NYRR Media Center

Hassan Mead, who has made the last four World Championship or Olympic teams at either 5000 meters or 10,000 meters, will be making his half-marathon debut at the United Airlines NYC Half.

Mead had his breakout season in 2015 when he qualified for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing. He represented Team USA at the Rio 2016 Olympics after taking second place in the 5000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials, just two-tenths of a second behind winner Bernard Lagat. He then won the 10,000 meters at the 2017 USATF Championships, earning his spot at the World Championships in London that summer. Last year, he represented Team USA at the World Championships in Doha over 5000 meters.

Mead grew up in a family of farmers in rural northwest, war-torn Somalia and moved to the U.S. in 2000. He attended school for the very first time at age 11, barely knowing English. After finalizing his U.S. citizenship at the end of high school, he went on to run for the University of Minnesota, where he became the college’s first freshman All-American in his sport and competed in his first U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of that season. He went on to become a six-time NCAA All-American there, even after suffering a collapsed lung in 2010.