Josh Kerr wins the 5th Avenue Mile (© Da Ping Luo for NYRR)
World 1500m champion Josh Kerr and world 800m finalist Jemma Reekie won the professional races at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on Sunday (10), making it the third consecutive year in which a Scottish double has been achieved.
It was the first title on Manhattan’s famous thoroughfare for Kerr, and the second for Reekie, who also won in 2021.
Kerr, fresh off his victory on the track in Budapest, transferred his success to the roads and won in 3:47.9, the third-fastest time in the event's history and quickest since 1995.
His British compatriot George Mills was second in 3:49.9, followed by New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish in third in 3:50.0. USA's Vincent Ciattei was fourth in 3:50.3.
“It's a very different effort to run a mile down the street in flats versus running around the oval with spikes,” Kerr said. “I didn't have the performance I wanted to have last year, so I wanted to make that right.
"It's nice to end the season on a high, and it's difficult to do at any point in anyone's career at the end of the year. I've been training and racing for a long time this year and I was glad to put on a performance like that today.”
Reekie broke the tape in 4:19.4, more than two seconds faster than her winning time in 2021, and was followed by Ireland’s Sarah Healy in 4:20.0 and Great Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant in 4:20.6.
Nikki Hiltz was the top US athlete, finishing fourth in 4:20.7.
Jemma Reekie leads the 5th Avenue Mile (© Adam Hunger for NYRR)
“Running this mile is always so special to me,” said Reekie, who won in 2021 alongside her compatriot Jake Wightman, with Wightman and Laura Muir winning in 2022. “I won it back in 2021. Last year, I placed well again, and then this year I'm happy to be back winning. It's such a great event and it's always a fun event to come to.”
The 4:27.97 run by Hiltz at the US Road Mile Championships in April was among the performances recently submitted for world record ratification, following the road mile becoming an official world record discipline as of 1 September. The slight downhill gradient of the 5th Avenue Mile course means it isn’t record-eligible, but there will be a strong chance of the inaugural world records being broken at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 on 1 October, where the road mile is being contested by dozens of the world’s best middle-distance runners.
Organisers for World Athletics
Jepchirchir and Tola on top in South Shields
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s race in 1:06:45, while Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola claimed the men’s title in 59:58 at the Great North Run half marathon on Sunday (10).
Britain’s record-breaking warm weather continued as the elite career of one of its greatest athletes ended at the 42nd edition of the half marathon that takes participants from Newcastle to South Shields.
Mohamed Farah placed a respectable and emotional fourth in 1:03:28. He would have loved to have been on the podium in his final race, but he was no match for the Olympic and world-medal winning trio ahead.
Tola made some amends for his failure to retain his world marathon title 14 days earlier. Alongside Farah, the smooth-running Ethiopian led a group of seven athletes at 5km (14:11), then pressed on as the group climbed to the highest point of the course at five miles.
Eventual winner Tamirat Tola in the leading men's group at the Great North Run (© Getty Images)
Then, on the downhill dual carriageway stretch, he showed the form which deserted him in the closing stages of the Budapest marathon. His 4:27 mile to seven broke all but Bashir Abdi, then he cranked it up to 4:20 and was 10 seconds up on the Belgian, who himself was 30 seconds ahead of Muktar Edris.
Tola’s pace slowed as the course climbed, but he still pulled away to dip under one hour. No-one else got under 61 minutes. Abdi was second in 1:01:20, while Edris was third in 1:01:54.
In the women’s race, Jepchirchir went one better than her runner-up finish in 2022, as she works towards the defence of her world half marathon title at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga on 1 October. Jepchirchir set a women-only world record when winning at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships.
Following a snappy 5:03 opening mile, Jepchirchir's fellow New York Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi was her only company, but just for four miles. In the 24°C heat, Jepchirchir ran quicker than she had in kinder running conditions a year earlier. This is a woman who won the Olympic marathon when it was 31°C with 78% humidity, so heat doesn’t bother her.
Behind Jepchirchir and Lokedi, who finished second in 1:07:43, was Britain’s Charlotte Purdue, who repeated her 2021 third place finish to tune up nicely for her Berlin Marathon bid.
Peres Jepchirchir leads the Great North Run (© Getty Images)
“I decided to run by myself,” Jepchirchir told the BBC. As well as getting ready for the World Athletics Road Running Championships, both she and Lokedi are also in marathon preparations as they get ready to return to the New York City Marathon on 5 November.
As with so many mass races of this kind, there were countless human interest stories and races within races amid the 43,768 starters. One unique record was established by blind British runner Jim Roberts, who completed the distance untethered in 2:08:25.
The last word goes to Farah. “All I know is running,” declared the 10-time global track gold medallist in his post-race interview that was broadcast to the sunbaked spectators on the seafront. “That’s what made me happy for so many years.”
Mark Butler for World Athletics
Leading results
Women
1 Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) 1:06:45
2 Sharon Lokedi (KEN) 1:07:43
3 Charlotte Purdue (GBR) 1:09:36
4 Sonia Samuels (GBR) 1:13:43
5 Jessa Hanson (USA) 1:14:12
6 Wakana Itsuki (JPN) 1:14:29
Men
1 Tamirat Tola (ETH) 59:58
2 Bashir Abdi (BEL) 1:01:20
3 Muktar Edris (ETH) 1:01:54
4 Mohamed Farah (GBR) 1:03:28
5 Efrem Gidey (IRL) 1:04:03
6 Andrew Butchart (GBR) 1:04:30
