Hassan Mead sets personal best at world champs, finishes 15th...

LONDON—Former Emerald Ridge/Puyallup standout Hassan Mead (left’photo by Paul Merca) ran a personal best in the 10000 meter run as the first day of the IAAF World Track and Field Championships concluded on the London Stadium oval, in a race in which eleven of the first seventeen finishers across the line set personal bests.

Mead, whose previous personal best was 27:33.04 set two years ago at the Nike Prefontaine Classic, ran 27:32.49, but only managed a 15th place finish, the same as his finish at the world championships two years ago in Beijing.

For the first two miles of the race, he was in the top ten, but could not keep up with the leaders as the pace gradually picked up.

Great Britain’s Mo Farah, a familiar sight to track and field fans from the Pacific Northwest, who trains most of the year on the Nike campus in Beaverton, moved from sixth place over the final kilometer to win yet another world championship in front of 55,100 spectators at the scene of his double Olympic gold medals, breaking the tape in a world leading time of 26:49.51.

Farah’s time was a 2017 world leading mark, in what reportedly is his final 10000 meter track race as he transitions to the marathon moving forward.

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda was second in 26:49.94, while Kenya’s Paul Tanui was third in 26:50.60.

Oklahoma State alum Shadrack Kipchirchir was the top American in a personal best 27:07.55, while fellow American Leonard Korir was 13th in a personal best 27:20.18, two places ahead of Mead.

Saturday morning, Drew Windle of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts will be the only athlete with Washington ties competing, as he runs in the first heat of the men’s 800 meters at 12:45 pm local time (4:45 am in Seattle).

Day 1 results from the IAAF World Track & Field Championships are available through the IAAF’s dedicated micro-site, which is here.