By David Rogers. NEW YORK, N.Y. (remote) — High Country-based professional athlete Amanda Vestri was at the front for most of the 2025 Mastercard New York Mini 10k on June 7, leading 9,962 women and girls in winding through the ups and downs of Midtown Manhattan and Central Park. It was Kenya’s Helen Obiri and Weini Kelati, though, who surged ahead in the final two miles to capture the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, just five seconds separating the two. Obiri broke the tape in 30:44, with Kelati close behind in 30:49.
Vestri fought hard to stay in contention, but faded to No. 6, only 36 seconds behind Obiri in 31:20. A member of Blowing Rock’s ZAP Endurance elite running team, Vestri was the second American to cross the finish line, just 21 seconds behind Taylor Roe, the former Oklahoma State University track and cross country star now hailing from Raleigh, N.C.
Vestri was the top American finisher in 2024, No. 4 overall (31:17).
“Amanda ran an exceptional race, banging heads with some of the best women on the pro circuit,” said ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea. “This performance sets her up well for next weekend’s U.S. 4-Mile Championship, on June 14 in Peoria, Illinois.”
Roe was making her Mastercard Mini debut after recently breaking the women-only 10-mile world road race record in 49:53, in Washington, D.C. on April 6. Her 30:58 in the Mastercard Mini is a new personal best at the 10K road distance.
The High Country was well represented in this race around Central Park and beyond. Another ZAP Endurance team member, Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, finished at No. 25 (33:34), her first race since the iconic Boston Marathon on April 21, where she finished No. 19 among the 12,210 women competing over the 26.2 miles of Beantown streets.
“Tristin had a good, solid run for her first race coming off the Boston Marathon in April. The summer is looking good for her on the U.S. road racing scene.”
The Mastercard New York Mini 10K is the world’s original, women-only race to feature Olympians and World Championship medalists. The race was first organized in 1972, by the New York Road Runners, as a way to promote women’s distance running, generally. The race’s inaugural sponsor was Johnson Wax, promoting a women’s shaving gel called, “Crazylegs.” Only 78 runners competed in the first race, but in the last 50 years it has grown to be both an elite running event as well as a “fun run” for many female athletes.
The 1972 first race was won by Jacqueline Dixon of the U.S., in 37:17. The course record is 30:12, set in 2023 by Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia.
The course of the road race begins near 61st Street on Central Park West and heads north, entering Central Park at West 90th Street. The route loops in a clockwise direction, turning southwards at Harlem Meer around the 3-mile (5-kilometre) mark. It continues south past the Central Park Reservoir and the Guggenheim Museum. Runners continue southwards until they come towards the park’s limits near Wollman Rink at which point it heads to the west and turns north to the finishing point near the Tavern on the Green and Sheep Meadow.
Of the almost 10,000 runners, 7,169 of them were from one of the five New York boroughs, with 2,804 coming from outside of NYC.
- Manhattan: 3,892
- The Bronx: 312
- Brooklyn: 1,605
- Queens: 1,240
- Staten Island: 120
The youngest finisher was 3-yearold Oliver Marks, in 57:57. The oldest was Ulrike Klopfer, in 1:55:06, according to the New York Road Runners.
