Thrilling Split-Second Finishes Lead to Victories for Simpson, Willis in 5th Avenue Mile – runnersworld.com

Jenny Simpson clinched her seventh straight victory in the 5th Avenue Mile, out-kicking Elinor Purrier in the final seconds.
The men’s race also featured a split-second finish, with Nick Willis out-leaning Chris O’Hare for the victory.
Both Simpson and Willis have the most career wins at the event, with eight and five, respectively.

The 5th Avenue Mile came down to split-second decisions in both the men’s and women’s races, but the champs came out on top once again to maintain their dominance: Jenny Simpson won for a record eighth time—breaking the event record in the process—while Nick Willis earned his fifth career victory, the most ever on the men’s side.

Simpson, a world champion in the 1500 meters and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, kept fans on the edge of their seats on Sunday when she surged past Elinor Purrier in a winning time of 4:16.1, beating the previous event record of 4:16.6, which she shared with PattiSue Plumer. It stood since 1990.

Purrier also ran faster than the record when she followed Simpson in a time of 4:16.2.

For Simpson, the victory marks her eighth career title and seventh consecutive win on 5th Avenue. In the process, she broke her own event record for most victories.

“It feels great to be so consistent and come here over and over,” Simpson, 33, told Runner’s World after the race. “Nobody ever lets you win. The other women on the line are so talented, they are so well-trained and well-peaked, they have incredible coaches that I respect and their athletes I respect…I don’t know how I pulled it off eight times now.”

The top competitors emerged early on in the race as Purrier and Simpson pulled away with a small group from the pack around 1:30 minutes into the mile. About three minutes in, Simpson and Purrier sprinted ahead, leaving the rest of the competition in their wake.

In the final stretch, they remained stride for stride until Purrier began to pull away for the victory. But with one final surge, Simpson sprinted past her rival to break the tape.

“I was so proud when I knew that it was two New Balance women at the end duking it out,” Simpson said. “Ellie is just having an incredible season. She was great in college and she’s really making that transition into her pro career so well.”

Purrier, who earned the 2018 NCAA indoor mile title while competing for New Hampshire, was pleased to be in contention for the win in her 5th Avenue Mile debut.

“I was giving it everything I had. I wasn’t surprised at all,” Purrier, 24, said of Simpson’s last-minute surge. “Jenny is an amazing competitor. I was just happy to be there.”

Behind Simpson and Purrier, Rebecca Mehra closed for third in a new road mile personal best of 4:22.0. Nikki Hiltz followed for fourth in 4:25.4.

Simpson, Purrier, and Hiltz will be representing the United States at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Doha, Qatar, later this month. Simpson and Hiltz will contest the 1500 meters and Purrier will compete in the 5K.

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The men’s 5th Avenue Mile also featured an exciting finish, this time among seasoned competitors. At 36 years old, Willis was experiencing a challenging year on the track, but the victory on 5th Avenue proved to be a confidence boost.

“This has been such a hard season for me. I’ve finished dead last in a handful of races, really wondering, should this be it? Maybe it’s time to hang it up,” Willis told reporter Lewis Johnson on the NBC broadcast. “So today is so good to remind myself how much I still have and can enjoy the sport.”

The two-time Olympic medalist from New Zealand fought for every step into the finish line, which he reached in 3:51.7, out-leaning Chris O’Hare at the end, who also closed in an official time of 3:51.7. Sam Prakel followed for a close third in 3:51.8.

The men’s race began at a more conservative pace with Sam Parsons leading the group into the halfway point around the two-minute mark. About three minutes into the competition, O’Hare started to surge ahead of the pack.

But with just meters remaining in the race, Willis and Prakel sprinted on either side of the Scottish athlete for one last effort at victory. Despite stepping onto a manhole in the last portion of the road course, he managed to reach the finish first with a strong lean for a record fifth career win on 5th Avenue.

“He [O’Hare] probably deserved to win more than me today because he threw caution to the wind with 300 [meters] to go and grabbed the bull by the horns, but yeah, I was able to get him today,” Willis told Runner’s World.

Contributing Writer Taylor Dutch is a freelance writer living in Chicago.