2024 USATF 5K: Ahmed Muhumed & Annie Rodenfels Win, Hillary Bor Is Moving to the Marathon & a Drew Bosley Update

By Jonathan Gault and Noah Jampol
November 2, 2024

NEW YORK – Annie Rodenfels went back-to-back while Ahmed Muhumed claimed his second US title of the year at the 2024 USATF 5K Road Championships on Saturday morning in Central Park. Rodenfels, who runs for the B.A.A. High Performance Team, broke away from Emily Venters and Emma Grace Hurley in the final mile to win in 15:20. Muhumed, who won the US 8k road title in July and was the runner-up here last year, dropped the field with a hard move at 2 miles and held off a late charge from Sam Prakel to win in 13:38 to Prakel’s 13:39.

LetsRun.com caught up with the two champions plus a few other notable US pros after the race. Quick takes and video interviews below, including an injury update from Northern Arizona star Drew Bosley, Joe Waskom’s thoughts on altitude training in Park City with Grant Fisher, and Hillary Bor’s decision to move to the marathon in 2025.

Top 10 results

Kevin Morris photo

Men

1. Ahmed Muhumed, HOKA NAZ Elite 13:38
2. Sam Prakel, adidas 13:39
3. Brian Barraza, Roots Running Project 13:42
4. Kirubel Erassa, unattached 13:44
5. Hillary Bor, HOKA One One 13:45
6. Anthony Rotich, US Army 13:48
7. Drew Bosley, unattached 13:49
8. Afewerki Zeru, McKirdy Trained 13:52
9. Abbabiya Simbassa, Under Armour 13:57
10. Morgan Beadlescomb, adidas 13:59

Women

1. Annie Rodenfels, B.A.A. 15:20
2. Emily Venters, Nike 15:25
3. Emma Grace Hurley, Asics 15:31
4. Bailey Hertenstein, Nike 15:32
5. Susanna Sullivan, Brooks 15:36
6. Abby Nichols, HOKA NAZ Elite 15:41
7. Paige Wood, HOKA NAZ Elite 15:41
8. Taylor Roe, Puma 15:43
9. Natosha Rogers, Puma 15:45
10. Molly Born, Puma 15:47

Ahmed Muhumed didn’t want this one to come down to a kick and will go for sub-13:00 next month at Boston University

Muhumed, who was 8th in the Olympic Trials 5,000, won the US 8k title on July 20 but had not raced since then. He spent that period logging a lot of miles and his plan to make a hard mid-race move worked perfectly after he was edged out in a kick in last year’s race.

“A kick can be anybody’s race on any given day,” Muhumed said. “I’ve been building way too much strength and I’ve been now three and a half months almost since my last race. I wanted to see if what we’ve been doing different would work.”

Muhumed, who got married in May, is set to leave on a honeymoon to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia on December 10, where he and his wife are also planning on hosting a race. But just before then, he is hoping to head to BU on December 7, where he is targeting the Worlds standard of 13:01.

“We’d love to break 13:00,” Muhumed said. “I think we’re capable of doing that.”

Hillary Bor has run his last steeple and is planning a marathon debut in the spring of 2025

Bor was 5th today in 13:45, not a bad showing considering he ran a 61:20 half marathon pb in Valencia just six days ago. Bor went into that race targeting Ryan Hall’s longstanding American record of 59:43, and though he was on pace through halfway and still on 60:00 pace through 15k, he wound up fading and could only manage 15:12 from 15k to 20k.

“Everything that was supposed to go wrong went wrong for me,” Bor said. “I didn’t sleep the day before, I woke up feeling flat. Even with that, I still hung on. We went through the 10-mile in 45:30-something, I knew we were close to 60:00 [pace]. And at 9 miles, 10 miles, that’s when it started raining and there was a headwind.”

Bor also shared some big career news: he has run his final steeplechase and will be focused on the roads from here on out, with a plan to make his marathon debut in the spring of 2025. Bor enjoyed a long and decorated career in the steeple, winning three US titles and making two Olympic teams, with a best finish of 7th in Rio in 2016. He is also one of just two US men to win a Diamond League steeple, winning in Gateshead in 2021.

The steeple is a physically demanding event, placing a lot of stress on the feet while landing, and Bor was proud to have had such a long run – his career began in earnest with a 4th-place finish at NCAAs for Iowa State way back in 2008. Unfortunately for Bor, he was never quite the same after breaking his foot last year. Though he did manage to run 8:13 this year, he only finished 13th at the Olympic Trials, which will go down as his final race.

“When I broke my foot two years ago, it was not comfortable anymore,” Bor said. “…I changed everything. I changed the way I jump, I changed the way I land. It’s just like learning a new event.”

Bor leaves the event with a personal best of 8:08.41, which he ran in Doha in 2019, and said his one regret was that he was not able to run a little faster. In Rabat last year, Bor ran 8:11 despite falling on the final water jump – he broke his foot in the fall – and felt that was his opportunity to run 8:05, a time only one American (Evan Jager) has managed.

“That’s just the bitter ending moving away from steeplechase and thinking, yeah, I should have run 8:05,” Bor said. “But it is what it is. I had fun the last eight years in steeplechase. It’s so rare to steeplechase that long.”

Bor acknowledged that not many steeplers have transitioned well to the marathon, but he may have the skillset to buck the trend. Bor often runs workouts with the marathoners in the American Distance Project and he has had a lot of success at longer distances on the roads, with an American record at 10 miles this year (45:56) and US titles in the 15K (2023) and 20K (2024).

