The road was on fire at the Carlsbad 5000 in Carlsbad, Calif., Sun., March 30, as a stellar field of runners did battle in the elite invitational division of this famous race, now in its 29^th year.

Fast? You bet it was  – as Dejen Gebremeskel, 24, of Ethiopia, who has run 12:46 for the 5000 on the track, won his fourth consecutive Carlsbad 5K in a blistering 13:13!

Gebremeskel, who raised four fingers in the air as he hit the finish line, put in two hard, sustained surges in the last kilometer of the race to leave the great Bernard Lagat in his wake. It was payback time as Lagat had finished ahead of him in the 3000 meters at the World Indoor Track Championships earlier this year in Sopot, Poland, where they placed second and third.

Lagat, who’s originally from Kenya but has been a U.S. citizen since 2004, clocked 13:19 in Carlsbad, setting a new U.S. 5K road record.

Augustine Choge, 27, of Kenya, who had been ninth in the 3000 at the World Indoor Championships, finished third in Carlsbad with a time of 13:22.

Edwin Kipyego, 24, of Kenya was fourth in 13:26, Diego Estrada, 24, of Salinas, Calif., fifth in 13:31, and Haron Lagat, 30, of Kenya (no relation to Bernard) sixth in 13:39.

Fast road times seem to be the norm in the Carlsbad 5000. After all, both the men’s and women’s 5K world records were set in Carlsbad – Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer ran 13:00 in both 2000 and 2001, Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar set the women’s best of 14:46 in 2006.

Following his victory on Sunday, Gebremeskel said, “To win here for the fourth time is very special. After the first mile, there was wind and I could not push. Bernard is a 1500-meter runner, that is his specialty and he has a good kick. I knew I could not sprint with him, so I had to go (well before the finish line).”

The lead runners in the race at Carlsbad (Gebremeskel, Bernard Lagat, Choge, Kipyego, Haron Lagat, Estrada and Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele) ran the first mile in 4:14. After the lead group made a sharp hairpin turn north on Pacific Coast Highway, Choge forced the pace up a gradual incline but to no avail as everyone in the lead pack stayed with him.

By two miles (8:34), the lead group had been reduced to four, with Gebremeskel, Bernard Lagat, Choge and Kipyego running four wide as the large crowd lining both sides of the road cheered wildly.

Only 600 meters later, it suddenly became a two-man race as Gebremeskel initiated an attack that only Lagat could answer – at least initially – with the Ethiopian ultimately prevailing by six seconds.

Lagat, running this course for the first time (in fact, this was his first road 5K ever!) said afterwards of Gebremeskel’s experience on this course, “It was a big advantage (for him).”

He elaborated, "I knew from history that this course would be a challenge. It’s not that easy even though it looks flat. I went in with the mindset to have fun, stay relaxed as much as possible. Dejen was right there pushing the first mile, and at halfway I couldn’t even see him, but he was right behind us. He was basically taking a breather at the back, he was waiting. And when he took the turn, he just unleashed it, so experience matters a lot on this course."

For Lagat, the disappointment of not pulling out the win in Carlsbad was mitigated by the fact he got his first U.S. road best. He is now the first American to simultaneously hold the U.S. 5000-meter record on the track and the 5K record on the road. The previous U.S. 5K road record had been 13:24, set by Marc Davis way back in 1996.

"I won’t really cry too much about it,” said a laughing Lagat about losing to Gebremeskel. “Dejen is a great runner; 21 days ago I beat him in the 3,000 meters in Sopot and I knew he wasn’t going to rest until he beat me in this race. He’s a strong runner. And, well, I got the record, that’s another consolation. If I had won today it’d be great. If I won and got the record, that would be a double win for me. But I did not do that, I got second, people celebrated, I was happy with it.

"I’m glad it went the way it did because I’m going to be hungry for even more next year and the year after that. It was a lot of fun, really fun, the people lining up along the street to watch us; that was special. And I wanted to come and give them something to cheer about."

In the women’s elite race, Great Britain’s Julia Bleasdale, 32, made her second trip to Carlsbad a memorable one as she won in 15:06. She had finished sixth in Carlsbad in 2012.

Betsy Saina, 25, of Kenya was second in 15:21, Etalemhu Habtewold, 23, of Ethiopia third in 15:23 – with two Americans, Brenda Martinez, 26, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and Amy Van Alstine, 26, of Flagstaff, Ariz., finishing fourth and fifth in 15:24 and 15:30 respectively.

Martinez, who won the bronze medal in the 800 meters at last year’s IAAF World Track and Field Championships, improved on her personal best in the 5K by 19 seconds!

Van Alstine, of course, won the U.S. Cross-Country Championships in Boulder, Colo., back in February over Jenny Simpson, 1500-meter gold medalist at last year’s IAAF World Track and Field Championships.

The women’s race at Carlsbad started out fairly fast (4:44 first mile, 9:36 at two miles), but over the last mile Julia Bleasdale was much better than anyone else as she pulled away to win by 15 seconds.

"I haven’t raced in four months so it was good to get back on the racing scene," said Bleasdale, who had finished eighth in both the 5,000 and 10,000 at the 2012 London Olympics.

"I just wanted it to be a good, honest, hard race. One mile in I was surprised it was that fast, it felt pretty easy. After two miles, I wanted to give it a bit of a go and see what I could do because I knew that there were some big kickers in the field and knew that I would be out-kicked if they were still with me."

Thus another Carlsbad 5000K is in the books – and this year’s edition obviously did nothing to diminish the event’s reputation as the race where fast times abound.

Let the good times roll – in more ways than one! Carlsbad, Calif., is an affluent seaside resort community on the Pacific Ocean about 35 miles north of downtown San Diego.

Comments

The Carlsbad 5000 is in a league by itself for 5ks. I have run this race for 21 straight years. When I hit 25 I will be 70. Hope to be able to run under 24.
Bob Anderson 3/31/14 5:28 pm