How to watch Paul Chelimo’s 5,000m American record attempt

Paul Chelimo is set to run a 5,000m at a meet called the Firefly Recovery in Virginia on Thursday evening, and he will be chasing Galen Rupp‘s American record of 13:01.26. Chelimo and 10 other men will take to the track in Virginia, and if he or any of the other competitors can break Rupp’s record, it’s possible they could also run sub-13. There will be a women’s race as well, although only two runners are on the start list. Here’s how to watch the Firefly Recovery 5,000m and who to keep an eye on at what will hopefully be a fast couple of races.

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Who to watch

Chelimo is of course the main runner to watch at Thursday’s meet. He’s a 5,000m specialist, and while he hasn’t raced the distance indoors since 2011 (when he ran his indoor PB of 14:14.6), he has the outdoor results to back up a record attempt like this one. In 2016 at the Rio Olympics, Chelimo won silver in the 5,000m, finishing less than a second behind gold medallist Mo Farah. The following year, he won bronze in the 5,000m at the 2017 world championships.

RELATED: Paul Chelimo going for American indoor 5,000m record

Chelimo also sits very high in the American outdoor rankings, and his PB of 12:57.55 places him at fourth all-time in national history. It will be far from easy for him to beat Rupp’s record and potentially break 13 minutes, but he has proven he can run that quickly.

Other men in the field include Leonard Korir, Lawi Lalang and Anthony Rotich, and while they all own fast 5,000m PBs, they each ran them years ago, and they probably aren’t threats to break Rupp’s record. Chelimo’s main competition in Virginia will likely come from Emmanuel Bor, who has an indoor 5,000m best of 13:10.23.

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Bor ran his PB in 2019, and last year he posted another impressive result of 13:12.53. Shaving nine seconds off his best time will be tough, but if he can hang with Chelimo, it’s certainly possible that he could get close to the American record.

RELATED: Galen Rupp sets American 10-mile record, wins half-marathon in 1:00:22

On the women’s side, the 5,000m race will be a battle between Ednah Kurgat and Elvin Kibet. Kurgat has a much quicker PB (15:14.78) than Kibet (15:59.16), although the two women have run closer times outdoors, with bests of 15:20.06 and 15:27.74, respectively.

How to watch

Watching the Firefly Recovery 5,000m will be easy for fans, and no paid subscriptions or sketchy stream will be required. The full event will be broadcast by LetsRun.com, with coverage starting at 5:20 p.m. ET. The women run first, kicking the night off at 5:30 p.m. and the men will follow shortly after, with their race set to start at 6 p.m.