“I think I still have time,” Bor said. “I’m just 35 in two weeks. So we’ll see.”

Annie Rodenfels repeats as USATF 5K champ, admits to having the yips in the steeple

Annie Rodenfels ran pretty aggressively and quickly to win in 15:20 on a challenging course and generate a clear margin of five seconds. She was happy to leave it all on the course and get rewarded for her strong move from around a kilometer out.

This isn’t the first time Rodenfels has made some noise in the early or late parts of the season. She’s a fixture in some of the fast races at BU, and is the repeat champion of today’s race. Between those performances, her steeple races also drew notice for Rodenfels’ unconventional approach to the barriers.

Rodenfels reminded us that she started out as a steepler and her recent foray in the event that included a personal best of 9:22.66 and an 8th place finish at the Olympic Trials was actually a return.

She admitted she has a “love-hate” relationship with it, and was unsparing with her assessment of herself in it.

“I’m a horrible hurdler,” Rodenfels said. “I need someone to work with me on it, and I haven’t quite had that yet. Like a coach who really knows about the hurdles and can help me get over that. But it’s also a big mental barrier with me because I’ve just been told about how bad I am at the hurdles that it’s in my head.”

Going forward, she’s undetermined if she’ll give the event another shot in 2025. She is planning to compete indoors, and indicated long-term she’ll be looking at the half marathon and marathon.

Joe Waskom has been training at altitude in Park City with Grant Fisher and Matthew Centrowitz, wants to run World Indoors

Waskom turned pro with adidas after winning his second NCAA 1500 title in June and he raced today for the first time since wrapping up his summer racing season in July. He wasn’t too happy with his result today (13th in 14:03) but said he has been logging the highest mileage of his life recently (90-95 mpw) during an altitude stint in Park City, where he has run with Grant Fisher and Matthew Centrowitz.

“It seems like you need to be really, really strong these days to get through 1200m and to finish well,” Waskom said. “…It’s fun to learn the ropes from a two-time Olympic medalist.”

Waskom also said he is targeting the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing this winter.

“It’s going to be difficult, but I think if I make the team, that’s a great indoor season,” Waskom said. “[Then] go to China and try to medal.”

Drew Bosley’s road back to competing was “hell” and “terrible” but he’s in a great place right now

In Drew Bosley’s own words, he wasn’t going to “sugarcoat” how hard it’s been for him to deal with a series of injury problems that have plagued him since his last race in March.

“It’s been hell,” said Bosley, who is out of cross country eligibility at Northern Arizona University but still has indoors. “It’s been terrible and it’s been really frustrating.”

But with the help of his “amazing” support system, he’s back to competing and said he is “in a great place right now.”

“My coaches, teammates and family, everyone around me was by my side every step of the way,” he said.

Bosley even noted, with a smile, that it was good to see the “true colors” of those who weren’t there for him. He says that after his last racing appearance, a leg on NAU’s DMR at NCAA indoors, he didn’t run again until just 10 weeks ago.

While he admitted the competitor in him wanted to be able to contend with the pace change by Muhumed and fight for the win today, he was really excited to feel like himself again and finish strongly. 

“I’m pleased with how I competed at the end with the race I found myself in,” Bosley said.

He credited all of the repeated exercises he’s been doing and treating himself with “love and care” to his ability to stay healthy, and he is now looking for more.

“I’ve got a very, very big fire right now under me, and I’m ready to continue,” he said.

He indicated he will be representing NAU again this indoor season with the always-fast December BU 5,000m as a tentative target. He said it will be “awesome” to be back in the Lumberjacks’ team colors.

Unsurprisingly, he was bullish on his teammates’ chances to make some noise at NCAA XC in a few weeks, despite underdog status behind BYU and Oklahoma State. He cited the team’s experience and competitive know-how on the course.

Sam Prakel happy with runner-up finish, keeping options open on event focus

Prakel was closing hard on race winner Ahmed Muhumed and admitted “deep down, I thought he was gone” when Muhumed made his decisive mid-race breakaway.

He simply ran out of road after a charge from 800m out, but he was unsure if there’s anything he could’ve done to take the W.

“I don’t know if I could have gone with it…I was pretty toast by the end, so I think I timed it right,” Prakel said.

Overall Prakel was pleased with his runner-up performance, and said he’s been running up to 90 miles a week on just six days of running. He’s unclear yet on his primary focus for 2025, as he ran both the 1500 and 5,000 at the Olympic Trials this year and wants to prepare like a 5,000m guy regardless.

Indoors, he’ll be looking to double in the 1500 and 3000 with hope of making the World Indoors team in either event. Prakel said that the USA 1500m scene right now is crazy.

“To make the US team you need to be a medal favorite, sub-3:30, and it’s definitely pushing everyone to work harder to get to that level,” Prakel noted.

The high-mileage approach is intentional for Prakel, as he thinks it will pay dividends in the 1500 and allow him to gain the necessary strength to compete with the big three of Hocker, Nuguse, and Kessler. Kessler has said similar things about his training approach to close on the top two, even with his sub-1:44 800m speed.

Prakel was also enjoying the pro additions to his training group the University of Washington (including Joe Waskom), as now with four athletes they can work out independently of the college guys.

Morgan Beadlescomb post-race