For most of the athletes entered in New York Road Runners 5th Avenue Mile, the event marks the end of a long season on the track. The road mile in downtown Manhattan is one final hurrah to cap off a season that included, for several athletes, a World Championship performance in Beijing. 5th Avenue will provide a last chance to test their fitness, and win some hard-earned cash ($5,000 for the winner, plus $1,000 bonus to leader at halfway mark). 

 

Here are four storylines to watch at the 2015 5th Avenue Mile: 

 

Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury Re-Match

Simpson and Rowbury leading the World Championships 1500m final in Beijing. 

After running shoulder to shoulder in the Brussels Diamond League mile on Friday, Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury will meet again Sunday on the streets of New York City to duke it out one last time this season. 

 

Rowbury edged out Simpson in 4:22.10 for third while Simpson fought for a new personal best mark of 4:22.18 Friday night in Brussels. In the same race, Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon of Kenya ran 4:16, making her the fifth-fastest woman all time. 

 

Jenny Simpson, the defending 5th Avenue Mile Champion will make her return to Manhattan in an attempt to claim her fourth title. Simpson is returning from running a season’s best of 8:34 in the 3K at the Zurich Diamond League meeting where she finished fourth overall, beating Rowbury by five seconds. 

 

Prior to Zurich, the 2011 1500m World Champion had a disappointing performance in the Beijing World Championship final when her shoe was stepped on by Abeba Aregawi and fell off with 600m remaining in the race. A nearly barefoot Simpson managed to finish 11th overall, but for the first time in the past two World Championship finals, she missed out on a podium spot. With her head held high, Simpson chocked it up as an “unlucky” performance, moving forward with the remainder of her season, which has included yet another 1500m national title, and a season’s best of 3:57.30 in Monaco. 

 

Rowbury beat Simpson in the same race in Monaco where she broke Mary Decker Slaney’s 31-year-old 1500m American record with a time of 3:56.29. Rowbury has since claimed a pair of seventh-place finishes, in the 1500m at the World Championships in Beijing and the 3K at the Zurich Diamond League meeting. 

 

David Torrence Returns from 3:53 at Long Island Mile 

Torrence charging into the homestretch of the Hoka One One Long Island Mile (photo: Foon Fu). 

On Wednesday night, David Torrence threw down his best mile performance of the year with a 3:53 winning time at the inaugural Hoka One One Long Island Mile. The race marked his fastest mile since running his personal best of 3:52 at the 2012 Prefontaine Classic. Torrence earned the win over Brooks Beast Garrett Heath in the final lap at St. Anthony’s High School where he split a 58-second last 400m to take down Heath in the final 100m. Torrence and Heath are accustomed to competing against each other since attending rival schools in college at Cal and Stanford, respectively. Heath most recently beat Torrence for fourth-place in the 5K at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June. 

 

Many of the athletes who raced at the Hoka One One Long Island Mile are returning to take on the road this Sunday, including co-meet director Kyle Merber, runner-up Heath, former Montana State standout Cristian Soratos, NJ*NY’s Ford Palmer, and Oregon alum Daniel Winn. 

 

Matt Centrowitz Looking for Redemption in Front of Home Crowd

Centrowitz looking at the scoreboard after finishing eighth in Beijing. 

After a disappointing eighth-place performance in the World Championships 1500m final, Matt Centrowitz should be looking to end his season on a high note on 5th Avenue. Beijing marked the first time Centrowitz did not earn a medal since competing in a World Championship final. He earned bronze in 2011 and silver in 2013. 

 

The Nike Oregon Project athlete was running with the leaders at the bell lap at National Stadium, but was unable to match the ferocious kick of race winner Asbel Kiprop. Centrowitz reflected on the disappointment with perspective, saying that he “had nothing more to give.”

 

The Olympian will have a strong fan base at 5th Avenue Mile, which is just over 200 miles from his hometown of Annapolis, Maryland. Centrowitz claimed the 5th Avenue Mile title in 2012, and will look to reclaim his victory over a field that includes American record-holder Bernard Lagat, Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis, and Olympic finalist Henrik Ingebrgtsen of Norway. 

 

Alysia Montano Returns From Fall in Beijing

Montano leading in the first round of the women's 800m in Beijing.
 

Six-time 800m national champion Alysia Montano is also returning from a disappointing turn of events at the World Championships where a trip and fall forced her out of the first round of the women’s 800m. 

 

Montano was running with the leaders at 200m remaining in the preliminary round until she appeared to be tripped from behind. Montano fell to the track and was immediately out of contention to move on to the next round of the 800m. After finishing fourth at the 2013 World Championships and 2012 Olympic Games, Montano was shocked at the events in Beijing. 

 

5th Avenue Mile will not only be Montano’s first race since the World Championships, but also the longest race she will have run in 2015. The last time Montano raced a mile was at the 2011 5th Avenue Mile when she finished 14th in 4:34, which still stands as her personal best in the event. 
 

The 5th Avenue Mile will be available to watch nation-wide on ESPN2, and on WABC-TV and Channel 7 in the New York tri-state area on Sunday from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. ET.