Those who were slightly worried that Luis Grijalva, who had been injured over the winter with a sacrum stress reaction, was not running as well as in the past can stop fretting.
Thursday, at the Diamond League Oslo, Grijalva set a personal record by more than two seconds to finish sixth in a crazily fast 5,000 meters in which 13 runners broke the 13-minute barrier.
Grijalva, the former NAU star and now a Guatamalan Olympian, put on a late surge to finish in 12:50.58, bettering his previous best of 12:52.97 set in Italy in 2023. Grijalva came into the race ranked seventh in the world in the 5,000 and more than justified his ranking in Oslo.
Grijalva, in a post-race interview with Citius Magazine, said he gained even more confidence after a race like this, which he considered a “season opener,” even though he’s been racing since The Ten in March.
“Quite frankly,” he told Citius, “5Ks in the summer are usually pretty tactical, so as long as I’m in 12:50 shape, I’ll be there with a lap to go. … Diamond League races and World Championship and Olympic Games races are like two different sports.”
Also among the 13 runners breaking 13 minutes was Hoka NAZ Elite’s Adriaan Wildschutt, who lowered his PR and South African national record to 12:56.67, a tenth of a second faster than his previous best. Wildschutt was 13th.
As well as the Flagstaff runners competed, they still were far up the track from the winner, Hagos Gebrhiwet, who set the Ethiopian record in 12:36.76 — the second fastest time in history. For the first time ever, two men broke 12:40 in the same race.
Thursday night, at the Hoka Festival of Miles in St. Louis, Under Armour Dark Sky Distance’s Ben Veatch took the lead in the final lap and cruised to victory with a time of 3:56.04, beating Hoka NAZ Elite’s Olin Hacker (3:56.89). Hacker was the defending champ.
The top Flagstaff-based finisher in the pro women’s mile was NAZ Elite’s Krissy Gear, coming off her first steeplechase last weekend. Gear finished fifth in 4:31.47.
Another Flagstaff-related finish: In the boy’s mile, NAU-signee Clay Shively finished second in 4:00.02, well behind winner Drew Griffith in 3:57.72. They were the top two prep times this year.
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