Top 10 Payton Jordan Races Of All-Time
Top 10 Payton Jordan Races Of All-Time
The 10 best Payton Jordan Invitational races in history.
In normal circumstances, the 2020 Payton Jordan Invitational would have happened this week. But we don't have that luxury right now, so the top 10 Payton races of all-time will have to suffice.
10. Boris Berian’s 1:45 800m In 2015
Virtually no one had heard of Boris Berian back in 2015 when he ran 1:45.30 at Payton. A former D2 champ at Adams State who had spent time working at McDonald’s, Berian suddenly was a player in the U.S. 800m after his breakout run at Stanford. Later that summer he ran 1:43 in Monaco and then won the World Indoor title the following March in Portland.
9. Yomif Kejelcha’s 13:10 5k In 2019
The time is way less memorable than how he did it as the Ethiopian completely destroyed a field that included Justyn Knight, Lopez Lomong, Eric Jenkins and Drew Hunter, to name a few. His 1:54 last 800m was effortless as Kejelcha was still red hot in the afterglow of his indoor mile world record (3:47.01) just two months earlier.
8. Jakob Ingebrigtsen Beats Chelimo/Centro In 2018 1500m
We knew Norwegian teen phenom Jakob Ingebrigtsen was going to be a star before 2018, but his defeat of Olympic medalists Paul Chelimo and Matthew Centrowitz in the Payton 1500m that year seemed to accelerate his ascent to greatness. He followed up his 3:39 1500m in Palo Alto with a 3:52 mile three weeks later at Pre before sweeping European gold in the 1500m and 5k in August at the ripe age of 17.
7. Bernard Lagat’s 10k Masters World Record In 2016
It’s almost not fair that Bernard Lagat holds so many masters records since he seems impervious to aging, but in 2016 the 41-year-old demolished the M40 record by 41 seconds with his 27:49.35.
6. Werknesh Kidane’s 30:19 10k In 2005
The fastest women’s 10,000m ever on U.S. soil happened in 2005 at Payton Jordan as Ethiopian Werknesh Kidane blitzed a 30:19, which was the 11th fastest performance in history at the time.
5. Lopez Lomong Miscounts Laps, Still Runs 5k World Lead In 2012
Things got really interesting in the men’s 5,000m in 2012 when Lopez Lomong took off in a dead sprint with 600 meters to run, and it quickly became apparent that he thought it was the last lap. With 500m to go, Lomong kicked into hyperdrive, at which point our own Ryan Fenton belted, “does he know he’s got another lap?!” He did not know. Lomong spread his arms out across the line in celebration only to find a crowd urging him to keep going.
Fortunately, Lomong had built a huge lead thanks to a blistering penultimate lap, and was able to restart the engine for one more circuit. I’ll never forget the most adventurous 13:11 I’ve ever seen.
4. Ben True vs. Hassan Mead In 2014 5,000m
Ben True and Hassan Mead both had 13:11 5,000m PBs entering 2014 Payton Jordan, and the pair left with matching 13:02 bests that slotted them ninth and 10th on the U.S. outdoor list at the time. Neither man has run faster since.
3. Jenny Simpson’s NCAA 5k Record 2009
Simpson’s 15:07.64 collegiate record at Payton in 2009 still stands to this day, one of three outdoor NCAA records that the Colorado legend set in an epic senior season. (Her steeple mark has since been topped.) More impressive than the time, however, is how Simpson (née Barringer) ran the race: she left the field from the gun and ran the entire 12.5 laps alone. She won by 43-plus seconds.
2. Shalane Flanagan's 10,00m American Record 2008
Flanagan made her 10,000m debut in style at the 2008 Payton Jordan Invitational by setting the then American record of 30:34.49. Flanagan, who went on to win bronze in the Olympic Games later that summer in Beijing (which was subsequently upgraded to silver), smashed Deena Kastor’s previous mark by nearly 16 seconds. The race itself was a classic duel between the American and New Zealand’s Kim Smith, who ran her own national record of 30:35.54.
1. Chris Solinsky’s 26:59 American Record In 2010
Solinsky’s famous 10,000m U.S. record in his debut at 2010 Payton is still one of the most talked about races in American distance lore. He became the first non-African to break 27 minutes (26:59.60), and it set off his career-best season in which he broke 13:00 for 5,000m three times.
