Gate River Run: Teshome Asfaha Mekonen, Rachel Smith win 47th 15K championship

Just a few months ago, Rachel Smith couldn't imagine herself winning a national championship.

Not after giving birth to her daughter, Nova, last April. Not with her father battling cancer.

On a muggy Saturday morning in Jacksonville, crossing the line, and breaking the tape as America's 15-kilometer champion, meant more than ever.

"Turning onto that hill, I just kept repeating my family's names in my head, over and over," she said. "And that brought me home."

Smith charged from behind to win the women's race and Teshome Asfaha Mekonen outdueled 2023 winner Hillary Bor for the men's title at Saturday's 47th edition of Jacksonville's annual Gate River Run.

Against unseasonable warmth, stifling humidity and the fearsome ascent of the Hart Bridge, the First Coast crowned two new victors in the USA Track & Field 15K national championship.

Instead of one down-to-the-wire finish, the Gate River Run rang out its Fairgrounds era with two, decided by a combined seven seconds.

"It's a good feeling," Mekonen said. "I'm happy."

Mekonen breaks through

A 28-year-old New York resident, Mekonen claimed the breakthrough victory of his career, and in blistering time: 42:51, less than half a minute behind the 1995 record of Todd Williams.

Mekonen's road to victory turned into a one-on-one duel with Olympian Bor for the final two and a half miles, bridge included.

Bor, bidding for the first men's repeat since Leonard Korir, pushed the pace from the start and dropped runners steadily through San Marco. The pack dropped to eight, to six, to three. Mekonen, who also broke out fast in 2023 only to fade to sixth, never withered.

When the lead group dwindled to two, Mekonen waited patiently, picked his moment, then surged to the front on Atlantic Boulevard just before the ascent of the Hart. He pulled ahead further on the Green Monster, overtaking the lead women to secure the $5,000 Equalizer Bonus in the process. By the crest of the bridge, he had pulled ahead by more than 10 yards.

Bor wasn't done: He closed ground on the descent and nearly caught up on the right turn to EverBank Stadium, closing the final mile in a scorching 4:36. But his time ran out: Mekonen edged him out by three seconds, with former Mexico Olympian Diego Estrada another 30 seconds back.

"I know this course better than last year," Mekonen said. "I worked hard and everything was successful."

Smith returns to top

Just as close, and as nerve-racking, was Smith's unexpected triumph.

"It's a huge victory for me," she said. "I'm really, really savoring this one."

The 32-year-old, a 2021 Olympic qualifier for the United States in the 5,000 meters in Tokyo before her daughter's birth last spring, placed an exclamation point on her comeback in Jacksonville.

Victory meant a three-way battle against Emily Durgin, former third-place finisher two years ago, and Keira D'Amato, former national record holder in the marathon and half marathon.

"I really didn't have any expectations," Smith said. "I was just trying to keep an open mind with the timeline for returning, but things were going well, I was coming into fitness, and I was like, I would love to return to Gate River Run. This race is just so phenomenal."

Smith said she leaned on her experience from five years ago, when she placed sixth in 2019.

"The humidity and the big hill at the end really got the best of me," she said. "So this time, I decided to take a little bit more of a conservatir approach and really respect the conditions."

Patience paid. She kept pace with the lead pair, though she still found herself third on the ascent of the Hart, where D'Amato appeared in command -- until her first encounter with the Green Monster.

"I felt pretty positive over that, felt pretty good starting the downhill, and I tried to just open it up," D'Amato said. "Then I got a little side stitch, so I couldn't kick in the way that I wanted to."

Smith had already overtaken Durgin on the climb. With D'Amato losing ground, Smith caught up, and the two briefly shifted back and forth in a two-way contest on the descent.

It took one final push for Smith, and she made it on the turn into the stadium finish to cross in 48:26. D'Amato was close, four seconds back, then Durgin at 48:44.

"I didn't know if I was going to have enough to get her at the finish line," Smith said. "Luckily, I had a little bit more in me."

Numbers again rise

The predicted rain held off. The humidity didn't.

The moisture and the warm air, in the mid-60s at the start and rising above 70 by the mid-morning hours, made for a sticky day for runners but didn't deter the crowds.

Unofficial race results as of Saturday afternoon showed 11,775 finishers, an increase of about 100 compared to last year.

"All in all, it was a good day," race director Doug Alred. "Turnout was good and, best of all, it didn't rain."

The race brings down the curtain on the Fairgrounds, before the redevelopment of the property scheduled for next year and the subsequent relocation of the start line to Gator Bowl Boulevard.

"It's definitely one I'm never going to forget," Smith said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gate River Run 2024: Teshome Asfaha Mekonen, Rachel Smith win