The King of Fifth Avenue

Sid Howard offered a congratulatory hand to Bernard Lagat after the three-time Olympian’s breakthrough 3:50.5 victory Saturday in the 31st edition of the Fifth Avenue Mile, but it was Lagat who was insisting it should be the other way around.

"No, no, no," Lagat told Howard, king of the 70-year-old milers, "I should be the one congratulating you.

"You are what this sport is all about. I want to keep running forever and be like you when I'm in my 70s."

And so, once again, there was glory in it for all in the New York Road Runners-staged spectacle that attracted thousands of participants to its 16-race card, starting with the boys and girls as young as eight, and all the way up to the event's single nonagenarian, Robert Matteson of Bennington, Vermont.

But, of course, it was the elite, full-time professional international runners — led by Lagat, in his initial Fifth Avenue triumph, and Jenny Simpson, newly crowned World 1,500-meter champion, the winner of the women’s pro racers' title in 4:22.3 — who stole the spotlight in their straightaway dashes from 80th to 60th streets.

This was Lagat's fourth appearance "on the Avenue, Fifth Avenue" — he'd placed second in 2010 (3:53.3), fourth in 2009 (3:52.7) and second in 2008 (3:50.6) — and the one he wanted most.

Coming off a tough international campaign capped by his silver-medal performance in the 5,000-meter final at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, where he'd been edged by Great Britain's Mo Farah — Lagat took this one very, very seriously.

"I kept right on training hard (after Worlds) this time," said Lagat. "I didn't let up. I didn't treat this as a vacation.

"I wanted to win it quite badly. And you know what? To win it now, it feels really great. So now I want to come back and win it again."

Next opportunity to do that will come after Lagat's expected performance in the London Olympic Games. He's 36 now and has already collected Olympic silver and bronze medals in the 1,500 meters, but he's more determined than ever to add another medal to that collection in London.

He'll be 37 on Dec. 12 — but rather than slowing up as he races past his mid-30s, as so many others have done — he’s actually running better than ever.

The 2011 evidence: His American indoor 2 miles record (8:10.07), his American outdoor 5,000-meter record (12:53.60) and his dash down to the wire with Farah in Daegu.

That was a race he could have won, should have won, but just didn’t.

"I was not in perfect position (for the all-out sprint finish)," he said. "That is the key. You always have to be ready at the right moment. I wasn't ready and couldn't catch Mo."

His Fifth Avenue experience should serve as a valuable strategic lesson. He bided his time through the early, primarily flat, blocks, starting at 80th, then began stretching it out over the slightly downhill, then uphill phases and simply blasted away from the pack in the concluding sprint to the finish at 60th.

Amine Laalou of Morocco, the 2010 Fifth Avenue champion in 3:52.8, ran faster than that this time but settled for second in 3:51.7. Claiming third in 3:52.4 was rapidly-improving USA runner — and newly Mohawk-coiffed — David Torrence of San Francisco in 3:52.4.

Just amazing was a scan of the result sheet — 15 of the 18 starters broke through the once 'barrier' of four minutes, an unofficial world best for sub-4 depth in a single event.

Just over four at 4:00.4 was steeplechaser Ben Bruce in 16th place, and 17th in 4:04.9 was USA 800-meter champion Nick Symmonds, just back from a fifth-place in the Worlds 800 final in Daegu.

"This shows why I have no serious plans to be a miler," said Symmonds. "I have no desire to step up and challenge those guys (Lagat & Co.).

"The 800 is far enough for me. The mile today felt like my own New York Marathon."

Fifth Avenue women’s champion Simpson had a special member of her cheering section — sister Emily Barringer, a U.S. Army private first class — flew up from her post at Fort Rucker, Ala., to cheer her sis.

"I don't get too many chances to see Jenny run, so this was just great for me," said Barringer, clad in Army fatigues. "I'll leave the running part to my sister, it's pretty hard to run in combat boots."

Kenya's Sally Kipyego, best known now as runner-up in the World 10,000 meters, dipped down to do some speed work and ran an impressive 4:22.6 in second place, just a few strides back of Simpson.

The third-placer, Hannah England of Great Britain, just back of Kipyego with an identical 4:22.6, had also made her mark in Daegu, taking the silver back of Simpson in the 1,500 final.

"It says something about the NCAA, too," said England.

While these 1-2-3 finishers were Daegu medalists, all were past NCAA champions, as well — Simpson at Colorado, Kipyego at Texas Tech and England at Florida State.

Next in line were Norway's Ingvill Makestad-Bovim (4:24.6), the Netherlands' Susan Kuijken (4:25.5) and USA’s Morgan Uceny (4:26.2) and Shannon Rowbury (4:27.0).

Uceny, victim of a tough-luck tripping episode in the Daegu 1,500 final, had run the world's fastest 1,500 at 4:00.6 in Brussels nine days ago, but didn't have it this time. "It's been a very long season, I'm pretty tired right now, I need to take some time off," she said. Rowbury had won Fifth Avenue titles in 2010 (4:24.12) and 2009 (4:23.2) but wasn't up to that pace this time, settling for a 4:27.0.

Left untouched through all of this were the all-time Fifth Avenue bests: Sydney Maree’s 3:47.52 in the very first edition, back in 1981, and PatttiSue Plumer’s 4:16.68 in 1990.

Simpson's 4:22.3 will rank ninth all-time for the women on Fifth Avenue; Lagat's 3:50.5 will share 10th on the men’s list.

Just before the international elites took over, NYRR Metropolitan Road Miles titles went to Ezkyas Sisay (4:06) and Lauren Salisbury (5 minutes flat).

For Sid Howard, 72, a Plainfield, N.J. resident, this was his ninth consecutive Fifth Avenue triumph. "He (Minnesotan Thom Weddle, the 70-74 runner-up in 6:02) gave me everything I could handle," said Howard. "We were step for step all the way, until the last 200 meters ... and then I surged.

"This is my territory, I had to defend it."

What are the secrets of Howard's longevity? "Eat the right foods (he's a vegetarian), get proper rest, and don't run on the pavement, or the cement; unless you have to, stick to the grass or on dirt."

A most impressive men's winner, too, was 50-54 winner Conor O'Driscoll of Rye, N.Y. in 4:40.0.

"Eamonn Coghlan (still the only 40-plus man to run a sub-4 mile, and a former Rye resident), he's my inspiration," said O’Driscoll, who emigrated to the U.S. from Wexford, Ireland.

"And I owe a lot to (Westchester Road Runners) coach Mike Barnow, too. Mike’s great. He stresses staying healthy and longevity. He really keeps you going."

In the real world, O'Driscoll is a principal at Meldrum Asset Management.

"That’s a crazy (business) world out there right now," he said. "Running helps me keep sane."

Claiming men's titles in the George Sheehan Memorial event for seniors were Ronville Gravesande (60-64, 5:09), Noel Haynes (65-69, 5:32), Howard (70-74, 6:00) and Witold Bialokur (75-79, 6:37).

Women’s Sheehan titlists were Sylvie Kimche (60-64, 6:10), Marie-Louise Michelson (65-69, 6:45), Zofia Turosz (70-74, 7:28) and Jeanne Daprano (75-79, 7:01).

The senior senior of them all was Vermonter Matteson. At 95, he crossed the line in 17:18.

Busy as she was coordinating the entire production, NYRR CEO Mary Wittenberg found time to compete, too, and clocked in at 6:11. Then again, if she can ever find more training time, she knews she can dip into the 5s.