Nick Willis and Jenny Simpson are the New Balance Fifth Ave Mile again

Nick Willis appears to be getting better with age.

The 36-year-old runner added to his legendary career with a record-breaking fifth victory at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile Sunday in New York City.

Willis pulled out the victory with a time of 3-minutes,51.7-seconds in a photo-finish race.

The former University of Michigan runner and 2-time Olympic medalist has now claimed the men’s title five times, with victories in 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2017 and 2019, placing the New Zealand native alone atop the men’s division in the history books.

Willis still lives and trains in Ann Arbor and the win adds to his accomplishments, which include a silver medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, a bronze medal in the Rio 2016 Games and a bronze medal in the 2016 World Championships.

On the women’s side of the event, Jenny Simpson of Webster City, Iowa, claimed her seventh title in a row and eighth overall in 4:16.1 on Sunday. 

The New Balance 5th Avenue Mile race began in 1981 -- two years before Willis was born -- and overtime has become one of the world’s premier mile races.

posted Sunday September 8th