By David Monti, @d9monti | (c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved; used with permission
NEW HAVEN (02-Sep) — On a beautiful late summer day here in the Elm City, Hillary Bor (Hoke One One) and Keira D’Amato (Nike) scored convincing victories at the Faxon Law New Haven Road race which hosted the USATF 20-K Championships. Bor, an Olympic steeplechaser, ran away from the field and won in a championships record 58:09. D’Amato, the former national record holder for the marathon, won in a more tactical effort, clocking 1:06:25, well off of her course and championships record of 1:04:29 set in 2022. Both athletes won $9,000 in prize money.
BOR IN A TIME TRIAL
Bor, 34, who lives and trains in Colorado Springs, took a clinical approach to today’s race. Right from the gun he could be seen checking his watch frequently even after splitting a snappy 23:02 for the first five miles and 28:41 for 10-K, about 18 seconds ahead of the chase pack. He had a plan.
“I wanted to test my fitness,” Bor told reporters after the race. “I got accepted for Valencia Half-Marathon (October 27) and I know it’s going to be really fast.” He continued: “For me to go run the American record in Valencia Half (sub-59:47), also for me to run 59:30, I knew I needed to run at least 57-something in this course. That was the plan.”
Bor took the lead in the first mile and recorded a 4:31 split. That was a little faster than he wanted.
“I just wanted to maintain about 4:35,” he said.
Bor only had Kirubel Erassa for company in the first two miles, but by the three-mile mark (13:48) Erassa had to back off (he would later drop out). From there Bor just ran by time, cheered on at various points by handfuls of fans gathered on the course.
When he went into East Rock Park in the tenth mile he began to tire, despite hitting a fast split of 46:44.
“There was a lot of hills and I just got a little bit tired at the end,” Bor lamented.
For the final 2.4 miles to the finish, Bor backed off his pace and was able to enjoy the cheers from the crowd which he acknowledged with friendly waves. His time of 58:09 surpassed Matt Tegenkamp’s 2012 championships record of 58:30 (also set in New Haven), but did not approach Khalid Khannouchi’s 1998 event record of 57:37. In all, Bor was pleased with his race.
“I’m excited, I’m excited,” he said. “I have a 10-K to test my speed in two weeks then Valencia.”
Behind Bor the four-man chase pack of Nathan Martin, Biya Simbassa, Aidan Reed and Sam Chelanga hung together until about the final mile when the sprinting began. Martin, who had led the chase pack most of the race, got second in 58:26, three seconds ahead of Simbassa. Reed ran 58:31 and Chelanga clocked 58:39.
“The game plan was, hey, if I have a shot to win just to go for it,” Martin told Race Results Weekly. “Hillary kind of took it out really strong (so) I wanted to be conservative and not make moves that would cost me later in the race.” He continued: “Overall, a fantastic race. Really happy with it.”
D’AMATO COMES DOWN FROM ALTITUDE
D’Amato, 39, came to New Haven after her first-ever training stint at high altitude in Park City, Utah, under Brigham Young University coach Ed Eyestone. She incorporated today’s race into her build-up for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13, and decided to run a more moderate pace than when she set the course and championships record of 1:04:29 here in 2022.
“I tried to stay relaxed through half, and then squeeze it down a little bit,” D’Amato explained to reporters. “I was really fortunate to have a very strong group of ladies to pull through.”
At the 10-K mark (33:20) Annie Frisbie led D’Amato, Jess McClain, Savannah Berry and Mary Grace Hurley. By nine miles (48:21) D’Amato began to pull away.
“I was feeling really strong so when I got to the top of the hill (just before the 10-mile mark), knowing all the tangents through I figured I could pick up some speed and hopefully put on a little gap, and just hold strong for the rest.”
Indeed, she did. D’Amato finished 25 seconds clear of McClain (1:06:50), with Berry (1:07:03), Frisbie (1:07:19) and Hurley (1:07:29) making up the rest of the top-five. D’Amato got emotional when she said how important this race was for her especially after failing to finish the USA Olympic Trials Marathon back in February.
“This has been a year for me,” said D’Amato. “I’ve had a lot of lows, some changes, and I’m just so pumped to have a really strong, hard effort today. I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
Coach Eyestone agreed.
“Obviously, this is just kind of a checkpoint in the build (for Chicago),” Eyestone told Race Results Weekly. “You come into this with some pretty heavy mileage. I think this was good. She said that she felt strong.” He continued: “Coaches like it when it’s not close at the end.”
In all, 533 athletes finished the 20-K while another 1142 finished the companion half-marathon, and 2459 finished the 5-K.
