University of Glasgow alumni and 1500m European Champion Laura Muir celebrated a monumental victory in the Big Apple
University of Glasgow alumna Laura Muir claimed victory in the New York 5th Avenue Mile to cap off a stellar season.
The Commonwealth Games and European gold medallist ended her already incredible season in a magnificent style, demolishing the field to finish in four minutes 14.8 seconds – a new course record by nearly a second and a half, a huge margin over this distance.
As she did at the Commonwealth Games, Muir made her move just before halfway – the race has a bonus prize for the first runner past 800-metres – and with a prolonged kick, found a gear that tore apart her competitors and clinched the title. It was clear from the moment she made that change and accelerated forward that there would only be one winner, finishing with a convincing margin of three seconds over America’s Nikki Hiltz in second.
The field certainly didn’t lack quality as less than a second separated second, third and fourth, with all three still clocking times that put them in the top 10 of the prestigious event’s all-time list. Fellow Scot Jemma Reekie, finished fourth, having won the race last year.
“This was the last race of my season and it was hard,” said the Glasgow graduate and vet. “I did all I could to leave it all out there.”
1500m World Champion Jake Wightman made it a Scottish double in the Big Apple defending his title in the men’s event, finishing in a time of three minutes 49.6 seconds, ahead of Wales’ Jake Heyward and American Sam Prakel, who finished second and third, respectively.
