In honor of Mr. Lagat's birthday earlier this week ...
Chapter 13: Osaka 2007
My
first year of running, I was more spoiled than six-year-old milk. I saw the
first ever sub 15s at Lehigh, one of the best rivalries in state history, a
team national championship in cross country, another national championship
indoors, an indoor state meet record, a Penn Relays championship, an outdoor
state record and, oh yeah, one of the rivalries in state history AGAIN. How
lucky was I? Well believe it or not, my luck hadn’t run out. In the summer of
2007, I witnessed the greatest performance by a US distance runner in world
championship history.
Bernard
Lagat was already an accomplished athlete in Kenya. He had raced Hicham El
Guerrouj, the world record holder in the mile, to a stand-still in one of the
greatest 1500 meter[1]
races of all-time in 2001. El G ran 3:26.12 to Lagat’s 3:26.34, the 2nd
and 3rd fastest times ever run at that distance behind only Hicham’s
3:26.00 world record. As a Kenyan, Lagat had also won a pair of Olympic medals
in the 1500 and an indoor world championship gold in the 3,000 meters[2].
By
March of 2005, Lagat had become a United States citizen (he attend college at
Washington State University, graduating in 2000) and in 2007 he prepared for
his first World Championships as a representative of the Red, White and Blue.
Lagat planned to contest both the 1500 meters and the 5,000 meters under the USA
flag. Although, the arrival of Lagat was sure to take US distance running up a
notch, heading into the World Championships, he may not have even been the US’s
best weapon against the rest of the world. That honor belonged to Alan Webb.
As a
high school senior in 2001, Alan Webb did the unthinkable: he broke Jim Ryun’s
36 year high school mile record with an eye-popping 3:53.43. This was a glimpse
into his potential. But like many preps, that potential was not guaranteed to
translate to success. His first year at Michigan he struggled and ultimately
decided to turn professional. In 2004, he made his first Olympic Team and then,
in 2005, he really started to his stride. Webb set a then American Record of
8:11.48 in the 2 Mile and clocked a very quick 2:20.32 at 1,000 meters. On the
other end of the spectrum he ran 13:10.86 for 5,000 meters and ran 27:34 for a 10,000
meter debut in 2006. At the 2005 World Championships, Alan Webb was our lone
American Finalist, taking 9th overall[3].
Webb
and Lagat met for the first time at the 2007 USA Championships at 1500 meters
and Webb got the best of the newcomer, making a pass in the final 50 meters to
win the title. Webb had also run personal bests in the 800 (1:43.84) and 1500
(3:30.54) in 2007, the second of which won a race in the Golden League series
that features the best athletes in the world. To cap it all off, on July 21st
2007, Alan Webb broke the American Record in the Mile by running 3:46.91[4]. It is the 8th
fastest mile in World History and as of the writing of this paragraph remains
the fastest mile recorded in the last 15 years.
***
With
two star studded Americans leading the charge, the US Distance squad’s world
championships began with the 1500 meter heats on August 25th. Webb
and Lagat each qualified with ease onto the semi-finals and then, in turn,
punched tickets to the finals two days later. That set both men up for a run in
the finals against defending world champion Rashid Ramzi and 18-year-old phenom
Asbel Kiprop.
On race
day, the field was tight throughout as the pace was conservative. Both men were
up toward the front with Webb taking turns at the lead. Then, on the last lap,
Lagat, always a tactical genius, moved into the perfect striking position. He
sprinted home to victory in the final straight, defeating a boxed out Ramzi, to
bring the USA gold in the 1500 meters with a winning time of 3:34.77. Webb
finished in 8th place overall, fading out of medal contention in the
same stretch that Lagat powered to victory. It was his best career finish but
likely not what he had been hoping for after his terrific season.
With
Webb’s hype fading, the American-centric buzz now focused on Lagat. A day after
the 1500 finals, Lagat qualified for the 5,000 meter finals. If he won his next
race, he would become the first man in World Championship history to complete
the 15-5 double gold. On September 2nd, 2007, after another slow
early pace, Lagat sprinted away from 2003 World Champion Eliud Kipchoge to win
a second gold as part of a field that included 3 US men in the finals (Matt
Tegenkamp was 4th by 0.03, Adam Goucher was 11th). A year
earlier, no US runners had even made the final.
[1] So you know how we’ve discussed the
mile? And the 1600 meters? Well let me introduce you to the 1500 meters. It’s
about 15-20 seconds shorter than a mile (one straightaway on the track), but
it’s the international distance of choice for the Olympics and World
Championships. Outside the USA, the 1500 is a much bigger deal than the mile
and the 16 is basically meaningless
[2] Indoor 3k was right in Bernie’s
wheelhouse. He won 2004, 2010 and 2012 championships in that event at the ages
of 29, 35 and 37
[3] In this race, Webb makes a crazy
surge at 700 meters to go and pays the price big time. It was a bold strategy
for sure. Definitely worth a watch if you can find the video.
[4] For those of you who have watched
this video, you also may know it as the “Ghost of Steve Scott” race.
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