Mwaura Makes Bold Bid At Sub-14 5,000 Meters

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

James Mwaura made a bid to run under 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters Friday night at the Stumptown Twilight in Portland and got very close.

Mwaura, a recent graduate from Lincoln WA and a Gonzaga recruit, ran 14:00.42 at Lewis & Clark College to become the No. 9 performer in prep history.

“It feels amazing,” Mwaura said, “to come so close to breaking 14 (minutes). Some really great people (in high school) didn’t break it.

Mwaura was referring to an all-time list that includes national record holder Galen Rupp (13:37.91) and the likes of Gerry Lindgren and Steve Prefontaine and Craig Virgin in the top eight. Right behind him, are names such as Edward Cheserek and Alberto Salazar.

Conditions have a lot to do with fast times in the 5,000 meters, which isn’t frequently run at the high school level.

In contrast to the warm and muggy 5,000-meter races at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and USATF Junior Nationals on Friday, Mwaura ran in what he called “perfect” conditions.

“I was shooting for 13:56 or 59,” Mwaura said.

Diego Estrada of ASICS won the race in 13:33.30 and he was well ahead of the chase pack. There was a pace-setter for the group that Mwaura ran with.

“He took me out the first mile and a half but from there the pace started getting slow and I had to give myself a shot, so I had to go around him,” Mwaura said.

Mwaura said he felt like he was on the cusp of going under 14 minutes on the last lap, but didn’t quite have enough in his legs. He closed in 64 seconds.

“That last lap was brutal, honestly. It’s been a long time since I raced 5,000 meters,” he said.

A week earlier, he won the boys 2-mile at the Brooks PR Invitational.

Mwaura will begin a two-week break before building back up for his freshman season of college cross country.