SAMUEL GETS FIRST WIN AS HOKA PRO AT DASH 5-K
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
NEW YORK (31-Oct) — Former University of New Mexico star Habtom Samuel launched his official pro running career with a bang this morning, winning the 14th edition of the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5-K by a comfortable seven seconds. The 22-year-old Eritrean, who recently joined HOKA Northern Arizona Elite under coach Jack Mullaney, clocked a solid 13:31 over the hilly course from the United Nations to Tavern on the Green in Central Park. He said he had his eyes on winning the first-place prize of $6000 right from the gun.
“That’s what I wanted,” Samuel told Race Results Weekly. “I was trying, you know, from the beginning to just try to push the pace and make it an honest race.”
Amon Kemboi of Puma Elite Running, the men’s defending champion, took the race out hard from the gun. Nobody wanted to be left behind, and the pack remained tightly bunched through the first mile. Running across East 42nd Street, the athletes cast long shadows ahead as the sun stayed low over the East River behind them. Latvian Arturs Medveds, who ran for California Baptist during his NCAA career, was on the front with Kemboi and Kenyan Edwin Kurgat.
Samuel and Kemboi were the first athletes to make the right turn onto the Avenue of the Americas just before hitting the one-mile mark in a not-too-quick 4:28. The pack stayed together in the second mile through the right turn onto Central Park South, then the sharp left into Central Park. The pace was steady (4:27 for the second mile), and Medveds was the first man to enter the park, but only by a step.
Samuel, who had drifted back slightly, was running on the right side of the course. He shot a few glances to his left to size up the field, then surged up Park Road, the toughest uphill on the course. Kemboi responded immediately, and Kurgat also tried to keep up.
“I can say I have some strengths on the hills,” said Samuel, the 2025 NCAA cross country champion. “So I saw the whole group was together, and I made a move. I’m glad I did it.”
At the top of the hill, Samuel made a sharp left onto the park’s loop road, and Kemboi was right on his heels. Running downhill past the Michael Friedsam Memorial Carousel, Samuel began to pull away. The gap would only grow as he ran around the south end of the park before taking on the final uphill to the famous TCS New York City Marathon finish line. Samuel playfully waved his arms, like a bird flying, as he broke the tape.
“Feeling great, feeling amazing,” said Samuel after a reporter pointed out that he had begun his Hoka pro career with a win (he had an NIL deal with Hoka while he was in college). “It’s kind of a good wish to win my first pro road race in this beautiful city. I’m so happy.”
Kemboi –who worked as a pacemaker at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon 20 days ago, and earlier this year received U.S. citizenship through his service in the U.S. Army– was rolled-up by Kurgat in the final kilometer, and had to settle for third in 13:40. Kurgat (Under Armour), who will defend his Manchester Road Race title on Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, Conn., took second in 13:38. Two Australians, Jackson Sharp (Hoka NAZ Elite) and Morgan McDonald (On Athletics Club), finished fourth and fifth in 13:41 and 13:46, respectively.
The women’s race played out in a similar fashion. Josette Andrews of the On Athletics Club established a solid early pace, hitting the one-mile mark in 5:11. She was joined on the front by Bailey Hertenstein (Nike) and reigning U.S. 20-K champion Rachael Rudel (Unattached) was close behind.
“I found myself in the lead,” Andrews told reporters. “I didn’t really want to push it too, too hard, early.” She added: “Just riding the front, but not really doing anything with the front.”
Andrews led the field into the park and had former University of Florida athlete Hilda Olemomoi (Hoka Northern Arizona Elite), a Kenyan, just off of her left shoulder. The pack hit two miles in 10:12, and most of the contenders were still in the mix. But three-time defending champion Annie Rodenfels (Salomon Running) was some 20 meters back and was not able to catch up. She would finish seventh in 16:03.
Unlike in the men’s race, where the hill on Park Road thinned the field, six women were still together at the Carousel in the third mile: Andrews, Rudel, Olemomoi, Hertenstein, Ednah Kurgat, and Madie Boreman. Around the bottom of the park, Rudel pressed the pace, and she, Andrews, and Kurgat broke free of the pack. Rudel pushed again with about 900 meters to go, and Kurgat also fell back. Shaking Andrews was not easy.
“She was strong, man,” Rudel said of Andrews.
The race then became a battle between speed and strength. Andrews is a 3:59.72 1500m runner, and Rudel is the reigning national 20-K champion. The last 800 meters is almost all uphill, and that gave Rudel an edge. She gently pulled away from Andrews to get the win in a personal best 15:35, good for $6000 in prize money.
“When I drifted away a little before the 800 (meters to go), I was very shocked,” Rudel said. “I thought she was on my butt the entire time. That’s why I was like flailing, trying to sprint at the end. I was shocked on this one. Very shocked.”
Rachael Rudel winning the 2026 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5-K in New York in 15:35 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
Rudel, 32, has a kit sponsor but said she was in talks with several brands, and she has won four road races so far this year and made the podium at four more. She has already qualified for Team USATF for the 2027 World Athletics Road Running Championships in March, and recorded the fastest-ever time by an American woman at the high-altitude Bolder Boulder 10-K (32:46). She hopes to make the Olympic team in the marathon in 2028.
“I think when I got to the starting line I had no expectations,” Rudel said. “This is a fun year. I’m trying to see what I can do, and it’s just like worked out really well, for this race particularly.” She added: “This one was really no expectations. I have not been training for a 5-K.”
Hertenstein (15:46) and Olemomoi (15:47) rounded out the top-5.
Today’s event, which was held in near-perfect conditions (56F/13C with 50% humidity), saw 11,712 athletes cross the finish line, a race record. In the mass race, representatives of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors events took part, and long-time BMW Berlin Marathon race director Mark Milde was the fastest of that group, clocking 18:42 at age 53.
“This is my big moment,” he said with a smile before receiving his award.
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