Amanda Vestri continued her unprecedented racing stretch this past weekend in Los Angeles at the Bryan Clay Invitational. She ran 15:13 for 5,000m, taking 8 seconds off her personal best and existing ZAP record set her last 5k in December. For those counting, Amanda has run 4 track races in a ZAP uniform. All 4 performances have been personal bests and club records: her 15:21 5k in December, her 9:03 3k in January, her 31:54 10k in March and this most recent performance.
As for the race itself, the race was setup to be paced at 15:15 pace, with a pace maker in the race for the first 3k. Amanda quickly found a spot near the front of the race from the beginning. After some light jostling for position over the first 4 laps, Amanda found a place in the line and tucked in along the rail in the top 10 and as there were little gaps in the field she would quickly cover them. By the time she hit the halfway mark she was into the top 6 places and the real racing began.
The field was whittled down to 5 athletes by the time 2016 Olympian (and 2023 Running Vacation guest speaker) Abbey Cooper took the lead and began to string out the field. Amanda, positioned in 5th place, slid into 4th place with 3 laps to go and then into 3rd place with 2 laps to go after running a pair of 72 second laps. At the bell Amanda was in 3rd, trailing only Cooper and Hilda Olemomoi from the University of Alabama. Amanda closed well, closing slightly on Cooper and maintaining her 3rd place position ahead of a hard charging Simone Plourde of Canada.
You can find the full results from Amanda’s race here. Her next race will be across the pond in London at Night of the 10k PB’s, where she’ll look to extend her personal best streak.
Ryan & Eric Run Near PR’s
In his first track 5k race in over 15 months Eric ran 13:39, the 3rd fastest time of his life and only 3 seconds off his personal best. Eric was in the 2nd section of the men’s race, and went through a quick opening mile of 4:19. He slowed in the 2nd mile, dropping back a bit in the pack and hitting 8:47, before rallying over the final 2 laps with a 2:06 final 800m to break 13:40.
In the fastest section of the night Ryan Ford took aim at his 13:29 personal best and Olympic Trials qualifying time of 13:25. He went through the mile a shade under 13:30 pace. With 29 guys in the race there was quite a bit of shuffling and physicality over the opening half as guys tried to gain position and cover gaps that formed in the pack. As the race split up a bit over the 2nd mile, Ryan ran slightly faster from 1-2 miles, running right on 13:25 pace entering the final mile.
He made a strong move over the final kilometer to cover a gap and moved up well in the field throughout the final mile. His assertiveness through the middle of the race put him within striking distance of the 13:25 qualifying time with 1 lap to go, needing a 60 second lap to squeeze under. Unfortunately, as he entered the final 300m he struggled to maintain his speed. With his legs nearly giving out in the final home stretch Ryan stopped the clock at 13:30, less than 1 second off a personal best.
You can see results from Eric’s heat here and Ryan’s heat here. Eric will be in action again in 2 weeks at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University where he’ll join Andrew Colley and Dan Schaffer in the 5,000m. Ryan will join Amanda in London for the Night of 10k PB’s on May 18th.