In its inaugural year, 1981, Fifth Avenue boasted a field worthy of an Olympic final: Mike Boit, Tom Byers, Eamonn Coghlan, Steve Cram, Ray Flynn, Sydney Maree, Steve Scott, John Walker, Thomas Wessinghage . . . no matter the outcome, this would be a race to remember. Then Maree decimated his competition, breaking the tape in 3:47.52—a fraction of a second slower than Seb Coe’s track world record.
While Maree’s time between 80th and 60th streets hasn’t been matched, dozens of Olympians, record-holders, and national champs have chased it down the avenue.
The professional division hadn’t been held since 1999, however, and in its absence much of the event's buzz had vanished. The chase for Maree’s record was reborn in 2005, though, with a a field too young to have taken part in the last elite race on Fifth Avenue. Their only link to the event’s golden era was the presence of Isaac Viciosa, who nearly erased Maree from the record books when he ran 3:47.8 a decade ago. But the Spaniard, now well past his prime, ultimately finished almost 20 seconds back.
Though the men were the day’s marquee event—and were scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN News—the women established the tone. Former Providence standout Kim Smith set an aggressive pace in the first half, which runs slightly uphill from 400 to 800. The field then gained momentum on the gradual downhill in the third quarter and swallowed Smith, with Canadian Olympian Carmen Douma-Hussar emerging in front.
Douma-Hussar received pre-race advice from her coach—and Fifth Avenue Mile veteran—Marcus O’Sullivan, who told her, “When you get to the top of the hill and see the finish line, realize that you’re not there yet—don’t start kicking yet.”
Ray Flynn, who raced Maree in 1981, now represents Alan Webb, and he offered similar advice. “It’s a tough race because it’s very fast and you have to be ready for a fast pace the whole way,” Webb said his agent told him. “You can see the finish line from a long ways away, and so you have to really pace yourself the last 600 meters.”
Despite that advice, Webb played the Kim Smith role once the race began, tucking in behind the rabbit and flying through splits of 54 and 1:54, ultimately building a lead of nearly four seconds by 1K.
“I was thinking that I could sort of surprise those guys and get a big enough lead where they wouldn’t catch me,” Webb admitted moments after the race. Sitting next to Webb at the post-race press conference, Mottram sounded anything but surprised.
“I spoke to my coach yesterday about it, and he said, ‘You’ve got two pace makers—the one that’s dropping out at 800, and you’ve got Alan,” Mottram said. “We knew he’d be leading at 1200.”Indeed, Webb was still in front at three-quarters, but the cushion he’d had at 1,000m was already eroding. Mottram, who consciously conserved some energy in the second quarter, had emerged from a pack that included Olympic bronze medalist Rui Silva and was quickly reeling Webb in. Just beyond the three-quarter mark, Mottram pounced, moving up to Webb’s shoulder in the span of a few long strides. Then, with 150 to go, he pulled ahead, finishing in 3:49.9.
Watching from near the finish line, spectators could only see the tight shoulder-to-shoulder battle, when in reality the race had two distinct halves. The first belonging to Webb, the second to Mottram. “About 700 [meters] in, I thought I was in quite a bit of trouble because it was a lot faster than I’m used to running,” Mottram told ESPN immediately after the race. “But once we got to about 600 to go, I knew I’d get him.”
Following their broadcast, ESPN News shared a viewer’s email. Though the man probably turned his TV on in hopes of getting some baseball highlights, he was nonetheless impressed: “I am not into running. But street races are pretty interesting, especially when they are chugging down 5th Avenue. That’s kind of cool.”After a six-year hiatus, the buzz was back.
Results:
Men:
Professional
1 Craig Mottram (AUS) 3:49:9
2 Alan Webb (VA) 3:51.4
3 Elkanah Angwenyi (KEN) 3:54.3
4 Anthony Famiglietti (NY) 3:57.1
5 Rui Silva (POR) 3:57.4
to 54Madge McKeithen, 6:32
1 John Honerkamp (NY) 4:09.9
2 Elmustafa McHkirate (MAR) 4:14.7
3 Abraham Assefa (ETH) 4:15.9
Open
1 Lamont Marshall (BER) 4:18
2 Reed Mauser (NY) 4:21
3 Nazarre Merchant (NJ) 4:26
40 to 44—Conor O’Driscoll, 4:28;
45 to 49—Jerry Macari, 4:45;
50 to 54—Stephen Chantry, 4:46;
55 to 59—Alston Brown, 4:46;
60 to 64—Milt Schumacher, 5:19;
65 to 69—Sydney Howard, 5:39;
70 to 74—Witold Bialokur, 6:00; 7
5 to 79—William Fortune, 7:11;
80 to 84—John Bates, 7:11;
85 to 89—Bill Benson, 10:08;
90+—David Gerli, 18:53
Women:
Professional
1 Carmen Douma-Hussar (CAN) 4:28.0
2 Amy Rudolph (RI) 4:28.5
3 Treniere Clement (TN) 4:28.7
4 Carrie Tollefson (MN) 4:29.2
5 Amy Mortimer (MA) 4:30.3
to 54Madge McKeithen, 6:32
1 Kate Irvin (NY) 4:50.1
2 Claudia Camargo (CT) 4:57.2
3 Lesley Higgins (NY) 5:00.4
Open
1 Lauren Hoffman (NY) 5:14
2 Charlotte Rizzo (NY) 5:15
3 Andrea Costella (NY) 5:19
40 to 44—Charlotte Rizzo, 5:15;
45 to 49—Mary Evans, 5:23;
50 to 54—Madge McKeithen, 6:32;
55 to 59—Mary Rosado, 6:30;
60 to 64—Ann Makoske, 6:33;
65 to 69—Edith Jones, 7:43;
70 to 74—Ginette Bedard, 7:11;
75+—Bertha McGruder, 9:04
