Dejen Gebremskel And Julia Bleasdale Win 2014 Carlsbad 5,000 – Bernard Lagat Sets New American Record Of 13:19

by LetsRun.com
March 30, 2014

Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel turned the tables on Bernard Lagat and got a some revenge today from losing to Lagat at World Indoors as he won a record fourth Carlsbad 5,000 today in 13:13. Lagat wasn’t too disappointed, however, as he ended up with what the American road 5,000 record of 13:19, eclipsing Marc Davis‘ record of 13:24, which had stood since 1996.

The women’s race race was won by Britain’s Julia Bleasdale in 15:06 as Kenya’s Betsy Saina was second in 15:22.

Men’s Race

After an opening mile of 4:14 and two miles of 8:34, the men’s race turned into a three person affair as expected. The 3 finalists from the 3,000 at World Indoors earlier this month, Gebremeskel (3rd at Worlds), Lagat (2nd at Worlds) and Augustine Choge (9th).

Bleasdale all Alone (click for photo gallery)

Gebremeskel got the win by pulling away from Lagat in the final 1k. After the race, Gebremeskel said he would have tried to go earlier but he decided to wait after feeling wind in his face.

Women’s Race

The women’s race started off pretty fast (4:44 first mile and 9:36 two mile) but the last mile belonged all to Britain’s Julia Bleasdale who was much better than Betsy Saina and everyone else in the field.

The first American was Brenda Martinez, who crushed the 15:44 time she ran last year by running 15:25 for third.

Results, quick takes and screenshots from the telecast appear below.

Women’s Results	first_name	last_name	age	city	state	country	chip_time
1	Julia	Bleasdale	32	Great Britain		Great Britain	15:06
2	Betsy	Saina	25	Flagstaff	AZ	Kenya	15:22
3	Etalemhu	Habtewold	23	Ethiopia		Ethiopia	15:23
4	Brenda	Martinez	26	Rancho Cucamonga	CA	USA	15:25
5	Amy	Van Alstine	26	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	15:30
6	Gotytom	Gebreslase	19	Ethiopia		Ethiopia	15:38
7	Jordan	Hasay	22	Portland	OR	USA	15:41
8	Jen	Rhines	39	Lexington	MA	USA	16:03
9	Gabe	Grunewald	27	Usa		USA	16:08
10	Natasha	La Beaud	26	Canada	CA	Canada	16:15
11	Lindsey	Scherf	27	Chapel Hill	NC	USA	16:31
12	Alessandra	Viola Giulia	22	Italy		Italy	16:37
13	Katja	Goldring	23	Los Angeles	CA	USA	16:52

Men’s Results	first_name	last_name	age	city	state	country	chip_time
1	Dejen	Gebremeskel	24	Ethiopia		Ethiopia	13:13
2	Bernard	Lagat	39	Usa	AZ	USA	13:19
3	Augustine	Choge	27	Kenya		Kenya	13:22
4	Edwin	Kipyego	24	Kenya		Kenya	13:26
5	Diego	Estrada	24	Salinas	CA	USA	13:31
6	Haron	Lagat	30	Kenya		Kenya	13:39
7	Tariku	Bekele	27	Ethiopia		Ethiopia	13:45
8	Mohamed	Fadil	32	Morocco		Morocco	13:48
9	Stephen	Pifer	29	Jacksonville	FL	USA	13:56
10	Bobby	Curtis	29	Rochester	MI	USA	13:59
11	Ben	Bruce	31	Flagstaff	AZ	USA	14:06
12	De Sean	Turner	25	Indianapolis	IN	USA	14:10
13	Frezer	Legesse	23	Oklahoma City	OK	USA	14:20
14	A J	Acosta	25	Oceanside	CA	USA	14:57

Quick Take #1: Since Lagat beat Gebremeskel at Worlds, we’re sure some fans were surprised by the result today. Not us. Worlds was a 3000. This was a 5000. The 3000 is the ideal distance for Lagat and the tactical nature of World’s turned it into more of a 1500 which is where Lagat is the second fastest man in history. Gebremeskel is 24 years young and has run 12:46 for 5000. He should beat the 39-year old Lagat in a 5000.

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Gebremeskel summed things up perfectly about Lagat after the race to competitor.com when he said, “After the first mile, there was wind and I could not push. Bernard is a 1500m runner, that is his specialty and he has a good kick. I knew I could not sprint with him, so I had to go.”

Quick Take #2: Marc Davis, who now works as a PR staffer for the BAA, was on hand in his native San Diego to see his American record go down. Given the fact that Lagat has a 12:53 track pb, Davis knew that his record almost certainly was going to fall to Lagat who was making his road 5k debut today. On the telecast today before the race started, Davis had a great quip when he said something along the lines of, “I was telling people last night I felt the same as I did before my wedding night. I’m going – no disrespect to my beautiful wife – to wake up and feel like a little bit less of a man.”

It’s worth noting that when Davis set his road American record at this race in 1996, he also didn’t win the race.

Quick Take #3: Come on admit it. We know that many of you were surpised to see a ‘white girl’ win the women’s race. It hadn’t happened since 2002 when Deena Drossin (now Kastor) ran 14:54.

But you shouldn’t have been surprised by Bleasdale’s win. Bleasdale was 8th in the 2012 Olympics in both the 5000 and 10,000. Her pbs of 15:02 and 30:55 were the best of anyone in the field. Saina has run 15:12 and 31:15.

Quick Take #4: Similarly, we know many were surprised that Martinez, who won a bronze medal at 800 meters last summer, was the top American at 5000. But she too had the best pr of a any Americans in the field under the age of 39 (39-year old Jen Rhines was 8th today). Martinez ran 15:30 last summer. Jordan Hasay has a pb of 15:37 and Gabriele Grunewald has a pb of 15:45.

Nonetheless, it was a great showing for Martinez. She’s clearly poised for a big year.

“This was a good opener. Today I was just going to go test my strength,” said Martinez. “My plan was to hang with the lreaders as long as I could.”

“I’m training so hard. I want to keep a tradition going (at Carlsbad) and try to lower my time every year.”

Quick Take #5: Hasay and Grunewald poised for a picture today to show their is no ill-will personally between them after the whole USA Indoor DQ episode.

Jordan Hasay and Gabriele Grunewald (click for photo gallery)

Hasay’s 15:41 today wasn’t that far off her 5000 pb of 15:37 and seeing Grunewald run 16:08 reminded us Hasay should have never let USA indoors come down to a kick.

Quick Take #6: Photo Gallery Here.

More: MB: Official 2014 Carlsbad Live Discussion Thread: Bleasdale & Gebremeskel Win – Lagat Gets American Record
*MB: Oh crap! Grunewald vs Hasay rematch at the Carlsbad 5k, who’s gonna win?
*Competitor.com recap