Below is an excerpt from the Lap Count newsletter, posted with permission. Kyle Merber’s Lap Count newsletter which both entertains and enlightens fans about athletes and happenings in our sport.
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From the Lap Count Newsletter
B.A.A. Mile and 5K
They say racing a 5k is a gateway drug to getting a 26.2 bumper sticker.
With the streets already shutting down for the big dance, it makes sense for additional races to ride on the coattails of the oldest marathon in the world. And with all eyes and attention centered around Boston, it’s a great opportunity for non-thon athletes to capitalize and take home a nice payday in front of some passionate fans.
The day before the men lined up for a 5k dash from the Boston Common, Canada’s Charles Philbert-Thiboutot confidently told me that we’d do an interview after he won the race. While I admired his bravado, the field was stacked with the likes of Ed Cheserek, Geordie Beamish, Zouhair Talbi, and plenty of others I figured might give Chuck P-T a good challenge. Well, he proved himself correct, winning the race in a Canadian record of 13:35. He is already set to run the 1500m at Worlds, and in a conversation afterwards we discussed David Ribich’s assessment of how with the rise of the honest race, being good at the 5000m is the new being good at the 800m for metric milers.
The highlight of the men’s race, however, came from eighth place finisher, Aaron Templeton. He was the first athlete to head back to the elite athlete tent and in the process passed swarms of the mass participants who were patiently waiting for their wave to start. From their vantage point it was impossible to see the finish and as Aaron walked by with a medal in his hand, the crowd burst into celebration and he graciously accepted all of the applause — to the 8th place finisher goes the spoils!
On the women’s side, there was a more clear favorite in the field, Senbere Teferi. The Ethiopian star — who holds the women’s-only 5k world record of 14:29 — ultimately won the race by 15 seconds in 14:49 over Weini Kelati. Teferi has run two marathons in her career (Tokyo and Dubai), but having just recently won the NYC Half and then making the trip to Boston, this might be some foreshadowing of where she goes next. I have no clue if she was in the lead car on Monday, as is commonly the case for athletes being courted to line up on Patriots’ Day, but all I have ever heard about that experience is that it’s generally pretty cold and it tests the upper limits of your bladder.
Later that same afternoon, the mile is run as a three lap race around a city block that finishes at the world famous line across Boylston Street. The B.A.A.’s own Annie Rodenfels kept it in the family to win in 4:35. With yet another professional victory to her name, the fact that she’s a multiple time NCAA DIII champion gets slotted even further down her resume. I’m sure fans of DIII running will always loudly claim her as one of their own, but to those lined up beside her on a starting line, the prevailing thought is probably more along the lines of “well crap, another runner I could lose to.”
In the men’s division, the most attractive athlete in the field, Johnny Gregorek, stormed to victory after playing it coy in last place for the first 95% of the race. Over a post-race adult beverage at a loud local watering hole, my best friend confirmed that I sometimes can give good advice. I have been suggesting for the better part of the year that the best way to start a season off is with some early season wins to build some momentum. Just because you can get into the best possible race to launch your spring campaign doesn’t always mean it’s the best option, especially if you’re not yet ready for the 1:52 first half. But hopefully by the time Johnny lines up in his next 3:33race, his head is so inflated because of days like this that they’ll have to give him two lanes on the starting line to fit his ego.
