ALBANY, N.Y. — Through a lashing rain and several ankle-deep puddles, Molly Born of the Puma Elite Running team cruised to victory Saturday morning (May 31) at the 47th Delightful Run For Women 5-K.
Despite the awful weather, the 25 year-old former Oklahoma State athlete ran a surprisingly fast 15:31, finishing six seconds ahead of her teammate Jessica McGorty. Born’s time was a personal best and the fastest here in 11 years.
“I’m just excited to get back out racing pushing it, making it hard, getting the most out of it,” said Born, who hadn’t run a race since last November because she was recovering from a stress fracture.
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Born made her intentions known early. She and McGorty led key rivals Amy Davis-Green (Hansons-Brooks ODP) and Anna Kostarellis (Asics) through the uphill first kilometer. The wind and rain were hitting them directly in the face, but both Born and McGorty looked composed. Born was embracing the bad conditions.
“The headwind was really bad in the first, like, K,” Born told Race Results Weekly. “But, I kind of like the bad weather, too.”
As the leaders turned left into Washington Park where the course goes up and down several short hills, Born used the first downhill to open a gap on McGorty. She split the first (mostly uphill) mile in 5:17, two seconds ahead of McGorty, a 1500m runner with a powerful kick.
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“Jess is so fast, I needed to make the race hard,” Born said of her strategy. “I just felt good the first mile.”
Born ran the up-and-down second mile in a very fast 5:00, increasing her lead on McGorty to 20 seconds. She shot one final glance back over her left shoulder before plowing through a huge puddle at the park’s exit.
When she made the final right turn onto Washington Avenue for the long straightaway to the finish, she was greeted by applause and shouts of encouragement from the runners at the back of the pack who were running in the opposite direction.
“All the women were just going crazy on the other side of the street,” Born said. “It was amazing. They were so, so excited and cheering me on. It was great.”
McGorty, who also set a personal best, wasn’t surprised that Born got the win today.
“I would have liked to stay with her longer, but Molly’s tough,” McGorty said. “She’s strong and has been having some really good workouts, so the fact that she’s out there grinding by herself was not a surprise to me at all. I’m very happy for her.”
Davis-Green, who finished second last year, was able to stay close to McGorty in the middle section of the race, but fell behind in the final kilometer. She finished third in 16:04. That mark was slower than her 15:45 last year, but was still remarkable given that the 2:28 marathoner is 12 weeks pregnant.
“To run almost sub-16:00 I was really pleased with,” the rain-soaked Davis-Green said. “That was really nice.”
Kostarellis, who like McGorty grew up in Upstate New York, finished fourth in 16:28. Standing at the finish line with the back of her Asics uniform splattered with mud she said, “That was brutal.”
The top four women earned $3000, $2500, $2000 and $1500 in prize money, respectively. When a reporter mentioned to Born that she now had some extra money for end-of-year holiday shopping she smiled.
“It will probably go to rent,” she said.
