Bernard Lagat won the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at the 101st edition of the Millrose Games in the fastest time of the still-new indoor season. On the tight, narrow 150-meter track of Madison Square Garden, the American ran 3:57.51 in front of 12,500 spectators.
With this performance the Kenyan-born athlete also beat the Australian Craig Mottram. Lagat, who made World Championship history in Osaka last year with gold medals over 1500m and 5,000m, overhauled Mottram with more than 200 meters to go and never let the lead slip. His margin of victory was a comfortable .39 seconds, with Mottram finishing in 3:57.90. “I knew Bernard would come from behind. I tried to run with him for as long as I could,” said Mottram.
Lagat admittedly ran appreciably slower than his win last year in 3:54.26, but he is on course to achieve a “Grand Slam” at the Millrose Games. The Irishman Eamonn Coghlan won the mile at this meeting seven times, and Lagat has now won it on six occasions. “The race went exactly as I thought it would. I’ll definitely be back on the start line in New York next year,” said Lagat. Asked about the shorter and tighter circuit, the 33-year-old replied, “I’ve got used to it. Usually, it’s true, we run on 200-meter tracks, and with a shorter track, it feels as if you’re running round and round forever. You have to enjoy it, but watch out you don’t miscount the number of laps!”
As for the possibility of going for a double at the Olympic Games, Lagat said, “I’ll do the 1500 and 5,000 at the U.S. Trials. Then I’ll decide which distance I’ll run in Beijing, or whether I’ll run both of them.”
Defar Misses World Record Despite Leading Time in Stuttgart
One day later at the high-quality indoor meeting in Stuttgart, Meseret Defar fell short by more than 4 seconds in her attack on the 3,000m world record. The Ethiopian, who brought the world best for 2 miles down to 9:10.50 the week before in Boston, ran 8:23.72 for 3,000m in Stuttgart last year.
This year, the 24-year-old Defar was paced by the Russian Olga Komyagina through 1,000m in 2:47.41 – right on world record tempo. But when she was out on her own, Defar lost momentum, and her record drifted out of reach. She crossed the line in 8:27.93. Although she had run the fourth best performance ever as well as a world leading time, Defer wasn’t happy. “I came here to run a world record,” she said. “So I’m disappointed. I’m actually in very good form, but perhaps I hadn’t recovered enough from the race in Boston.” Ejegayehu Dibaba (Ethiopia) was second in 8:39.08, and Sylvia Kibet (Kenya) took third in 8:54.18. Sabrina Mockenhaupt (Germany) achieved the World Indoor Championship qualifying time with 8:56.27 for sixth place.
There was also a world best for the year in the men’s 3,000m. Tariku Bekele, younger brother of the multi-world record holder Kenenisa, won the race in an impressive 7:31.09. This was also the fourth fastest performance in history.
Wanjiru Goes Sub-1 Hour for Fifth Time
At the half marathon in Granollers, Spain, Samuel Wanjiru once again produced a world-class performance over 13.1 miles. Only 21 years old, the Kenyan dominated the race to win in 59:26. He beat the course record of Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) by 42 seconds. Wanjiru also took the world record for the distance from Gebrselassie with 58:33 last year. With his mark in Granollers, Wanjiru is now the only runner who has broken 1 hour for the half marathon on five occasions. Finishing well behind Wanjiru in Granollers were the Kenyans Wilson Chebet (61:12) and Yacob Yator (61:39). Wanjiru, who lives mostly in Japan, explained afterward, “Because of the unrest in Kenya I’ve missed some key training sessions – that’s why I couldn’t break the world record today. But I’m very happy I ran under the hour today. My next objective is the London Marathon in April. There I want to qualify for the Olympic Games.” Wanjiru won his debut over 26.2 miles in Fukuoka in December in the top-class time of 2:06:39. This could lead to a duel with Gebrselassie in Beijing in the summer.
Less eye-catching was the winning time in the women’s race: Kenyan Rahab Ndungu won in 71:20. Iessandra Aguilar (Spain) with 71:33 and Beatrice Toroitich (Kenya) in 73:33 completed the leading positions.
Kenyan Ongori Springs a Surprise in Japan
A series of races took place in Japan over the weekend, and a 21-year-old Kenyan woman provided the highlight: Philes Ongori won the Marugame Half Marathon in a first-class time of 67:57. The Kenyan, who previously had a best of 69:50 and mainly appeared in track races, provided the first performance of note over 13.1 miles for the year. The Japanese Yoshimi Ozaki (69:30) and Mari Ozaki (69:58) completed the leading positions. There was triple success for Kenya among the men: Harun Njoroge won in 61:35 from Joseph Mwanki (61:39) and Martin Waweru (62:02).
The field for the Beppu-Oita Marathon wasn’t quite so strong as in recent years because the race was not part of the three qualifying competitions in Japan for the Olympic Games. Victory in the elite men’s race went to Tomoya Adachi (Japan) in 2:11:59 from Rachid Kisri of Morocco (2:13:07) and Scott Westcott of Australia (2:13:36). The scheduled Ohme 30K had to be canceled because of strong snowfall.
