepchirchir sailed through the finish line to win her first world marathon title (and her fourth overall world title) in 2:24:43.  She had also won the world half-marathon title three times. "I feel grateful," said Jepchirchir, who thought of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games even though the marathon was held in Sapporo.  "I feel good memories here; I was not expecting that.  I love Tokyo." Assefa crossed two seconds later to take the silver, a bittersweet result for the former world record holder. "I guessed that it would be all about a sprint in the last 100 meters," she told the flash quotes team after the race.  "It was the same at Paris Olympics when I also finished second and lost to Sifan (Hassan).  But I don't like to think I lost gold. I always try to be positive and think that I won the silver." How those two women arrived to the stadium together is a tale of two races.  For the first 28 kilometers, American Susanna Sullivan ran alone through the streets of Tokyo.  The main contenders were content to stay together and not push the pace, and Sullivan just wanted to stretch her legs and run her own race.  By the 10K mark (34:21) Sullivan only had teammate Jessica McClain for company, and by 15K she was 21 seconds ahead of McClain and 25 seconds ahead of the main pack.  Her lead over the main group would peak at 63 seconds at the 20K point. "The whole time when I was in the front I was just reminding myself that they are going to come back," Sullivan said.  "You have to run your own race and you can't panic." McClain was rolled up by Jepchirchir, Assefa, Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia, Stella Chesang of Uganda, Magdalyne Masai of Kenya in the 26th kilometer.  That group caught Sullivan, who had been on pace for a 2:25:00 finish, at the 28K point. "When they went by I kept it together," said Sullivan, who maintained her pace. It was at this point that the second race started.  Assefa and Jepchirchir quickly pulled away from the others and proceeded to run from 30K to the stadium side by side.  They took drinks and soaked themselves with cold towels and sponges as they went, trying to stay cool.  Like two gunfighters facing each other in an old western, the tension built and built until that final circuit of the track. But the biggest surprise of the race would come later when Julia Paternain --a novice marathoner representing Uruguay who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Ariz.-- tiptoed through the field from 15th position at 25K, to tenth place at 30K, to sixth place at 35K.  Paternain, who was born in Mexico but grew up in Great Britain before having a collegiate running career at Penn State and the University of Arkansas, moved into third position in the 39th kilometer.  She had no idea where she was in the running order. "I had no clue," Paternain told reporters.  "Around halfway there was a pack of maybe ten or 15 women ahead of me, and slowly that pack started to break up.  I was just trying to make sure that my miles were consistent.  I knew if I stayed consistent that everyone around me could do what they wanted." Paternain, who was running just her second marathon, entered the stadium a clear third and won the bronze medal in 2:27:23, the first-ever medal for a Uruguayan athlete at the World Athletics Championships.  She did not realize that she made the podium, and wasn't even sure if she needed to do an additional lap inside of the stadium. "I could not believe it when I crossed that finish line," she said.  "I had no idea I was in third.  I also wasn't sure that was the finish line; I wanted to make sure.  I was in so much shock.  I truly cannot believe it." Sullivan finished fourth in 2:28:17, followed by Finland's Alisa Vaino in fifth (2:28:32).  McClain, who had run with Sullivan in the early kilometers, finished eighth in 2:29:20.  Masai, who was contending for a medal late in the race, was forced to drop out. A total of 63 women finished the race out of 73 starters, about the same as the 65 who finished in Budapest two years ago.  The men's marathon will be contested here tomorrow morning on the same course. PHOTO: Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya winning the marathon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. NEW YORK (07-Sep) — Disappointed to have missed a spot on Team USATF for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Yared Nuguse found a different way to end his season on a high note, winning a thrilling New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile road race in Manhattan. Gracie Morris was the surprise winner of the women’s division, using a well-timed kick to secure victory. The races were held in light rain, capping a day of mass participation, age-group and specialty heats featuring more than 8,500 participants at the New York Road Runners-organized event. MORRIS NAILS HER TIMING The women’s elite race went off first, and defending champion Karissa Schweizer, who ran 4:14.8 to equal the event record last year, immediately went to the front down the 20-block straight-line, downhill course. A two-time Olympian in the 5000 and 10,000 meters, she knew she