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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile: Lagat vs. Mottram

Posted February 1st, 2008 at 2:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Here’s a homemade video I found on YouTube of the 2007 Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile, in which Bernard Lagat outkicked Craig Mottram to win in 3:54.26 to Mottram’s 3:54.81. The athlete introductions are pretty amusing, as they are so “pro-wrestling.”

The dynamic in this year’s race will be a little different with Lagat going for his 6th win and Galen Rupp trying to (as he has said) “stick his nose in it.” Expect Mottram to challenge again by going to the front with a few laps to go, just like he did last year. He has said he is “fit and strong” and Lagat has admitted he is distracted by the tragedy unfolding in his native Kenya. The 2008 race should be a classic just like 2007 race below:

Sources: [The Age, Australia][NY Times][IAAF]

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TFS News Briefs: 2/01/08

Posted February 1st, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

2007 World High Jump champion “Way Ahead” Of Where He Was Last Year
Even though he didn’t win his first competition of his -08 season, 2007 high jump world champion Donald Thomas of the Bahamas said that, “I’m way ahead of where I was at this time last year, that’s for sure…. The results won’t show it, but physically and every other way, I know it… “I’m just a little rusty right now, I need a little more time.” It should be an exciting year for the high jump.
Read more at: [IAAF]

Mottram Determined to Show That Big Runners Can Run Indoors
Craig Mottram, at 6′ 2″ and 162 lbs, is much bigger that the average middle-distance runner. He is determined to proved tonight that a big guy like him can take on the best in the world in an indoor, 11-laps-to-the-mile race, and beat them. His determination will surely be challenged by a smaller (5′ 8″, 134 lbs.) Bernard Lagat, the current world champion at 1500m and 5000m.
Read more at [The Age, Australia]

USC Graduate Allyson Felix Begins Two-A-Days
Now that she has graduated from USC with a degree in Elementary Education, Allyson Felix suddenly has a little more spare time, time to step up her training regimen to include two workouts a day. This is all part of her plan to do a 200m/400m double (maybe even tripling in the 100m!) in Beijing.
Read more at: [AFP]
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Lagat and Mottram Set for Millrose Rematch

Posted January 30th, 2008 at 5:45 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Sitting next to each other today on barstools as they faced the press, Craig Mottram and Bernard Lagat almost looked like drinking buddies. They were relaxed and confident. Praise flowed freely.

“There’s a lot of significance with having a strong athlete like Craig in the race,” Lagat said of Friday night’s Wanamaker Mile, the signature event of the 101st Millrose Games. Lagat, who won both the 1500m and 5000m at last summer’s IAAF World Championships, registered his fifth Wanamaker Mile victory last year, overcoming a strong late race surge by Mottram. “I need to be ready,” Lagat added.

Mottram, who made his first Millrose appearance last year, made a strong bid for victory with two laps to go on the tiny 145m track. At six feet three inches, many said he was too tall for the tight turns, and his aggressive move caught the much smaller Lagat a little off balance.
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Rupp Hopes Wanamaker Mile Will Help Him Get to Beijing, Faster

Posted January 29th, 2008 at 5:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, College

When he steps on the track Friday night for the Wanamaker Mile at the 101st Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, Galen Rupp will be looking well past the finish line, all the way to Eugene, Ore. It will be there in six months time that the 21 year-old NCAA 10,000m record holder will be trying to make his first Olympic team, and he wants to be ready if his 10,000m qualifying race comes down to a kick.

“Obviously, the 10-K is my best event and that’s what I’ll be running this summer and at the Trials,” Rupp said at today’s New York Track Writers’ luncheon as he sat next to his coach, Alberto Salazar. “The goal this winter is to drop down in distance.”

Rupp, who is on a leave of absence from the University of Oregon, has yet to break four minutes for the mile. He has terrific endurance, evidenced by his 27:33.48 10,000m personal best. But improving his raw speed, Salazar said, will give him another tool to win longer races, even if it means losing in the short term.

“I’m going to take my licks,” said Rupp boyishly.
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Rupp & Willis To Run Wanamaker Mile at Millrose

Posted January 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Meet director Mark Wetmore added some additional depth to the Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile, announcing today that Galen Rupp Pictured and Nick Willis would be on the starting line with last year’s 1-2 finishers, Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram.

