Sara Hall Claims Inaugural 'Dash'

The inaugural NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5k boasted deep fields and delivered close finishes at the site of Sunday's ING New York City Marathon.

On the women's side, Sara Hall ended her 2011 season as it began — with a win in New York. In January she claimed the Fred Lebow 1,500m run at the Millrose Games and concluded it Saturday with another victory, this time in front of the Fred Lebow statue with a winning time of 15:56.

"It feels like a good completion," said the 28-year-old who recently won gold in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Pan American Games. "I love racing here."

The runner-up was American Julie Culley in 16:00, followed closely by Kenyan Sally Kipyego in 16:03. The race started near the United Nations before turning West on 42nd Street and then north on the Avenue of the Americas. After heading East on Central Park South, the race entered Central Park at Grand Army Plaza and ended at the ING New York City Marathon finish line in Central Park.

"I don't even remember the first mile mark," said Culley, who won the USA 5k title in September. "I was just feeling really good, so I started pushing the pace and trying to break it up a little bit."

"Julie and Deena [Kastor] got us off to a big start, and Julie kept it going," said Hall. "She ran really strong up front in the U.S. 5k Championship, so I knew I had to stay close to her to be in contention."

She did, and with about 250 meters remaining launched a kick that took her to victory.

Hall has been in New York for the marathon every year for the past six years for her sponsor, Asics. Her husband, Ryan, finished fourth in the ING New York City Marathon in 2009 and won the Olympic Marathon Trials here in 2007, and she hinted yesterday that the 26.2-miler is on her racing radar screen, as well. "I've seen the finish every year and how exciting it is," said Hall. "So I couldn't wait to come to this finish line. I knew it probably wouldn't be quite as packed and loud as marathon day, so I'll save that full experience for one day in the future. But I got a little taste of it this morning which was really fun."

For the men, Brit Chris Thompson out-kicked Americans Aaron Braun and Dathan Ritzenhein to win the race in 13:53. The three men led the pack for most of the race, and toward the midway point separated themselves from other hopefuls, including Americans Matt Tegenkamp and Lopez Lomong.

In the final 800 meters, Ritzenhein fell back slightly and Thompson and Braun were left to battle it out. Thompson put in a slight surge in the last 100 meters, which made all the difference.

"With 800 to go, I thought, 'Well, there's three of us and I’ve got something,'" said the press conference following the race. "Fortunately Aaron, with a hundred to go, looked to his right, I went to his left, he looked at me and went, "oh [shoot]."

Braun, who finished the race just over half a second behind Thompson, acknowledged his strategic error. "Right around 300 meters I had a surge of adrenaline, thought that I could go for it, thought that I had pulled away," he said. "I made one of those high school mistakes of looking one direction, and I think I looked twice to the right instead of once right, once left."

"So, bad mistake, but hopefully I'll learn from it in the future."