would need to rely on her strength up against a field of established middle-distance runners. She admitted that her enthusiasm, combined with the course’s initial downhill slope, may have caused her to push the pace a bit too hard. Leading Morris by 10 meters, Schweizer earned the race’s $1,000 halfway leader bonus. Morris, fifth in this event last year, continued to track Schweizer while remaining several steps ahead of a pack that included Dani Jones, Gabbbi Jennings, Eleanor Fulton and Kayley DeLay. Shortly after the three-quarter mile mark Morris began to close the gap on Schweizer, who still looked strong but was beginning to strain. With about 300 meters to go Morris decisively surged into the lead. She remained unchallenged to the finish and won comfortably in 4:15.5. “I knew I needed to stay patient and that I could get her,” said Morris, who joined the Puma Elite Running Team in North Carolina a year ago after graduating from Texas Christian University. “And right around 1200 I knew that’s a key point in this race, so I just started pressing.” Morris finished 9th in the 1500 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships in early August and then won the Sir Walter Miler (track mile) a week later, smashing her track personal best with a 4:23.74 clocking. “This is one the best seasons I have had, just confidence wise and having consistency. I don’t feel like I’ve had a bad race,” she said. “I really wanted to win this one and use this momentum to go into next year.” Behind her, Kayley DeLay broke free from the pack and tracked down Schweizer, edging ahead for second place just before the finish, 4:17.4 to 4:17.6. Fulton (4:18.9) and Laurie Barton (4:20.6) rounded out the top five. “I’m happy with this,” said Schweizer, who finished a disappointing sixth in both the 5000 and 10,000 at the U.S. championships. “It’s been a weird year. I feel like this race and my 5K in Brussels [where she clocked a season’s best 14:39.30] showed that I’m not as far off as I thought.” NUGUSE'S PRIDE HELPED CARRY HIM TO THE WIN The men’s race played out quite differently, with a huge pack running together in the early going. No significant moves were made until Flavien Szot bolted to the front just in time to earn the halfway leader bonus. (He would eventually finish 12th.) The pack quickly caught the Frenchman. Nuguse --who opened his season in New York City in February with his third straight victory in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games-- was at the center of the road, with his expected chief rivals, Josh Hoey and Hobbs Kessler, to his right, while Luke Houser and Amon Kemboi were on his left. Hoey, the runner-up here in 2024 and this year’s world indoor champion in the 800 meters, nudged briefly ahead, but could not gain any separation. With a quarter mile to go, Parker Wolfe swung wide on the right and edged into the lead, appearing poised for an upset. But a cluster of men remained on his heels and just steps before the line Nuguse found one more gear and broke the tape in 3:47.7, becoming the first American man to win this race since Eric Jenkins in 2016. “I feel like a lot this year I haven’t really had the kick I wanted, and I think with that downhill energy and also this being my very last race, I really just wanted to leave it all out there,” said Nuguse, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 1500 last summer in Paris. “When Parker passed me that just ignited something within in to really leave it all out there.” Wolfe (3:48.1) held off Drew Hunter (3:48.1) for second, followed by Ireland’s Nick Griggs (3:48.4) and Kenyan Festus Lagat (3:48.4). Kessler (3:49.6) came home 10th and Hoey (3:51.9) finished 13th. The win gave Nuguse a nice boost after his season took a shocking turn at the U.S. championships, where he was relegated to fifth place in the 1500. The On Athletics Club star’s bid to earn a wild card into the World Championships by winning the Diamond League Final in Zurich on August 28 fizzled out when he finished seventh, leaving him off of the national team for Tokyo. “After what happened in Zurich I was a little bummed that that was the end of my season, but Fifth Avenue only asked me [to run here] after that race,” he said. “I liked the idea of racing a fun race. I wanted to win, but I wanted to have an enjoyable [experience] and I heard that Fifth Avenue has really fun vibes.” Wolfe also found redemption with his performance. An injury cut short his senior season at the University of North Carolina this spring, but he rallied to place 6th in the 5000 at the USATF Championships on minimal training. “I thought I had it until the last 10 meters,” he said of his bold move today. “I started tying up a little bit. I’m very happy to feel that gear be there. It’s been a while since I’ve really had that. I felt like myself racing again, so that was awesome.” Morris and Nuguse both recorded the third fastest times in event history and pocketed $5,000 in prize money for their victories. PHOTO: Gracie Morris and Yared Nuguse celebrating their 2025 New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile victories (photo by John Nepolitan for Race Results Weekly)