Race Notes
An Amazing Day for track and field in Track Town USA. Alan Webb heard the announcer say he needed a 60-second last lap to break the record, and that's exactly what he did.

It was an amazing day for track and field here in Track Town, USA. The fans were out in record numbers, as the weather held up almost perfectly for the entire meet. And at the end of the day, the distance kings from near and afar proved that track in certainly still alive and well in America.

The 2-mile race was set up and delivered very precisely. Two "rabbits", Julius Achon and Martin Keino, led the crew through early splits of 60 seconds per lap (for a full 440 yards). As they peeled off near the end of the 5th lap, is was all Eluid Kipchoge till the finish tape. The current World Champion cruised in to a 8:07.68 victory. Kipchoge, who came into the race with a season personal best of 7:28 for 3000 meters, was solo all the way to the line in a convincing win.

However, the real story was going on just behind his heals. Though we didn't quite get to see the big match-up of Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Alan Webb, the latter of the two still put on quite the show. Webb, who just back in 2001 at the 27th Annual Prefontaine Classic set an astonishing high school best of 3:53 for the mile, sat in 3rd place for the last two laps. Upon hearing that he would only need a 60 second last lap to take down Bob Kennedy's American Record of 8:11.59, he kicked passed 3rd place finisher Boaz Chemboiywo, to finish second and in a new record of 8:11.48.

After the meet, I caught up with Webb, and here's what he had to say about his race, the legend of Prefontaine, and even gave some great advice to up and coming young harriers:

Marc Davis: You got the American Record. How does it feel?

Alan Webb: I was trying my best to stay with Kipchoge and the rest of the front pack, but they went out so fast (4:00 for the first mile!!!!). I started hurting a little bit towards the end. I was lucky to have Boaz to run with the last couple of laps. We just got into a good pace. I was just trying to keep my composure. And with a lap to go, I heard the announcer say that all I had to do is run a 60 to get the record. And that's exactly what I ran.

MD: How does it feel to run here at the famous Hayward Field?

AW: I always seem to do something special here. And for it to be the record in the 2 mile, must mean that I have a good chance to run even a faster mile after this. In the end, all my races are special here in Eugene.

MD: I heard that this is actually almost a full minute PR for you in the 2 mile.

AW: Outdoors it is. I ran 8:45 for an indoor 2 mile my senior year. But technically my outdoor PR was from my sophomore year in high school at 9:10. And this is also almost a 10 second PR for the 3000 meters (Alan's 3k split was officially 7:39).

MD: Is the fact that you ran this distance today, and that it is the 30th anniversary of the death of Steve Prefontaine important to you?

AW: Oh definitely. For him it was always about pure guts, and really going for it. I really try and take that to heart. Because of that, I tried to go after it all that much more. I was 4:01 or about 4:02 for the mile officially, and I know I died a little bit. But if you don't go for it like Pre, then you will never do anything special like I did today.

MD: Do you think that this race today for you is any indication that we may see you move up to the 5000 meters in the future?

AW: Oh yeah, that's surely something I would like to do. I usually do pretty well in cross country, so I think running the longer distances is something that I can see myself doing in the future. After my race at Penn Relays in the 5000 (13:30), I can see myself moving up sometime. I need some more experience though.

MD: You have a huge group of eager young distance runners standing behind you; wanting to know how they can run as fast as you. What would you tell them?

AW: (Alan literally turns around to face the mob who has gathered just outside the staging area) You just gotta keep running hard, and you will keep getting better. Eventually you will break records just like me. It was just 4 years ago, but today I took off almost a full minute off my PR. Just keep taking off a little bit at a time, and that's what it is all about. That's the best advice I know.

Make sure you stayed tuned here for live updates and results of the upcoming Nike National Outdoor High School Championships in Greensboro, NC on June 17th and 18th. We are even hoping to have video interviews of the top girls and boys mile contenders the night before their races.