Drew Hunter runs 13:14 for the American road 5K record

Drew Hunter ran 13:14 at the World Road 5km championship, breaking Ben True's American record of 13:20 from 2017, CITIUS MAG reports. Hunter finished 11th in the race.

The timing is the part worth sitting with. Six days earlier he was on Fifth Avenue in New York, finishing fourth in the Fifth Avenue Mile. Then he crossed the Atlantic and took six seconds off a mark that had survived nearly a decade.

Why the old record lasted

True set 13:20 in 2017, which means it stood for nine years through the super shoe era, as David M (@davidmellyruns) points out. That is the detail that makes 13:14 land. Plenty of American road records have fallen since carbon plates and thick PEBA midsoles (the light, bouncy foam in race day shoes) arrived, and this one did not. Melly also notes that Molly Huddle's 14:50 from 2015 is still the women's mark.

Hunter's route to the record is its own point. Melly credits him for racing often at a time when most of the sport's top names pick a handful of dates and sit out the rest.

"In an era where selective scheduling is the norm, he always makes the most of every race opportunity," Melly wrote.

David M

@davidmellyruns

X

In an era where selective scheduling is the norm, he always makes the most of every race opportunity.

What it actually means

This is a road record, not a track one, and an 11th place finish, not a medal. The winner of the race is not named in the report, so the headline here is the American mark rather than the global result. For Hunter, a miler by trade, running 13:14 over 5K on the road six days after a mile race is the kind of range that usually shows up on a track season recap, not in a single week.

True's 13:20 is gone. Huddle's 14:50 is still waiting.