O'HARE, OSIKA WIN HOKA ONE ONE LONG ISLAND MILES
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2018 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

BAY SHORE, N.Y. (05-Sep) -- On a warm and humid evening here at Bay Shore Senior High School, Chris O'Hare and Shannon Osika prevailed over competitive fields at the fourth annual Hoka One One Long Island Mile.   O'Hare, a Scotsman who competed for the University of Tulsa during his NCAA career, successfully defended his title in 3:55.53.  Osika, who competed for the University of Michigan and still lives and trains in Ann Arbor, got her first win here in 4:29.91.  Both athletes won $3000 in prize money.

Fifteen athletes took to the track for the elite men's race which began at 8:52 p.m.  Ford Palmer, a former high school football player who competes for the Hoka New Jersey-New York Track Club, was the designated  pacemaker.  Moving swiftly from the starter's gun, Palmer quickly strung out the field, hitting the first quarter in 58.8 seconds.  He was followed by Cristian Soratos, O'Hare, and Canada's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot.

But the pace sagged in the second quarter, and the halfway point was reached in only 1:58.6.  At that point, Philibert-Thiboutot realized that he needed to change his strategy.  Instead of waiting for the final 200 meters to sprint, he would launch earlier and try to jump the field.

"I could sense that the first two laps were slow," Philibert-Thiboutot told Race Results Weekly.  "I told myself if I go with 350, 400 to go I can surprise some people."

Palmer made it through three-quarters in 2:59.3 before retiring. Philibert-Thiboutot immediately put in a surge, and O'Hare responded.

"With 400 to go he went, and I thought, it's a bit early," O'Hare told Race Results Weekly.  "Stay smooth, stay smooth and don't engage."

But the pair had perhaps a 10 meter gap on the rest of the field, and O'Hare saw a chance to put the race away.

"I looked back with 320 to go and we had a bit of a gap," O'Hare said.  "So I was like, forget it: just go hard."

Like he did in the NYRR Wanamaker Mile back in February, O'Hare simply ran away from the field.  It was an emotional finish for him because a little more than a year ago meet record holder David Torrence died 
suddenly, and O'Hare had honored him with his victory last year by pointing to the sky as he finished.  Tonight, meet organizers left lane one open in Torrence's honor.

"I'm just glad to come out here and put on a good race in memory of David," O'Hare said as he held is son, Ronan, in his arms. "You know, you get choked up when they leave lane one open for him.  I think all the racers today were standing on the start line with a lump in their throat."

Philibert-Thiboutot was able to hold on for second place in 3:56.62.  Another Scotsman, Neil Gourley, was a surprise third place finisher in 3:57.20.  Olympian Ben Blankenship was fourth (3:57.29).  In tenth place, Sam Parsons ran 3:59.70, his first-ever sub-four mile.

Osika, who won the Murphey Mile in Memphis on August 25th in a personal best 4:25.47, ran a sound tactical race.  When pacemaker Kenyetta Iyevbele was running a few meters ahead of the field with former Dartmouth athlete Helen Schlachtenhaufen in tow, Osika hung back.  The early pace --63.6 at the quarter and 2:16.3 at the half-- wasn't fast enough for her to be worried that she couldn't close the gap in the second half.  Indeed, after Iyevbele stepped aside, Schlachtenhaufen came back, and with one full lap to go, Osika was in the lead with the  versatile Rachel Schneider on her heels.

"I've been doing a lot of work in the races lately, so I wanted to see what I could do if I hung back," Osika explained.  "Helen was bold.  She went up with the rabbit.  I tried to latch on to her for a bit, and take control with 400 to go.  I was just hanging on for dear life."

Schneider did her best to chase down Osika, but couldn't quite catch her.  She would finish a close second in 4:30.18.

"Shannon's got a great kick right now," Schneider observed. "She's having an awesome season, and she's a really tough competitor.  I'm really happy for her."

Reigning world steeplechase champion Emma Coburn finished third in 4:31.08, just ahead of defending champion Emily Lipari (4:31.26) and Schlachtenhaufen (4:31.80).

Eighteen of the athletes (10 men and 8 women) who competed here tonight will also run the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile in nearby Manhattan on Sunday.  All of them will end their summer racing seasons there.


PHOTO: Chris O'Hare holds his son Ronan after winning the 2018 Hoka One One Long Island Mile in 3:55.53 (photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Shannon Osika after winning 2018 Hoka One One Long Island Mile in 4:29.91 (photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)