Sara Hall and Chris Thompson Win Inaugural NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5k

By LetsRun.com
November 5, 2011

Brit Chris Thompson and American Sara Hall won the inaugural NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5k which was held one day before the New York City Marathon and had the same fabled finish as the marathon.

On the men's side, while the Oregon Track Club member Thompson outkicked Aaron Braun and Dathan Ritzenhein for the win, the big news was that Dathan Ritzenhein ran his first race since last year's New York City Marathon his double foot surgery in March. Ritz came through injury free but most importantly showed his fitness to be at a high level in advance of the Olympic Marathon Trials in ten weeks. With his showing today, Ritz put aside any questions about his fitness and showed he will be a factor in Houston if he can stay healthy the next ten weeks. Ritz had some interesting comments on his marathon training and his desire to run fast on the track that warrant its own story here. For a more detailed, blow by blow of the race click here.

On the women's side, recent Pan Am Games steeplechase gold medallist Sara Hall continued her excellent fall campaign and got the win over Julie Culley and Sally Kipyego. Culley was the winner of the USATF 5k Road Championships in September and Kipyego arguably was the second best female distance runner on the track in the world this year so it was a nice win for Sara. Afterwards Sara said (interview embedded below), "Maybe I was a little sharper (than some of the others, but)... this was an incredible field and this was fund to just run hard and compete." She is looking forward to next year,  and leaving open her options. She said, "It's exciting to finish the season well and to go into next year on a good note. I can't wait for next year....I love the steeple. It feels like I'm owning it, but I also love the 1500 and the 5."

Although a competitive race, in some ways the race is more of a recruiting tool for the NYRR than anything else (athletes got appearance fees but there was no prize money, and it reminded us road races in the early 1980s with a lot of Westerners battling for the crown, as all the athletes were US based). And from listening to the athletes it appeared to be an excellent recruiting tool. Braun and Thompson were almost giddy about running the NYC Marathon finish.  Ryan Hall may be the marathoner in Hall family right now, but Sara Hall said that might change in the future: "I've been watching this race the last six years and seeing this finish line and how exciting it is. I want to run the marathon one day and finish here one day."

Results and video interviews below. *Race Results Weekly Recap of race here

Sara Hall After Winning	Dathan Ritzenhein (Full Story on him here)

Top Men's Results, more here *Race Results Weekly Recap of race here

								Time	Pace
1	Thompson	Chris	M30	OCT	Eugene	OR	USA	0:13:53	04:29
2	Braun	Aaron	M24	TAZ	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	0:13:53	04:29
3	Ritzenhein	Dathan	M28	OCT	Portland	OR	USA	0:13:56	04:30
4	Bethke	Brandon	M24		Ann Arbor	MI	USA	0:13:59	04:31
5	Bumbalough	Andrew	M24	OCT	Portland	OR	USA	0:14:00	04:31
6	True	Ben	M25	SAUC	Hanover	NH	USA	0:14:02	04:32
7	Tegenkamp	Matt	M29	OCT	Portland	OR	USA	0:14:02	04:32
8	Lomong	Lopez	M26	OCT	Beaverton	OR	USA	0:14:04	04:33
9	Olinger	Brian	M28	REEB	Columbus	OH	USA	0:14:06	04:33
10	Jager	Evan	M22	OCT	Portland	OR	USA	0:14:12	04:35
11	Hesch	Christian	M32	NRLA	Morro Bay	CA	USA	0:14:18	04:37
12	Gotcher	Brett	M27	TAZ	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	0:14:21	04:38
13	Okuti	Harbert	M26	WTC	High Falls	NY	USA	0:14:23	04:39
14	Bruce	Ben	M29	OCT	Eugene	OR	USA	0:14:47	04:47
15	Bauhs	Scott	M25	ADID	Mammoth Lakes	CA	USA	0:14:48	04:47
16	Leduc	Matt	M30		AJAX		USA	0:15:41	05:04
17	O'Connor	Kieran	M24	0	NEW YORK	NY	USA	0:15:44	05:05
18	Hartnett	Bobby	M23	NYAC	New York	NY	USA	0:15:54	05:08
19	McCambley	Lucas	M22	CCMS	WESTPORT	CT	USA	0:16:05	05:12
20	Ginty	Pat	M17		SMITHTOWN	NY	USA	0:16:13	05:14
21	Maline	Matt	M35		BROOKLYN	NY	USA	0:16:27	05:19
22	Stensjoe	Gustaf	M15	0	SAVEDALEN		USA	0:16:34	05:21
23	Trautmann	John	M43	0	NEW YORK	NY	USA	0:16:43	05:24
24	Byrne	Rich	M47		HACKENSACK	NJ	USA	0:16:49	05:26
25	Caroleo	Mark	M26	0	ASTORIA	NY	USA	0:16:53	05:27

Top Women's Results

								Time	Pace
1	Hall	Sara	F28	ASIC	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	0:15:56	05:09
2	Culley	Julie	F30	NYAC	Lebanon	NJ	USA	0:16:00	05:10
3	Kipyego	Sally	F25	OCT	Eugene	OR	USA	0:16:03	05:11
4	Lewy Boulet	Magdalena	F38	SAUC	Oakland	CA	USA	0:16:05	05:12
5	Armstrong Peyton	Meghan	F25	TMN	Richfield	MN	USA	0:16:06	05:12
6	Hastings	Amy	F27	BRKS	Mammoth Lakes	CA	USA	0:16:07	05:12
7	Rothstein	Stephanie	F27	TAZ	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	0:16:09	05:13
8	Uhl	Lisa	F24	OCT	Portland	OR	USA	0:16:13	05:14
9	Petrina	Leonora	F29	SAUC	NORTHPORT	NY	USA	0:16:14	05:15
10	Maloy	Liz	F26	NEWB	Washington	DC	USA	0:16:15	05:15
11	Brown	Megan	F26	0	TORONTO		USA	0:16:17	05:16
12	Koons	Frances	F25	NEWB	Allentown	PA	USA	0:16:23	05:18
13	Kastor	Deena	F38	ASIC	Mammoth Lakes	CA	USA	0:16:24	05:18
14	Higginson	Ashley	F22	0	Princeton	NJ	USA	0:16:27	05:19
15	Infeld	Maggie	F25	NYAC	Washington	DC	USA	0:16:38	05:22
16	Bizzarri	Angela	F23	BRKS	Mammoth Lakes	CA	USA	0:16:39	05:23
17	Lefrak	Caroline	F27	NYAC	New York	NY	USA	0:16:56	05:28
18	Tomlin	Renee	F22	NIKE	Washington	DC	USA	0:17:03	05:30
19	Wassner	Bec	F36	0	NEW YORK	NY	USA	0:17:21	05:36
20	Anderson	Cheryl	F30	NYAC	Branford	CT	USA	0:17:38	05:41
21	Pietese	Zola	F45	0	NEW YORK	NY	USA	0:18:18	05:54
22	McLarty	Andrea	F34	0	SANTA BARBARA	CA	USA	0:18:19	05:55
23	Pauer	Nada Ina	F24	0	WIEN (VIENNA)		USA	0:18:38	06:01
24	Maguire	Liz	F45		OTTAWA		USA	0:18:55	06:07
25	Vollweiler	Jill	F43	CPTC	PURCHASE	NY	USA	0:19:08	06:11

More on Ritz's Marathon Preparations and Track Ambitions: "The talent's still there. I'm still young... I think I can run what Galen and Mo did this year in the 10k."

Disclosure: The NYRR advertised on LRC this week.

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