Boston Marathon – Can the 2012 Distance Medley winners defend their crowns in 2013? Ethiopian Stars to Challenge Defending B.A.A. Distance Medley Champs in B.A.A. 5K

“I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to do it again,” said Smith, a three-time Olympian who lives and trains in nearby Providence, R.I.

Neither Kiprono nor Smith won the 5K last year—Kiprono was fifth and Smith finished third—and they will have no easier time of it on Sunday. The men’s field is headlined by Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist at 5000 meters; Lani Rutto of Kenya, who was third in the 5K and runner-up in the medley in 2012; and Alistair Cragg of Ireland, the 2005 European Indoor Champion at 3000 meters.

For the women, Smith will face Werknesh Kidane of Ethiopia, who was fourth at 10,000 meters in the 2012 Olympic Games, and Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya, who will try to regain her 2011 5K crown.

The Distance Medley consists of three races: the 5K, the B.A.A. 10K on June 23, and the B.A.A. Half Marathon presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund on October 13. The 5K takes off on Sunday at 8 a.m. on Boylston Street, with a field of 6,500 runners in addition to top pro fields. It will be followed by the B.A.A. Invitational Mile.

The men’s and women’s winners of the 5K will each take home $4,000 and the early series lead, with $100,000 awarded to both the man and woman with the fastest cumulative time from the three races. Last year, the men’s medley came down to the wire, with Kiprono overcoming a six-second deficit coming into the half marathon with a course-record 1:01:44 victory to win the series by 12 seconds.

Smith, 31, won the women’s series a bit more handily, taking the lead by winning the 10K in a course-record 31:36 and then cruising to victory in the half marathon to take the series by just over two minutes.

Ideally suited for the medley, Smith’s Olympic appearances have literally run the gamut, from 5000 meters in 2004 to 10,000 meters in 2008 to the marathon in 2012. Even more to the point, her specialty is the half marathon: Smith’s personal best of 1:07:11 is the fastest time ever recorded on U.S. soil.

But Kidane is a worthy rival.

“She’s kind of perfect for the series as well,” offered Smith.

Kidane, the 2003 IAAF World Championships silver medalist at 10,000 meters and owner of eight IAAF World Cross Country Championships medals—the most of any woman in history—feels the same way about Smith.

“She’s a danger in all three races,” said the 32-year-old Kidane, whose husband, Gebre Gebremariam, is among the favorites in Monday’s Boston Marathon.

Last year, Kidane had to forgo the B.A.A. 10K, which she calls her best and favorite distance, after being chosen to represent her country in the Olympics for the third time. This year, she said, she is determined to finish out the series.

Among their top rivals will be Americans Delilah DiCrescenzo, winner of the 2012 Manchester Road Race, and Sarah (Porter) Crouch.

In the men’s 5K, Gebremeskel—ranked No. 2 in the world last year at 5000 meters—has to be considered the favorite. Just 23, he already has an IAAF World Championships bronze medal, from 2011, to go with his Olympic hardware, and brings to Boston both the fastest 5K road time (13:11) and track time (12:46.81, the fastest time in the world for 2012).

“I want to start off this series with a win,” he said on Tuesday, after arriving in Boston from southern California and his third-consecutive Carlsbad 5000 victory last weekend. “The 5K is the most important one for me. My focus is this race.”

That’s because Gebremeskel has raced only one 10K in his career, a 27:45 in 2011, and has never run a half marathon.

“This is a real challenge,” he said.

Rounding out the top competitors on the men’s side will be Daniel Salel of Kenya, making his 5K road debut with a 5000-meter track PB of 13:08.23; Stephen Sambu of Kenya, a rising star who trains with two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat and four-time U.S Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, who will be running the marathon on Monday; and Americans Aaron Braun and Andrew Carlson.

 B.A.A. –  Story by Barbara Huebner