New Zealand Olympian Wins Fifth Avenue Mile

New Zealand’s Nick Willis has won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, completing the run in 3 minutes and 52.1 seconds. It is the second time that Willis has won the title, having won it previously in 2008 at a time of 3 minutes and 50.5 seconds. In that same year, Willis took home silver at the Beijing Olympics for the 1500m race.

Following his recent win, Willis told Marathon News Service he was surprised to find himself in the lead when a huge gust of wind shook things up with 500 metres remaining. “I didn’t really want to [be out front],” he said, “but it was very comfortable coming into the end.”

On his Facebook fan page, Willis wrote, “Pleased to have ended my season with a victory. A fun day on 5th Avenue…”