Simpson and Willis take Fifth Avenue Mile, presented by Nissan, from Alfons Juck, note by Larry Eder

The true end of summer and beginning of fall is the Fifth Avenue Mile, presented by Nissan. Jenny Simpson ran a blazing 4.19.3 and Nick Willis won a swift mile in 3:52.9 for this celebration of all things fast and all things mile, as six thousand plus New Yorkers ran miles in various divisions, and enjoyed sixteen men under four minutes and fifteen women under 4:30 for the mile distance!

This venerable event continues to grow, and encourages other cities to run a mile event, giving young and old a chance to run the distance and also watch some very fast people run the distance as well! Fall is here!

Jenny Simpson after her win on Fifth Avenue! photo by PhotoRun.net

NIck Willis grinning over his Fifth Avenue win,

photo by PhotoRun.net

SIMPSON AND WILLIS

NEW YORK (USA, Sep 22): US 2011 World champion Jenny Simpson and New ZealandÂ´s 2008 Olympic medalist Nick Willis were all smiles crossing the finish of the NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile presented by Nissan, winning handily under perfectly blue skies. Running away from the field at halfway, Simpson cruised to her victory in a very fast4:19.3, while Willis waited until the final 600 meters to separate from the field. His winning time was 3:52.1. Second in women race went to Morgan Uceny in 4:23.4, her second straight week with a podium finish at a road mile. Rounding out the top five were Dutchwoman Susan Kuijken (third, 4:24.2), Kenyan Violah Lagat (fourth, 4:25.1), and Italian Margherita Magnani (fifth, 4:26.5). American Olympian Shannon Rowbury placed tenth in 4:28.3. Legendary Bernard Lagat managed to overtake Garrett Heath for second, 3:52.9 to 3:53.0, with Ryan Hill sneaking in for fourth in the exact same time as Heath. A tenth of a second later came Will Leer in fifth in men race. Informs Race Results Weekly.

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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