CANTON, OH – Amanda Vestri claimed the first U.S. title of her career Saturday with her dominant victory at the USATF 6 km Championship in Canton, Ohio, part of the Women’s 6K Festival. Vestri, who was second here last year, led wire-to-wire, using the course’s undulating terrain and 11 turns to gradually expand her lead over the rest of the field.
With temperatures nearing a humid 80 degrees, the Vestri lined up in the center of the start line at Malone University and established control of the race immediately. She pulled a group of seven runners through the first mile in 4:53, then used a stretch of uneven, brick road to pull away. By the second mile, she had run another 4:53 and opened up a three second lead over Annie Frisbie, Fiona O’Keeffe, Molly Born and Edna Kurgat. Then, Vestri powered up the course’s largest hill to make the gap insurmountable. She led by seven seconds at 5K and that was the margin of victory when she broke the tape at Centennial Plaza.
“I just kind of wanted to take it from the gun,” said Vestri, who moves into second place in the USATF Running Circuit point standings. “In these shorter races, I’m not really keen to just sit and run 5:15, 5:20. So, I just wanted to take it out. That’s the best way I run.”
Vestri’s win is worth $6,000 in prize money. It’s her final road race of the season as she plans to compete in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the USATF Outdoor National Championships in Eugene later this month.
Behind Vestri was an exciting, close race for second between Frisbie and O’Keeffe. After running side by side the entire race, Frisbie was able to pull ahead of O’Keeffe in the final 400 meters to take second place in 18:36. O’Keeffe, the 2024 Paris Olympian, held onto the final spot on the podium in 18:38.
Two stops remain on the USATF Running Circuit. The next race will be the USATF 20 km Championships in New Haven on September 1. The series concludes at the USATF Marathon Championships in Sacramento on December 7.
By Jay Holder for USATF Photo Credit - Michael Scott