Samuel breaks away at mile 2, wins Dash 5K in 13:31

Habtom Samuel of Eritrea won the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5K in 13:31, CITIUS MAG reports, and he did not wait for the finishing straight to do it. He broke away from the pack just after mile 2 and took the win on his own.

CITIUS MAG

@CitiusMag

X

While the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5k usually ends in a sprint finish, this time Habtom Samuel 🇪🇷 left nothing up to chance

Edwin Kurgat of Kenya closed best of the rest for second in 13:38. Amon Kemboi of the United States was third in 13:40. That is nine seconds covering the podium, which is a gap in a 5K this sharp.

Why the move mattered

The Dash usually ends in a sprint. CITIUS MAG called this one different, and the numbers back that up, because Samuel had seven seconds on second place by the line rather than the half step these races often come down to. Deciding it with more than a mile left is the story here, not the winning time.

RunnerSpace notes it was Samuel's first win as a HOKA pro.

A record field behind the pros

The race itself keeps growing. David Monti says the Dash had a record 11,712 finishers, and he described a beautiful morning in Central Park.

That is the part worth keeping in mind. The elite field is a handful of men running low 13s, but the event around them is a mass road 5K with nearly twelve thousand people crossing the line, now the biggest the race has had.

What it actually means

A fast 5K win in New York is a fast 5K win, nothing more, and 13:31 on the roads is not a track time or a record. What it does show is a runner willing to make the race ugly early rather than trust his kick, and it worked against a field that included Kurgat and Kemboi. For Samuel, it is a first professional road win on one of the busiest mornings on the American running calendar.

David Monti 🥑

@d9monti

X

this morning's #AbbottDash5K which had a record 11,712 finishers