Smith breaks NZ National Record
Photos by Tim Fulton
New Zealand’s Kim Smith ran the fourth fastest 5,000 meters in the world all-time, broke her own national record and demolished the New Balance Track and Field Center’s facility record. But the amazing thing is what she said afterward.
“I’m not that fast,” she said, “but I think I’m pretty strong.”
Smith won the 5,000 at the NYU Fasttrack Invitational in 14 minutes, 39.89 seconds, the second this season only to Meseret Defar’s world record of 14:24.37 set at the Boston Indoor Games. It was Smith’s first race of the season. Her strength can’t be questioned. Not fast though? Um, not so much.
Evenly, methodically, Smith clipped off steady laps, at first behind Lesley Higgins, a former all-American at Colorado. Higgins was charged with setting the pace but more importantly keeping Smith under control for the first five laps. Then Smith used lapped runners and the roar of the crowd to keep pace.
“I was getting pretty tired in the last few laps,” Smith said. “I felt like my legs were gonna fall off.”
But she never faltered. She lowered her own national record from 14:50.46 in 2005 and is the fastest non-Ethiopian to ever run 5,000 meters. The old Armory facility record was 15:07.66 set by Marla Runyan in 2001. Smith originally hadn’t planned to compete in the indoor season, instead focusing on the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan March 28.
“I knew I was pretty fit,” she said. “The other day I did a workout and ended it with a 4:30 mile.”
That workout gave her a reason to take a shot at running a fast time on the track so the Providence grad went looking for a race and ended up in New York. The last time she ventured into the Big Apple was for the New York City Marathon. She got sick days before and dropped out the race after just under 20 miles.
“When I was first getting back, it was hard,” Smith said. “It was hard and I was slow, slower than I’ve ever been. But I think I’m doing well now.”
Kiwi Connection: Another New Zealander, Lucy Van Dalen, a sophomore at Stony Brook University, won the women’s mile in 4:36.71 to become the first in Stony Brook school history to make the automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
