It was a perfect Saturday morning for running. Annie Rodenfels and Morgan Beadlescomb won USATF 5K Championships titles to make for a good start to a weekend of racing.
Runners took to the streets of New York City to chase a national title in the road 5K. There were terrific conditions in the morning—the day before the New York City Marathon—for all the elites, who made their way from the west side of Manhattan, through Midtown to finish in Central Park.
Here’s how it went down.
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Beadlescomb takes the win in the men’s race
Morgan Beadlescomb has made a habit of winning 5Ks before major marathons. In April, the 25-year-old Adidas athlete If I hang in, I usually can rally for the last mile, Rodenfels said Shoes & Gear.
He showed off that kick once again on Saturday to pick up the win and the national title in a time of 13:44. Ahmed Muhumed was second and Tai Dinger came home third, both in 13:47.
Beadlescomb was at the head of the field for nearly the entire race. The race started to string out with 400 meters to go, and it eventually became a two-man race with Beadlescomb and Muhumed, but Beadlescomb’s kick was once again too much in the end.
“It’s big and a step in the right direction for the Olympic Trials, and it’s a big confidence boost,” Beadlescomb said after the race.
Woody Kincaid, who noted he had only just two weeks of training under his legs, finished sixth in 13:49.
Disaster nearly struck the field about a half mile into the men’s race when a bus appeared to enter the course at an intersection with the pack still all together. Thankfully, the bus stopped in time to avoid the runners, but it was a scary moment nonetheless.
“It’s New York, I guess. I don’t know,” Beadlescomb said about the incident. “Somebody’s going to have to be held accountable for that because that can kill somebody.”
“We were all running pretty slow, fortunately,” he added. “If we would have been a few seconds faster, that bus would have hit somebody.”
Rodenfels runs away with the women’s race
Annie Rodenfels wasn’t overly concerned when Keira D’Amato opened up a gap on the field around the mile mark. Instead, Rodenfels put some trust in two-time defending USATF 5K champion Weini Kelati, who, according to Rodenfels, seemed “pretty not concerned” that the former American record holder in the marathon could hold the lead in the much shorter race.
D’Amato’s strategy was to try and break the field early, so she went out hard to put some space between her and the rest of the speedy entries. She did just that.
But Rodenfels and Kelati were able to reel D’Amato back in just after the two-mile mark. Then Rodenfels made her move on a downhill in the final mile, opening up an advantage that would lead her to the win in a time of 15:22.
Rachel Smith ran a strong race to take second in 15:26 and Bethany Hasz was third in 15:27. D’Amato finished fourth in 15:28. It wouldn’t be a three-peat for Kelati, who wound up fifth.
For Rodenfels, it’s her first national title, and accomplishes one of her top goals for the season, which she hopes will include a spot on the Olympic team next summer.
It was a big step down in distance for D’Amato. She didn’t think she would have the kick to match the others in the race, so she decided to go out hard to have a shot at the victory.
“I did the math before this and it turns out a 5K is 23 miles shorter than a marathon,” D’Amato joked after the race. “I’m feeling strong. I didn’t quite have the pep at the end.”
Rodenfels keyed off Kelati in the opening mile, and thought there was a “good chance” D’Amato would come back to them. That’s exactly what happened and Rodenfels used a strong last mile to take the win.
“If I hang in, I usually can rally for the last mile,” Rodenfels said.
Dan is a writer and editor living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and before coming to Runner’s World and Bicycling was an editor at MileSplit. He competed in cross country and track and field collegiately at DeSales University.
