Barbara ran in the prestigious and always fast Jordan Payton Cardinal Invitational this past weekend in the 5000 meters during the evening’s distance carnival. She finished in eighth place with a personal best time of 15:39.76. The race went out in record setting fashion with the American Record holder in the 5000 and 10,000 meters, Shalane Flanagan, pushing the early pace. Flanagan could not hold on in the final laps and was overtaken by Shannon Rowbury who ran 15:00.51 for the win to Flanagan’s second place time of 15:04.23. Rowbury, a 2008 Olympian in the 1500 meters, moved up distance and ran a personal best in the 5000.
Barbara was happy with her race knowing that she was in a heavy phase of training and only using the Cardinal Invite as a race to see where she was with her fitness. “The race was solid. My coach and I were looking to go sub 15:30 but I was feeling a little tired from a heavy training period. The 5000m at Stanford was always in our plans but not a focus. We treat these early races as part of a preparation for later in the season, mostly to see where we are at and how training is going. We are now on my last week high mileage phase. So I am looking forward to the shorter faster workouts. Much more fun!”
For the race video, click here. For complete results, click here.
