Ahmed Cruises To No. 10 All-Time, Lomong Dips Under 13 Minutes

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

PORTLAND -- Moh Ahmed got to finish the race this time, and he was electric on a night when few people got to see him break his own Canadian record in the 5,000 meters. 

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Ahmed, who served as a pacer at last summer's Bowerman Track Club event set up for fast times for Woody Kincaid, Matthew Centrowitz and Lopez Lomong, turned a 1:58 final 800 meters and ran a 14-second PR with 12:47.20, the fastest time ever achieved on American soil.

Ahmed, the World bronze medalist in the 5,000 at Doha last October, ran six seconds faster than the American record, held by Bernard Lagat (12:53.60 in 2011).

Lomong, the only other racer to stay in for the full 12 1/2 laps, ran a new lifetime best of 12:58.78.

The duo was paced by a A-list group of teammates, including Grant Fisher, Sean McGorty, Evan Jager and Kincaid.

The race started minutes after Shelby Houlihan and Karissa Schweizer ran the two fastest times in U.S. history for women -- making it two races that amounted to the world's greatest instrasquad meet.

"Stay composed, let your teammates do the work for you as much as they can, and once it's your turn I just said 'Here we go,'" Ahmed said. "When I saw with two laps to go (the seconds) said 48-49, I was like, you gotta run two-flat. You've (closed) in two-flat all your life, so just try and do that."

LIVE RESULTS

Building upon the sensational race last Sept. 10 on the Nike track, Jerry Schumacher's group continued to demonstrate the power of a group working together to achieve specific goals. 

In the midst of a pandemic and new measures of social distancing to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, the men and women of the BTC have pulled off well-orchestrated team efforts that summon the spirit of a cross country team. 

Fisher, Kincaid and McGorty led the team through 3,000 meters in a brisk 7:46 to stay well under 13-minute pace. 

With four laps to go, Fisher and Kincaid were done and there were three men left. 

Jager stayed in for another 200 meters, but he stepped out of the way after competing nine laps. 

In the final 800, Ahmed began to drop Lomong and was flying after an exclusive spot in the sub-12:50 club.

"I'm excited. It's something I've worked really, really hard for. It's been a challenging year," Ahmed said.

Other teammates who were cooling down began to focus attention on Lomong and cheer him to stay in it and go after a sub-13 time. 

His time of 12:58.78 was a hair slower than Kincaid's 12:58.10 from last September, and gave the group a third sub-13 guy. Jager, Fisher and McGorty all ran in the 13:10-12 range back on June 30. 

"Today is a big moment (for me) and I want to thank all my teammates for doing this," said Lomong, the reigning U.S. champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

"We can't throw the season out because the Olympics is postponed. We've got to do something together and here we are."