2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile Photo Gallery


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2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
The professional women’s field of 12 world-class athletes approach the start. (Note the single pair of “baggy” shorts—on the eventual winner.)
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Fifty yards into the race. Tactics in road miles are simple; there’s no need to cut to the inside lane.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
The tenacious Kim Smith of New Zealand, a 5000-meter specialist, pushes hard; Carmen Douma-Hussar of Canada drafts behind Roisin McGettigan of Ireland.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Approaching the half-mile mark, the field is still closely bunched.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
The leaders start to work as they climb the hill to the race’s halfway point.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Over the crest of the rise, only four are still in contention at the front. Amy Mortimer, of Providence, RI, is on Douma-Hussar’s shoulder.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Mentally, the third quarter is the toughest. Mortimer stays in contact with the two front-runners. Behind Smith, Sara Hall, of Big Bear Lake, CA, is closing fast.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Carmen Douma-Hussar’s winning time of 4:22.8 is the fastest since 1998, and she reclaimed the title that she held in 2005.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Canada has sent a strong contingent to Fifth Avenue recently; Douma-Hussar’s countryman Kevin Sullivan, was this year’s defending champion.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Jon Rankin, of San Diego, CA, greets the crowd as the professional men line up.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
These guys look like they’re starting a hundred-meter dash. American mile record-holder Alan Webb, of Reston, VA, explodes from the “blocks,” second from right.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
The pack passes the quarter-mile in 57 seconds—conservative, considering the slight downhill.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Rankin said afterward that he “tried to steal the race”—but Webb, who’d gone out hard two years ago and lost to Craig Mottram of Australia, wasn’t taking the bait.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
The next man to challenge Webb for the lead was Mottram’s countryman Lachlan Chisholm.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Webb finally asserted himself in the last 100 meters, as defending champion Kevin Sullivan of Canada passed the tiring Chisholm. Rankin moved up to take third.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
“I haven’t broken a finishing tape for a while,” said Webb afterward. This victory was sweet..
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Webb is the first U.S. champion of the Fifth Avenue Mile since 2000, the second since 1994, and only the seventh in the race’s 27-year history…
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
…and he is believed to be the first winner from any nation to successfully grab both sides of the finishing banner and take it away with him.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Defending champion Sullivan was gracious in surrendering his crown to Webb; third-placer Rankin called the race “definitely the best of my life.”
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Alan’s mom might have been the second-happiest person on Fifth Avenue.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Webb got a hero’s welcome in New York City, despite bravely declaring himself a Detroit Tigers fan.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
From left: Sara Hall, third; Amy Mortimer, second; Carmen Douma-Hussar, the 2007 champion.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
One suspects that a lucky recipient is holding the champion’s flowers off-camera.
2007 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile
Alan Webb added his name to the prestigious Fifth Avenue pantheon; Carmen Douma-Hussar became the sixth two-time champion in the history of the women’s race.