Rupp, 21, the NCAA 10,000m record holder, is a natural distance runner, who also holds the U.S. junior records for 3000m and 5000m. However, has never achieved a big performance in the middle distances. His top goal at the Millrose Games might be to achieve his first-ever sub-4:00 mile (his personal best is 4:01.8, outdoors), but the tight 11-laps-to-the-mile track at Madison Square Garden makes running fast times difficult.
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Lagat, Mottram Rematch Set for Millrose Games

Posted December 20th, 2007 at 8:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

At last February’s Millrose Games, the 100th edition of one of the most storied events in all of U.S. athletics, the crowd at Madison Square Garden was on their feet when Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram were at the front of the Wanamaker Mile with three laps to go.

“This is not going to be easy,” Lagat remembered saying to himself.
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Live @ Millrose: Lagat wins 3rd straight Wanamaker Mile

Posted February 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

Bernard Lagat proved once again why he is a favorite for a gold medal in Beijing; winning his fifth overall and third straight Wanamaker Mile in 3:54:26.

The race, which featured it’s most competitive field in years, wasn’t decided until the last lap when Lagat took the lead from Mottram (3:54:81) and sprinted to victory.

After the first quarter mile (56 seconds), it was the pace setter Joseph, followed by Webb, Lagat and Mottram. However, with five laps remaining (the mile is a total of eleven laps on this track), Joseph dropped out and Lagat and then Mottram passed Webb. Mottram took the lead from Lagat with about four and half laps left and Webb and the rest of the field trailed the two leaders by at least 25 meters.

Webb was passed by fellow American Chris Lukezic and fell to fourth place with two laps to go; ultimately finishing in that position with a time of 4:04:86. Webb had to be disappointed with this performance, especially since he was coming off of a victory at the Reebok Boston Indoor games where he set a new American indoor record.

Lagat, an Olympic silver and gold medalist, went into his kick on the last lap; moving to the second lane and reclaiming the lead from Mottram. Although Mottram stayed tough, there was nothing he could do and he went on to finish second in a time of 3:54:81. After the race Mottram spoke about the final lap: Read the rest of this entry »

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TFS’s Live Coverage of the 100th Millrose Games!

Posted February 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

The Final Sprint is proud to bring you LIVE coverage of the 100th Millrose Games from Madison Square Garden in NYC!

We’ll be reporting all the action as it happens; including the results of the epic battle between defending champion Bernard Lagat, Craig Mottram and Alan Webb in the Wanamker Mile!

You can also watch most of the action live on ESPN-2 between 7-9pm EST, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to watch the Wanamaker mile - when it will be broadcast on NBC between 2-3pm.

We’re heading to the Garden … but in the meantime, check out the IAAF’s Millrose Games preview and get ready for an incredible night of competition!

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Lagat celebrates first win as an American athlete

Posted January 28th, 2007 at 5:47 PM by Lisa Cieplechowicz

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Bernard Lagat, in his first competition as an American athlete, won the 1,500 meter race (00:03:45.55) at the Norwich Union indoor competition on Saturday.

Born in Kenya, Lagat became a naturalized citizen of the United States after winning the silver in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, under international rules he could not compete in major championships until Saturday’s meet.
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Devers, Greene join Webb, Lagat and others for 100th Millrose Games in NYC

Posted January 26th, 2007 at 4:45 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Gail Devers, a two-time Olympic 100-meter champion, and Maurice Greene, an Olympic gold medalist at 100 meters and a three-time World Champion, have been added to a star-studded field for the 100th Millrose Games, organizers announced today. Devers will compete in the 60-meter hurdles and Greene in the 60-meter dash.

Devers, who is also a three-time World Indoor Champion at 60 meters, has made five Olympic teams spanning back to 1988, and is a 10-time USA hurdles champion. She is the American Record-holder at 12.33 seconds at the 100H and 7.74 at the 60H, as well as the Millrose Games meet record-holder. At 40, she has been at the top of the sport since the mid-1980s.
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