EWOI REPEATS AS B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE CHAMPION, SETS COURSE RECORD
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.
BOSTON (18-Apr) -- Dorcas Ewoi, the Kenyan silver medalist in the 1500m at last summer's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, repeated as B.A.A. Invitational Mile champion here today setting a new course record of 4:29.8. Ewoi, 29, who competes for the Puma Elite Running team in North Carolina, dominated the three-lap race, going to the front from the gun and stretching her lead with each successive lap. She won $3000 in prize money.
Ewoi decided to compete here today as a fitness test. She said that it didn't matter so much whether or not she won, but she wanted the race to be a truly hard effort.
"I came off of a good building block, almost two months," said Ewoi, whose training group has athletes who compete from the mile to the marathon. She continued: "I was just going to run as fast as I could."
Competing here last year gave Ewoi a big edge today. The course is rectangular, and hitting the turns at the right angle and knowing when and where to surge is critical. The quarter mile splits are at odd locations, and after the final corner the runners only have about half a city block to get up to full speed for their last push for the finish tape. Ewoi felt well-oriented this year which gave her the confidence to lead.
"Last year I didn't know what I was doing here, for real," Ewoi admitted. "Like, too many corners. I don't know where was where, and I did not even check the course. So, this year I'm more familiar with this course, and I'm kind of familiar with everyone I raced with today."
Remarkably, Ewoi's winning time was the first-ever sub-4:30 at this event. The race was founded in 2009, and the previous record of 4:33.7 was set by Canadian Nicole Sifuentes in 2017.
Second place went to 2024 USA road mile champion Rachel McArthur in 4:34.4. McArthur, who represents Asics, ran in fourth position most of the race, but moved up to third at 1200m and passed Taryn Parks in the final sprint. Parks, who represents adidas, took third in 4:35.1 and Olympian Heather MacLean --who grew up in nearby Peabody-- finished fourth in 4:35.2.
The men's race was decided in a mass sprint. Six men rounded the last corner together: Eric Holt, Luke Houser, Abe Alvarado, and Isaac Basten of the United States; Adam Fogg of Great Britain; and Foster Malleck of Canada. Holt, a gritty racer with a 3:51.46 mile personal best on the track, led off of the final turn and managed to hold the lead to the tape. He was clocked in 4:06.7. Malleck --who competed for Boston University during his collegiate career and only arrived here at 11:00 last night due to a delay in getting his visa-- looked like he was going to finish second. But Basten sprinted past him to take the runner-up spot. The two men were timed in 4:06.9 and 4:07.1, respectively.
"I think honestly the biggest issue of my running career is that sometimes believing in myself," said Holt, who is unsponsored. "I think a lot of running is believing in yourself, believing you can win."
Basten, who is part of the Boston Athletic Association's High Performance Team, was very excited about his runner-up finish and felt like I had had the home field advantage.
"I've gone head to head with Eric a million times," said Basten. "If I had a dollar for every time I was second I'd be a rich man. So, I knew it would be close. All I could do was give it everything I had. What a great experience doing it in front of the home crowd."
In the accompanying scholastic miles for regional high school athletes, the winners were Sara Blanco of Boston in 5:17.9 and John Bianchi of Natick in 4:25.6. Blanco, who attends the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, was nearly caught by Maggie Abely of Newton in the final sprint.
"I have the worst kick, not to be unkind," Blanco told Race Results Weekly. "So I was like, I can hear them coming so this might be it. I heard the crowd and that really kept me going."
PHOTO: Dorcus Ewoi winning the 2026 B.A.A. Invitational Mile in a course record 4:29.8 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Eric Holt winning the 2026 B.A.A. Invitational Mile in 4:06.7 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
