Running on 'spit, bubble gum and guts,' Austin's Mitch Ammons dominates Cap10K men's race
Mitch Ammons’ breakaway surge after mile two en route to victory in Sunday's 46th annual Statesman Capitol 10,000 served as an apt metaphor for the already extraordinary year the 33-year-old runner is having.
Last November, Ammons successfully defended his title in the highly competitive Run for the Water 10 Miler in Austin. And in December, he qualified for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials at the California International Marathon, posting a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes, 48 seconds to easily duck under the 2:18:00 qualifying standard.
On Sunday morning, he dominated the Cap10K field, putting an exclamation point on his recent achievements.
“I’m pretty excited for Mitch to win one of the largest 10K races in the United States right here in Austin,” said his coach, Jeff Cunningham of Bat City Track Club. “He’s in a pretty heavy training block leading into a late May half-marathon in California.
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"We decided to just throw the Cap10K together with a little bit of spit, bubble gum and guts and just race instinctively today. Anytime you can run 4.54 per mile for a hilly 10K on tired legs, you know you’re really fit. This just continues an amazing string of racing that is a breakout year for Mitch.”
Ammons creates early separation
Clear skies and cool temperatures in the low 60s provided great racing conditions for the field of close to 17,000. At the blast of the starting horn, a pack of about 10 runners, including Ammons, Kobe Yepez, Jeffery Stein, Matthew Williams, Rio Reina and Rory Tunningley, separated from the field as they headed north on Congress Avenue.
But after turning the corner past mile one at San Jacinto Boulevard and 12th Street in a pedestrian-paced 5:10, Ammons decided to speed things up.
He dropped a 4:52 mile, passing mile two in 10:02 with Yepez in hot pursuit a few steps back. Ammons used the hilly section on Enfield Road to his advantage, opening up a 200-meter gap on Yepez as he passed mile three. By the time Ammons hit the four-mile mark on Veterans Drive in 19:30, he was way out in front in full control, clipping along at a 4:54-per-mile pace.
“My goal was to try to hang with Mitch as long as I could,” said Yepez, a senior track and cross-country standout at Texas. “I tried to stay with him on the hills along Enfield but just couldn't keep up with him. He just kept expanding that gap. He just attacked those hills. He’s a quick one.”
Changing the plan worked out well
Motoring across the South First Street Bridge, Ammons powered to the finish on Riverside Drive in 30:24, well ahead of Yepez’s 31:05. Stein, a 2018 Marine Corps Marathon champ, followed in 31:26 for third place. Williams took fourth for the second year in a row, posting 31:43, while former Razorbacks track star Reina rounded out the top five in 31:56. Tunningley, who placed second in the 2015 Cap10K and was hoping for a win this year, faded to a disappointing ninth place, clocking 32:52.
“My plan was not to lead until at least halfway,” said Ammons, who collected $1,500 for his win. “But after we went out in 5:10, I thought, ‘Well, this is going to take forever,’ so I just started pushing it.
“By about halfway, it was just me, and Yepez was a little bit behind me, so I knew I had to kick it in on that downhill on Enfield. So I really pressed. I really hurt, but I managed to put some time between us and was able to just kind of cruise it in from there,” he added. “Since I’ve already qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials, I have some time to have fun, and the Cap10K is one of my favorite races, so I didn’t want to miss it.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin runner Mitch Ammons wins 46th annual Cap10K race
