National record holders Molly Huddle and Ben True seek to retain B.A.A. 5K titles, while Dawit Seyaum and Chris O’Hare lead B.A.A. Invitational Mile fields.
Ben True, photo by PhotoRun.net
BOSTON - The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced an elite field of world class competitors for the 2016 B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile, to be held on Saturday, April 16, two days prior to the 2016 Boston Marathon®. Rhode Island’s Molly Huddle and New Hampshire’s Ben True will return to Boston aiming to defend their B.A.A. 5K titles, which they earned in national record time last year.
Following the B.A.A. 5K, Ethiopia’s Dawit Seyaum and Great Britain’s Chris O’Hare will lead world-class fields at the eighth annual B.A.A. Invitational Mile. The B.A.A. Invitational Mile will also include Middle School 1,000 meter races and Scholastic Mile races featuring youths from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course.
A $39,900 (USD) prize purse will be distributed to the top finishers of the B.A.A. 5K, while a $14,500 (USD) prize purse will be available in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile.
Huddle and True are veterans on the roads of Boston, having won a total of five B.A.A. 5K races since 2011. Huddle has placed first two years in a row, while True broke the tape out front of the men’s race in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Last year, True won with an American record time of 13:22, while Huddle finished first in a national best 14:50. The pair will be up against a field of accomplished athletes this year, including Olympic and World Championships medalists.
Dejen Gebremeskel, the reigning B.A.A. Invitational Mile champion, will return to the B.A.A. 5K this year, a race which he won in both 2013 and 2014. Gebremeskel is the 2012 Olympic silver medalist for 5000m on the track. Kenyans Stephen Sambu and Philip Langat, as well as American Diego Estrada, also figure to be in the mix for the $7,500 top prize.
Huddle will be joined on the starting line by a pair of B.A.A. 5K champions in Kim Smith (NZL) and Lineth Chepkurui (KEN). Smith, a two-time B.A.A. Distance Medley victor, is a training partner of Huddle’s in Providence, R.I. Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba, Burundi’s Diane Nukuri, and Americans Emily Sisson and Liz Costello will all be racing as well. Representing the B.A.A. High Performance team are Sarah Pagano, Emma Bates, Juliet Bottorff, and Elaina Balouris.
Molly Huddle, photo by PhotoRun.net
A field of 10,000 participants will take part in the B.A.A. 5K, the first event of the 2016 B.A.A. Distance Medley. The race starts and finishes on Charles Street adjacent to Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden, and passes the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street approximately 2.4 miles into the race.
European Championships bronze medalist Chris O’Hare will square off against six other sub-four minute milers in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile. Daniel Winn, a member of the B.A.A. High Performance team, will race on the roads of Boston for the first time, boasting a mile personal best of 3:57.36. B.A.A. Mayor’s Cup Cross Country winner Trevor Dunbar is set to race as well.
On the women’s side, defending champion Dawit Seyaum returns to Boston seeking to retain her title. In 2015, Seyaum set an event record of 4:35.4 to win her first B.A.A. Invitational Mile title. Earlier this year she claimed the silver medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. Road mile ace Heather Kampf, B.A.A. High Performance team member Emily Lipari, and Dartmouth graduate Megan Krumpoch will also race the three-lap course before finishing at the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.
A detailed start list and schedule of events for both the B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile can be found below. The men’s event record for the B.A.A. 5K stands at 13:22, set by Ben True in 2015. The women’s event record is 14:50, run by Molly Huddle a year ago. The men’s and women’s event records for the B.A.A. Invitational Mile are 4:03.3 (Nick Willis, 2013) and 4:35.4 (Dawit Seyaum, 2015).
The B.A.A. Invitational Mile includes six races, held shortly after the 2016 B.A.A. 5K. The first two races feature middle school age students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course - Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston. The girls’ and boys’ Middle School 1,000 meter races include runners between sixth and eighth grade and finish at the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.
Following the Middle School 1,000 meter races is the Scholastic Mile, which features girls’ and boys’ races for high school students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course. The Scholastic Mile follows the same three-lap, USATF-certified course the professional mile athletes run, finishing at the Boston Marathon finish line.
Schedule and Elite Fields List.
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