Distance Runners Earn Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards

Track and field fans voiced their choices in this week's DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll, while DyeStat's editors made their own selection.

Readers’ Choice: Victoria Starcher

With 54.04 percent of the vote, Victoria Starcher won our Readers’ Choice vote, beating Eliud Kipchoge with his second-place tally of 21.14 percent.

After finishing third in the mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor, the Ripley WV junior broke through at the Penn Relays to win the mile in 4:38.19. It was also an improvement from 2018 when she finished second.

Watch Starcher's race on USATF.TV.

Competing in good weather on the first day of the Penn Relays, Starcher vaulted herself to ninth on the prep all-time performer list. She also broke the Penn Relays high school girls mile record. The previous record belonged to Mary Cain.

Watch Starcher's post-race interview on DyeStat.com.

Editors’ Choice: Eliud Kipchoge

There were many great performances this week and the DyeStat readers made a great choice in selecting Starcher. Matthew Boling was another high school athlete that garnered significant attention. His 9.98 100-meter performance is the fastest all-conditions prep performance on record. The wind-assist, however, was a major factor in the eye-popping time. That 9.98 (+4.2m/s) performance converts to a windless 10.16. That would still be a personal best and US#1 time.

However, with Eliud Kipchoge once again showing the world that he is the greatest marathoner of all-time, it is he who earns this week's editors' choice award.

Coming into London, Kipchoge had won nine straight marathons, including the Olympic marathon, three London Marathons and three Berlin Marathons. In addition to breaking the world record in Berlin last year, running 2:01:39, Kipchoge he had also run 2:00:25 in the non-record eligible Breaking2 event. In his career he had run marathons in 2:00, 2:01, 2:03, 2:04 and 2:05, but not 2:02.

In winning a record fourth London Marathon Sunday, Kipchoge added that 2:02 to his list of accomplishments, breaking his own course record with a finishing time of 2:02:37.

It should be noted that until the final few miles, a there remained some doubt whether Kipchoge could win his 10th straight marathon. Three men were running right behind him, holding on to the hope that Kipchoge might falter and that one of them might be able to sprint past him before the finish.

That did not happen. Kipchoge began to pull away in the final two miles and went on to win by 18 seconds. What turned into pacing duties did help pull Mosinet Geremew to a second place finish in 2:02:55. That made him the second fastest man of all-time, behind Kipchoge, of course.