Zimbabwe’s Hanneck Goes After World Record in Carlsbad 5,000

Phillimon Hanneck of Zimbabwe, recent Rogaine 5K winner in Los Angeles, will try for a world record in today’s eighth annual Carlsbad 5,000.

The record for a 3.1-mile road course is 13 minutes 11.7 seconds, set at Carlsbad last year by William Mutwol of Kenya, and Hanneck is capable of breaking it if conditions are favorable.

Leading American runners in the elite international field are Olympians Steve Scott, Mary Slaney and Shelly Steely. The veteran Scott, a UC Irvine alumnus who lives in Leucadia, won the first three Carlsbad races.

Slaney, who set numerous world and American records as Mary Decker and Mary Decker Slaney, will run here for the first time. Yvonne Murray of Scotland, winner of the women’s Rogaine 5K, withdrew last week because of the death of her fiancee. With her out, the leading contenders are Slaney, Steely, Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan and 1990 winner Elly Van Hurst of the Netherlands.

World records have been broken eight times in this event, four each by men and women.