The Boston Athletic Association’s Heather Cappello raced herself to the USATF-NE 5 Mile Title last Sunday at the Bobby Doyle race. Despite the positive split, she ran the smartest race in the field, taking down former Iona distance ace Salome Kosgei, Heartbreaker Rachel Sorna, and many other fast ladies in the process. We coordinated a short Q&A with her on how she pulled off the feat:
Scott Mason captures the moment as Heather breaks the tape. Click on the photo to access his full album of the race.
All things considered, were you satisfied with your performance?
Considering the heat and humidity I was very happy with performance. I took some time off in the Fall last year due to an injury and have spent most of this year trying to get back into racing shape.
Who did you think your biggest competitors were early on?
At the start of the race I thought Rosa, who ran well the weekend before at the Run4Kerri, and Salome would be my biggest competitors.
Did the oppressively hot weather affect your race tactics in any way?
My plan was to start out slower, but that didn’t happen. My first mile (5:17) was faster than I had hoped.
Salome Kosgei had a 24 second staple on you at 5k and seemingly faded badly. Were you surprised to not only get by her, but put on as much distance as you did that late in the race?
Yes, I was very surprised!! I thought Salome would be the winner from the start of the race. She went out at a very fast pace. The only time I saw her was when I passed her shortly after the 4 mile mark. I thought she might have backed off since she was so far ahead and was anticipating her to pick up the pace when I passed her.
What are your goals for the rest of the year?
My goals for the rest of the year are to stay injury free and get back racing!
Best of luck to Heather as she works her way back into shape. She’s already off to a fabulous start being the only woman to go sub-28 at Bobby Doyle in extremely humid conditions. Look for her to be at the front in future races.
