NEW YORK CITY, September 08 — After a long season of track racing, some professional runners treat the 5th Avenue Mile as a low-key season-ending jaunt down the famed Manhattan roadway. But Josh Kerr and Karissa Schweizer exhibited peak form as they took statement wins in the 20-block point-to-point event. With a helpful wind at his back on a crisp and sunny afternoon, Kerr easily defended his men’s title, smashing a course record that stood since ’81. Schweizer, known primarily as a longer-distance racer, used a decisive kick to top the women’s field. Both winners took home $5000 for their efforts.
The women went off first, with Americans Schweizer and Emily Mackay forcing the pace at the front of the pack through the downhill opening quartermile. As the route sloped uphill, Susan Ejore, 6th in the Olympic 1500 for Kenya, briefly hit the front to nab a $1000 bonus awarded to the halfway leader.
The course then turned downhill again and Schweizer, Ejore and Dorcus Ewoi started to separate from the field. Just past the three-quarters mark, Ewoi began to edge ahead. But just after the 1500 checkpoint Schweizer found another gear and accelerated back into the lead.
She broke the tape in 4:14.8 to match the course record set by Laura Muir in ’22.
“When Dorcus passed me I just tried to relax a little bit behind her and not really look up too much, because everyone told me that [the finishline] looks closer than it actually is,” said Schweizer, who doubled in the 5000 (10th) and 10,000 (9th) at the Olympics. “Then finally I regained some strength and looked up and was like, ‘I can get this.’”
Ewoi took 2nd in 4:17.3. “I actually didn’t know what I was doing,” she said with a laugh. “We came down so quick because of the downhill and so I was looking up front and I saw the finish line, so in my head I was like, yeah, we’re close. We’re finishing it up. But we kept going and [it felt like] it was getting farther away.”
Still, it was an excellent result for the North Carolina-based Kenyan, who finished 5th in the NCAA 800 last year for Campbell, and has had a breakthrough summer, lowering her personal bests to 1:58.19 in the 800 and 4:19.71 in the mile.
Ejore (4:18.3) held on for 3rd, with Melissa Courtney-Bryan (4:19.9) and Gracie Morris (4:20.4) rounding out the top 5.
Emma Coburn, racing for the first time since breaking her ankle in the steeplechase at the Suzhou Diamond League on April 27, finished 19th in 4:37.2. The former world champion and Olympic medalist had surgery May 01 and embarked on a rigorous rehab (including 6-hour bike rides) to get back in racing shape. “I really thought I was gonna perform better than I did, but it’s all about perspective. I’ve been running on the ground for two months and working my butt off,” she said. “I’m proud of the work I did and I know it was still worthwhile.”
In the men’s race, Kerr — just 3 days removed from a disappointing 5th-place finish in the Zürich 1500 — patiently waited through the opening stages, sitting perched on the shoulder of early leader Eric Holt. Cathal Doyle held off Holt in a charge for the halfway bonus, but moments later Kerr surged by both of them.
“If you go early, you can figure out who wants to be here and who doesn’t,” said Kerr. Only Amon Kemboi and Hobbs Kessler attempted to match the plucky Scot, but they were unable to make a dent in his lead.
Kerr pushed hard through the tape, clocking 3:44.3 to smash the course record of 3:47.52 set 43 years ago by Sydney Maree.
“At the end of the season it’s very difficult to figure out who the players are [in this race],” said the self-assured Kerr, who followed up his ’23 world 1500 title with a silver medal in Paris. “Everyone has dealt with different things throughout the year and people are coming here for different reasons. I was coming here to break a course record that was pretty old, so I was just focused on myself.”
Though he surely wanted that Olympic gold, Kerr was pleased with his ’24 campaign, which was bookended with statement wins in NYC after breaking the 2M World Record at the Millrose Games in February. In between he won the World Indoor 3000 title on home soil in Glasgow and came out on top in the epic Bowerman Mile clash at the Prefontaine Classic.
“When you nit-pick and compare it’s going to be difficult for everybody to be satisfied,” he said. “It’s been a good year. We’re definitely heading in the right direction. I was really good on the days that counted, and maybe there were some days in between that I wasn’t quite as focused on race day. We have to work on the middle of the season a little bit more, but nobody’s perfect and I’m never going to be, but I’ll strive towards it every year.”
In Kerr’s wake, Josh Hoey closed well for the runner-up spot in 3:48.9, the fastest ever by an American in this race. “When Kerr took it, basically from the hill, I was like, ‘Oh man, this is going to be tough,’ but I was ready to cover,” said the former high school standout, who finished 4th in the Olympic Trials 800 in June. “We really focused on that last 400m so I was happy with how it played out.”
Kemboi (3:49.3) dipped under 3:50 for 3rd, followed by Vincent Ciattei (3:50.6) and Robert Farken (3:51.9), while Kessler (3:52.1) faded to 9th.
5th AVENUE MILE RESULTS
Men
1. Josh Kerr’ (GB) 3:44.3 (course record—old cr 3:47.52 Sydney Maree [US] ’81); 2. Josh Hoey (adidas) 3:48.9; 3. Amon Kemboi’ (Ken) 3:49.3; 4. Vincent Ciattei (UADS) 3:50.6; 5. Robert Farken’ (Ger) 3:51.9; 6. Casey Comber (UAMRB) 3:52.0; 7. Romain Mornet’ (Fra) 3:52.0; 8. Cathal Doyle’ (Ire) 3:52.1; 9. Hobbs Kessler (adidas) 3:52.1; 10. Thomas Keen’ (GB) 3:53.7; 11. Kasey Knevelbaard (UADS) 3:54.1; 12. Waleed Suliman (BrkB) 3:55.1; 13. Festus Lagat’ (Ken) 3:55.5; 14. Edwin Kurgat’ (Ken) 3:56.0; 15. Sam Gilman (NBal) 3:56.4; 16. Neil Gourley’ (GB) 3:57.0; 17. Eric Holt (Puma) 3:58.6; 18. Bryce Hoppel (adidas) 4:00.7.
Women
1. Karissa Schweizer (NikeBTC) 4:14.8; 2. Dorcas Ewoi’ (Ken) 4:17.3; 3. Susan Ejore’ (Ken) 4:18.3; 4. Melissa Courtney-Bryant’ (GB) 4:19.9; 5. Gracie Morris (Puma) 4:20.4; 6. Sarah Healy’ (Ire) 4:20.7; 7. Emily Mackay (NBal) 4:22.1; 8. Esther Guerrero’ (Spa) 4:22.1; 9. Whittni Morgan (adidas) 4:22.4; 10. Josette Andrews (OnAC) 4:25.4; 11. Laura Galvan’ (Mex) 4:26.4; 12. Heather MacLean (NBal) 4:26.6; 13. Kate Mitchell (NBal) 4:27.5; 14. Kayley DeLay (BrkB) 4:27.6; 15. Anna Camp-Bennett (adidas) 4:29.2; 16. Lea Meyer’ (Ger) 4:30.0; 17. Courtney Wayment (On) 4:30.4; 18. Ellie Leather’ (GB) 4:35.8; 19. Emma Coburn (NBal) 4:37.2; 20. Marisa Howard (IdAfoot) 4:38.8. ◻︎