Shalane Flanagan Runs World Leading 31:04 10K at Stanford

FLANAGAN’S 31:04.85 LEADS EXCELLENT DISTANCE MARKS AT STANFORD
By David Monti

“140 characters isn’t
enough to express how grateful I am to all of the people/sponsors who
have helped keep the dream alive!” Williams wrote on her Twitter
account. “Love you all!”

Behind her, Kenyans Betsy Saina (Iowa
State) and Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton (Wichita State) finished second,
and fourth in 15:12.05 and 15:18.86, respectively, essentially
guaranteeing them spots in the NCAA Championships in June. Finishing
between them was the up-and-coming Chelsea Reilly, the reigning USA
10-K and 3000m indoor champion. Reilly, 23, who runs for the Bay Area
Track Club but does not have a commercial sponsor, clocked a career
best 15:13.24. Olympian Lisa Uhl finished fifth in 15:29.64.

In
the top section of the men’s 5000m, Jamaica’s Kemoy Campbell ran a
national record 13:32.82 in the vest of the University of Arkansas.
Andrew Poore (13:33.03) and Andy Bayer (13:34.82) finished second and
third. None of them came close to the World Championships “A” qualifier
of 13:15.00.

“It’s pretty exciting to have the national record,” Campbell told Flotrack in his post-race interview.

Flanagan’s
run was remarkable. Running nearly all of the race alone, the 31
year-old from Portland, Ore., finished well clear of training partner
Kara Goucher, who finished second in 31:46.64, just outside of the IAAF
World Championships “A” standard of 31:45.00. Both she and Goucher are
in their final stages of preparation for the Boston Marathon, a race
which is particularly important to Flanagan who grew up in a Boston
suburb.

“Kara and I didn’t really know what to expect tonight,”
Flanagan told Flotrack. “We’re in marathon training, we’re at altitude,
we haven’t done any 10K-specific work. So, I’ll take 31:04, or whatever
it was. That’s solid.”

Behind the two marathoners, the
University of Oregon’s Jordan Hasay made her 10,000m debut, clocking
32:46.68, an early NCAA-leading time.

“Coach told me I just needed to focus for length of one “Friends” episode,” Hasay joked through her Twitter account.

In
other events, John Gilbertson won the top section of the men’s 10,000m
in 28:30.35 over the University of Oregon’s Parker Stinson (28:34.71).
Oklahoma’s Riley Masters won the men’s 1500m in 3:40.77; Utah’s Amanda
Mergaert won the women’s section in 4:17.22. The steeplechase wins went
to Louisville’s Mattias Wolter in 8:43.73 and Oregon’s Alexi Pappas in
a world-leading and career best of 9:46.73.

Athletes will
return to Stanford en masse on Sunday, April 28, for the Payton Jordan
Cardinal Invitational, one of the world’s most important
time-qualifying meets for distance runners. Last year’s meet lasted
nine hours and produced six world-leading times.