A year ago, The Final Sprint had the opportunity to interview legendary middle-distance runner and Olympian Marty Liquori.
Liquori was the 3rd American high schooler to run under 4:00 in the mile when he ran a 3:59.8 in 1967 while at Essex Catholic High School in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. By nineteen he was already an Olympian, finishing 12th in the 1968 1500m final in Mexico City.
He was ranked #1 in the world in 1969 through 1971 at the 1500m/Mile distance, in part because of famously defeating then world-record holder Jim Ryun in the “Dream Mile” on May 16th, 1971. In 1977, he ran an American record of 13:15.1 in the 5000m and was ranked 1st in the world at that distance. He retired from competition in 1980.
Since his retirement, he has hosted and executive produced Saucony Running and Racing, an endurance sports event show now in its 13th year on ESPN, has been a track & field broadcaster on network TV, has owned a chain of specialty running stores, performs as a professional jazz guitarist with the Marty Liquori Quintet, and is the national chairman and spokesperson for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. Ironically, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia just months after becoming their spokesman. He is now in remission.
Listen and/or download the podcast to hear Marty discuss defeating Jim in the Dream Mile, bouncing back from injury, American running today and much more!
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Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Marty Liquori
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 16.2MB
Length: 00:23:44
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Australia’s Craig Mottram passed 47 people to win a handicapped mile in Devenport, Tasmania, on Saturday night, according to his coach and manager, Nic Bideau.
Running on grass, only Mottram and Australia’s two-time 1500m champion Lachlan Chisholm did not receive a headstart. Mottram clocked 3:59.1 in his first race since resuming his training in November. Chisholm finished second, ten seconds back.
“I love coming to run here because the people always get behind me,” Mottram told Australis’s ABC News. “It’s taken a few years of me coming down here and performing well to get the interest and the support, so I look forward to keep coming back in the future.”
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A published report said that the IAAF has provisionally suspended Moroccan 1500m runner, Adil Kaouch, after he failed a drug test administered after the Golden League meeting in Rome. The 28 year-old Kaouch was definitely a medal favorite at the upcoming IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. He ran personal bests this year at 1500m (3:30.77) and the mile (3:51.14).
You can read the story at this link:
When was the last time you saw a world record in a World Championship or Olympics Games in a middle distance or long distance event?
Sprinters take advantage of the Championship atmosphere, the multiple rounds, and faster tracks to set their world records.
You have to go back to Alberto Juantorena’s 1.43.50 800 meters at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. If you count Commonwealth Games, then Filbert Bayi’s 3.32.16 1500 meters in 1974 at Christchurch, NZ. (more on that race later)
Unfortunately, we can thank the rabbits for destroying that opportunity.
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To put Alan Webb’s recent performances into perspective, with his 3:46.91 American record which was set on 7/21/2007 in Brasschaat, Belgium, (see Hariz Siddiqui’s report) he is now the 8th fastest miler of all time worldwide:
(Mile Alltime World Ranking)
1. Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:43.13
2. Noah Ngeny (KEN) 3:43.40
3. Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 3:44.39
4. Steve Cram (GBR) 3:46.32
5. Daniel Komen (KEN) 3:46.38
6. Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI) 3:46.70
7. Saïd Aouita (MAR) 3:46.76
8. Alan Webb (USA) 3:46.91
In the 800m Run (See David Monti’s report), he is now the 8th fastest American of all time and the 64th fastest of all-time worldwide. It is also worth noting that every man ahead of Webb on the American all-time list is/was an 800m specialist and Webb is not:
(800m All-time American Ranking/All-time World Ranking)
1/09. Johnny Gray 1:42.60
2/29. Mark Everett 1:43.20
3/38. David Mack 1:43.35
4/39. Rich Kenah 1:43.38
5/44. Rick Wohlhuter 1:43.5 (converted from yards)
6/52. Earl Jones 1:43.62
7/58. Khadevis Robinson 1:43.68
8/64. Alan Webb 1:43.84
For source information, and to see a complete record of all-time performances for track & field events, you can visit: alltime-athletics.com.
Three-time U.S. 1,500m champion Alan Webb on Saturday broke the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium. The mark breaks the record of 3:47.69 set by National Track & Field Hall of Famer Steve Scott in 1982 and makes Webb the eighth-fastest man in history, behind Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram, Daniel Komen, Venuste Niyongabo and Said Aouita.
Webb’s agent, Ray Flynn, reports unofficial quarter-mile splits for Webb during the race as 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2.
Held on a 6-lane track, Saturday’s race is part of a career-best year for Webb. In February, he won his first U.S. indoor title in the mile before going on a tear during the outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott’s mile record at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 24 in Indianapolis, he ran 3:34.82 in the 1,500 to break Scott’s meet record at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships, where Webb won his third career national title.
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Alan Webb of Reston, Va., broke one of America’s most venerated sports records today when he scorched a 3:46.91 mile in a low-key meet in Brasschaat, Belgium tonight, breaking Steve Scott’s 25 year-old record of 3:47.69 set in Oslo in 1982.
“It was awesome,” said Webb by telephone just after setting the record. Then he joked, “I think I have the world record for the least number of spectators.”
His manager, Ray Flynn, estimated that there were between 500 and 1000 people at the track which is set in a forest, bordered by tall trees.
Running in windless and comfortably warm conditions, Webb knocked off approximate quarters of 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2, according to Flynn.
“It’s just really been a tremendous year,” Webb continued, pointing out that he still has a long career in front of him. “I’m not done. I’m only 24.”
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Ben True became the latest American to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, clocking 3:59.99 at the USATF New England Outdoor Championships held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. over the weekend.
True, who attended Greeley High School in Maine before embarking on his collegiate career at Dartmouth College in 2004, finished 28/100ths of a second ahead of Georgetown University’s Matt Debole. True’s previous best was 4:02.61 set last April.
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With a boisterous crowd of 5,000 filling the grandstand at Ichan Stadium, Alan Webb won the first significant mile of the season with an overwhelming kick, handing both Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram with rare defeats at the third annual Reebok Grand Prix on Manhattan’s Randall’s Island.
The win provided Webb, 24, with much-needed dose of redemption. In his last race in front of New York City fans, he watched from well behind as Lagat and Mottram finished 1-2 in the Wanamaker Mile at the 100th Millrose Games last February. It is a race which Webb remembers all too well.
“The last time I was in New York City wasn’t my finest hour,” said Webb after the race.
But tonight, he timed his effort to perfection. Pacemakers Moise Joseph and Justus Koech became separated from the field after the 57+ second first lap, so Lagat decided to control the contenders’ pack and ended up doing a lot of the work. Both Webb and Mottram kept Lagat in sight as did Suleiman Simotwo. Lagat built a slight lead going into the final lap of the race, but did not want to get ahead of himself.
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Four of the world’s top ten men’s milers will toe the line June 10 at the 2007 Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field in Eugene.
The fourth event of USA Track & Field’s 2007 Outdoor Visa Championship Series, the Prefontaine Classic will be televised live on NBC, Sunday, June 10, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
The field includes nine runners with lifetime mile bests under 4-minutes, which could jeopardize the Hayward Field and Prefontaine Classic record of 3 minutes 49.92 seconds set six years ago by Hicham El Guerrouj.
Americans leading the way include two-time Olympic medalist and defending Bowerman Mile champion Bernard Lagat, who ended the 2006 season ranked #3 in the world in the 1,500/mile by Track & Field News. Two-time U.S. Outdoor champion and reigning national indoor titlist Alan Webb returns to The Bowerman Mile, where he ran a 3:53.43 at the 2001 Pre Classic to set the national high school record.
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