USATF Men’s 5000 — Nur Came Ready For Anything

THE TIME WAS RIGHT for Abdihamid Nur and he knew it. His fitness was at a peak — as was his speed — and he was confident he could handle any scenario. Those simple factors played perfectly into the Collegiate Record holder’s hands, as in his first pro season he stormed his way to his first national track title.

Just as in the 10,000, there were only a handful who had the WC standard, yet nearly all the heavy hitters possessed lethal kicks. Absent from the list of big kickers was defending champion and premeet favorite Grant Fisher, who pulled out citing a stress injury in his femur after his 4th in the 10,000.

Moderate could best describe the pace as the field ambled through progressively slower kilos of 2:39.16, 2:47.93 (5:26.29) and 2:49.83 (8:16.12), all headed by Oklahoma State’s Isai Rodriguez. Things changed after 3600 once the pace shifted from 67s to a 65 and then at 4K the fireworks began.

Less than 2 seconds separated the top 18, with Nur jumping from 7th to 1st with his 2:45.92 kilo, followed by 10K third placer Sean McGorty, 2-time Olympic medalist Paul Chelimo, Emmanuel Bor, Conner Mantz, Cooper Teare, Rodriguez, Ahmed Muhumed, Woody Kincaid and 10K runner-up Joe Klecker.

Nur, all flowing power, covered the next 200 in 30.23 and with 2 laps to go led the chasers by fractions. More maneuvering occurred over the penultimate lap with Chelimo, Teare and Muhumed each moving up and Mantz, Klecker, Kincaid and Bor dropping to 6th, 8th, 9th and 12th, yet Nur remained in the lead over McGorty, covering the circuit in 57.76.

At the bell the tempo increased, but it wasn’t until 300 to go that Nur put the pedal to the metal. With 200 to go he had 5m on McGorty and 10 on Chelimo. Kincaid was uncharacteristically nowhere to be seen, but Muhumed and Klecker were on the move.

Entering the home straight Chelimo, as if shot out of a cannon, found another gear and passed McGorty and began gaining steadily on Nur. Chelimo was a stride back 40m out, but Nur had a bit more in reserve and crossed in 13:24.37, 0.53 ahead of Chelimo, with McGorty taking 3rd over a fast-closing Klecker.

Nur’s finishing speed was impressive: closing figures of 53.70, 1:51.45, and 4:01.00. He gave thanks to his training mates in coach Mike Smith’s Flagstaff group.

He said, “I train with a strong squad, man, so I was prepared…