Kevin Forde’s masterful comeback: winning Fifth Avenue Mile
Philly’s Kevin Forde gave his mother a present today — the pleasure of watching her son win the Fifth Avenue Mile only three months after calling his season over (and skipping Lahti) with a leg injury. Kevin took the M45 title — his third after 2007 and 2008 — in 4:34, beating former national champ Conor O’Driscoll by seven seconds. Before the race, Kevin wrote on his blog: “My mother has never been to New York, so I’m keen to show her the sights
of the city I consider my home away from home. It’s seldom I get the
bonus of family support in my races, the Athens Marathon in 2005 being the
last time Eileen got to see me run so I’d like to give her a
performance to remember. Sadly my Achilles injury this summer has
probably compromized my chances of a threepeat . . (but) I know how to master 5th Avenue between 80th
and 60th streets so we’ll see what unfolds.” Well, good for you, Kevin! You unfolded just fine. Complete results are here.
Other highlights among the men:
Here’s my iconic shot of Kevin at 2007 Orono nationals.
4 Responses
Way to go Kevin & Lorraine!
Great job you 2
Gary
What a tremendous group.
Anselm Lebourne. Out of Trinidad and Tobago, Anselm first came to my attention with his outrageously fast kick at Greensboro (indoor nationals, 1996).
Francis Burdett. Emerging superstar in the middle/longer middle distances; he has really come on in the last year.
Sid Howard. My old friend out of Thomas Jefferson High School (Elizabeth, NJ), where he was a 2:03 half-miler, Sid supplies a lot of the glue that holds masters T&f together.
Harold Nolan. The inimitable Harry, a legend in New Jersey road running circles and a tremendous force nationally. You don’t need a program when Harry is running.
Tom Hartshorne. This Princeton grad has done so much for the sport, especially through the Hartshorne Mile. Word has it that the 2010 edition will be the best ever — I hope that the superstars who have not yet entered will do so.
Kathy Martin. Gets it all done from 400 to 50,000, and she barely breaks a sweat. How does she do it?
Sylvie Kimche. Out of France, this smooth-running performer has been a joy to watch over the years, although she has kept a rather low profile over the last few.
Lorraine Jasper. Out of Bishop Kenrick HS in Pennsylvania, later turned down a scholarship to the high-powered Villanova program (as I recall). This sweet-striding athlete has few peers.
Kevin Forde. A great kicker and a wild and crazy guy, to say the least. Born in London, England. Always adds a lot to any competition in which he appears.
Conor O’Driscoll. Out of Ireland, Conor has taken part in some of our most exciting races over the years.
Congratulations to all the winners. I have very good memories of racing down 5th avenue in 2003 in 60+. Great FUN!
Thanks to Ken for posting all the winners. And special thanks to Peter Taylor for his comments on these winners. As I understand it – from Ken’s blog – Peter won’t be announcing at future US masters championships. What a loss for my American masters friends. He demonstrates with this “comment” the depth of his knowledge of US Masters athletes.
Diane
Thank you, Diane. I am proud to say that I was able to reel off my mini-comments without using references, which indicates that I am still sentient.
I have been in masters T&F forever (came in in 1976 in M30 — won my first race, a 600, in 1:31.8 at the indoor facility at Widener University — you could look it up). Masters T&F in those days had a better atmosphere; the athlete was (almost always) someone to be treated with respect. Not so today.
Have “unretired” to the degree that I am committed to 3 events in 2010: Hartshorne Mile (Cornell University, January), Southeastern Masters (North Carolina State, May), and National Masters Outdoors (Sacramento State Univ or whatever it is called, during the summer). As noted, masters T&F has lost its luster for me, but occasionally I will come out of hibernation to do a meet.
Peter T
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