Former NCAA steeplechase champ Allie Ostrander shatters Statesman Cap10K course record

Shaualb Aljabaly and Afewrki Zeru run in the 49th annual running of the Capitol 10,000 footrace. The race went off without a hitch under gray skies and drizzling rain as large numbers participated in the yearly affair. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman)

Headed into Sunday’s Statesman Cap10K, Jeff Cunningham, the race’s elite athlete coordinator, had predicted the women’s record would fall. “I’d be shocked if Natalie Nalepa’s 1997 course record of 33:43 isn’t broken,” he said.

Allie Ostrander, out of Boulder, Colo., proved Cunningham correct, outrunning the deepest women’s field in the race’s 49-year history in record time. Shuaib Aljabaly of Michigan’s Hanson-Brooks Distance Project took the men’s race, missing Eric Chirchir’s 2013 mark of 29:24 by 17 seconds.

TOP PHOTOS: See the best moments our photographers captured at this year's Statesman Cap10K

Overall, some 25,000 runners participated in the race, the largest 10K in Texas.

Ostrander, a three-time NCAA Division I steeplechase champion at Boise State, is no stranger to puddles — the steeplechase has seven water jumps— so she navigated Sunday morning’s rainy streets with ease.

Allie Ostrander crosses the finish line first to win the 49th Annual Statesman Capitol 10,000 on Sunday April 12, 2026. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)

Kellyn Taylor, the 2026 Austin Marathon champ, led from the gun with Ostrander and Jessa Hanson a step behind as they headed north on Congress Avenue from the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. The trio hit mile 1 on East 12th Street in five minutes and 17 seconds. Turning on West 15th Street on the way to mile 2, the course’s well-known hills begin, but Ostrander had no problem on the rolling ups and downs.

“I’m pretty good at losing and then regaining momentum,” she said. “So a hilly course like the Cap10K can favor me at times.”

Allie Ostrander celebrates her win at the 49th Annual Statesman Capitol 10,000 on Sunday April 12, 2026. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)

Hanson, who ran for Northern Arizona, stayed just off Ostrander’s shoulder as the pair climbed the rain-slicked hills on Enfield Boulevard. But that’s when Ostrander put in a strong surge on a slight downhill, opening up a gap. Holding the lead, she passed the 5K mark on Winstead Lane in 16:50, with Hanson and Taylor trailing in 16:53 and 16:58, respectively.

“Jessa was hanging on to me for quite a while,” Ostrander said. “She definitely challenged me.”

Said Hanson: “When Allie surged, I kept up for around 100 meters. But I’m in the middle of a marathon build-up. I ran 110 miles this week, so I didn’t know if I could finish strong if I went with her. At that point I decided to just make sure I’d finish second and no one would catch me.”

Paralleling Ladybird Lake, Ostrander widened her lead to around 40 seconds, hitting mile 5 in 26:49 with Nalepa’s record well within reach. She broke the tape on West Riverside Drive in 32:45, shattering the nearly 30-year old course record by close to a full minute. Hanson followed in 33:45, ahead of Taylor, who was third in 33:56. Stepanie Bruce, a nationally-ranked masters runner, finished fourth in 34:13.

“I enjoyed the undulating nature of today’s course,” Ostrander said. “I’ve been struggling to have confidence in racing, but moving into the lead after two miles was a really good feeling.”

Shuaib Aljabaly crosses the finish line first to win the 49th Annual Statesman Capitol 10,000 on Sunday April 12, 2026. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)

Hanson-Brooks teammates control men’s race

Hanson-Brooks runners Aljabaly and Afewerki Zeru dominated the men’s race, forging an early lead. Working together, the pair led a pack of five, including former Texas Longhorns miler Isaac Alonzo; Wimberly’s Griffin Neal, a top 5K/10K runner for University of the Incarnate Word; and San Antonio’s Kevin Heeman, third at the Cap10K last year.

But Aljabaly and Zeru soon broke away, speeding through the hills on West 15th. Averaging 4:50 per minute miles, they hit the 5K mark in 15:00 with Zeru a step ahead.

Shaualb Aljabaly and Afewrki Zeru run in the 49th annual running of the Capitol 10,000 footrace. The race went off without a hitch under gray skies and drizzling rain as large numbers participated in the yearly affair. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman)

Winners of previous Cap10Ks have often made their move on Veteran’s Drive, a downhill stretch that runs under MoPac before flattening out alongside Austin High School. Sure enough, Aljabaly began to pull away there, hitting mile 4 in 18:58 and mile 5 on West Cesar Chavez in 24:03 with Zeru hanging on only two seconds behind.

At that point, Chirchir’s record seemed within reach. Flying across the bridge on South First Street, Aljabaly gave it his all, crossing the line in 29:41. Though he missed the record, he ran the third-fastest time for the certified course in the race’s history.

“Considering how rolling the course is, we just tried to work together as far as we could,” said Zeru, who finished second in 29:46. “But Shuaib just had more energy towards the end.”

Runners run is the 49th annual running of the Capitol 10,000 footrace. The race went off without a hitch under gray skies and drizzling rain as large numbers participated in the yearly affair. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman)

Record times, but record payouts, too

Alonzo came home third in 30:29, while Neal took fourth in 30:33 ahead of Heeman’s fifth-place 31:20.

“It got pretty hot early,” Aljabaly said of the muggy conditions. “We’ve been training in Michigan, so we’re not yet used to the humidity here. The goal was to work together and go for the course record, but today wasn’t the day for it.”

The prize purse for the race was significantly increased this year. Last year’s winners collected $1,500 apiece. On Sunday, Ostrander took home $4,750 — $4,000 for the win and an additional $750 for the record. Aljabaly’s payday was $4,000, with second place at $1,500, third at $1,000; fourth at $750 and fifth at $500.

“Tripling the prize money was an incentive to make it attractive for the nation’s top runners to come in,” said Chris Thibert, who took over as Cap10K race director this year. “I’m just ecstatic that we had the women break the course record today. That’s kind of the future where we’re going with the race –attracting major talent to Austin.”