GNC Live Well Liberty Mile: Kampf, Chaffee take W's

Heather Kampf won the women's mile with a stirring kick. (Photo by Phil Grove)

Video Interview with Kampf

A certain pro football quarterback arguably is the reigning king of Pittsburgh sports, but Heather Kampf showed the Steel City once again who is queen of American road miling.

The Minnesotan added to her growing list of road victories, storming home to successfully defend her title in the GNC Live Well Liberty Mile. The victory in 4 minutes, 31.8 seconds was the fifth significant road mile win in the past two years for Kampf, who set an event record in the process.

“I think people are starting to catch on to the way I like to run road miles and they’re trying to reverse it and put things more in their favor,” said Kampf, who ran 4:35.9 in winning the inaugural race in 2012. “I had a few more people following right behind me in the shadows today rather than me sort of lurking in the race somewhere.”

As the leaders covered the first quarter-miles in 1:07 and 2:20, Kampf maintained her place in the field as it made a pair of right-hand turns to open up a distant view of the finish. With 440 yards to go, the clock said 3:26. 

“Coming down the hill on this one, especially, you can see the finish line even longer than I feel like you can in most road miles,” Kampf said. “I definitely at one point thought we must be past the three-quarters mark, and then I could see in the distance on my right the three-quarters mark. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I thought we were almost there.’ ”

But when it came time to sprint, nobody in the field of 14 could match the 26-year-old’s kick or inspiration.

“For me, the second I start feeling a little bit antsy that means it’s time to move and just put all my trust into my kick and see what I can finish with,” said the winner, who was moved to victory by the recent cancer diagnosis for her dog, Ricky. “Today, the kick is for Ricky in case we have to do more to try and save my pup. It’s been an interesting couple of days, and I’m really happy I can pull off the win for him.”

Chelsea Reilly was second in 4:34, while Chemtai Rionotukei was third as the next three runners each clocked 4:36.

“The road mile is kind of a different animal, and I feel like I must be from that species because I do love the road miles,” said Kampf, who will compete this evening in the Falmouth Mile in Massachusetts. “Strength really comes into play, to really push hard on the pavement. I think it works well for me. Whatever it is, I’ve just figured them out to some degree. It’s been really fun.”

Macklin Chaffee dug deep to win the boys race with a thrilling finish. (Photo by Phil Grove)

Video Interview with Chaffee

While all eyes were on Kampf in the women’s race, Macklin Chaffee wasn’t on anyone’s radar until he edged pre-race favorite Jordan McNamara in a stirring duel to the tape. The margin of victory was so slight that officials were taking several looks at the gap between the two before finally announcing Chaffee as the winner in 4:01, with the pair separated by only three-hundredths of a second.

“With 50 to go, I seriously thought the whole field was going by me,” Chaffee said. “I had no ability to match anything that came up on my shoulder. Jordan came up with 5 meters to go and I leaned. If I didn’t win this race, I should have dove. That was a dive situation but I just didn’t do it.”

Girma Gebre of Ethiopia set a blistering pace through the opening half, turning in splits of 54 seconds and 1:56. The times turned heads at the finish line and made the eventual winner question the early leader’s intent.

“I didn’t know if I could see that guy after the first quarter,” Chaffee joked. “We weren’t sure if that guy was a rabbit or if he really was a 3:40 miler. I had my eyes on three guys that race – Daniel Clark, Miles Batty and Jordan McNamara.”

Gebre remained at the front but had slowed to 2:59 with 440 to go. The stage was set for a frantic finish that had the runners looking for a clear view of the line.

“The last hundred meters? I don’t remember the last hundred meters,” Chaffee said. “I made my move to cover Dey Dey with 500 to go, and I was moving well and there’s a sign that said 200 to go, and I was like, Oh no, this isn’t good. With 100 to go, I was just looking at that finish line.”

Dey and Clark were next across the line in a pair of 4:02s as the top four were separated by a second. Gebre held on for fifth in 4:03, while Batty was next at 4:04.

The out-and-back course on two of Pittsburgh’s major thoroughfares also played host to the USA Track & Field Masters 1 Mile Road championship, the first such event since 1989. Nick Berra of Enola, Pa., and Magdalena Lewy Boulet of Oakland walked off with the top prizes.

Berra solidified his standing as one of the top masters middle distance runners in the U.S. with his win in 4:28, with Philippe Rolly the runner-up in 4:31. Lewy Boulet picked up her first major victory in the masters category after turning 40 just eight days ago. The winner of the 2002 Pittsburgh Marathon crossed the line in 4:50 to lead the women’s field, besting last year’s champion Sonja Friend-Uhl and her 4:53.