All My Friends Are Runners: Osaka 2007

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.
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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.

At this point in my life, I was far from a diligent follower of the world landscape of distance running, but Lagat’s amazing victories started me on that path. After his double gold, I seemingly couldn’t go to a running store without seeing a Lagat poster hanging on the wall.


[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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