Run to Win

Tomorrow evening is the Boston Indoor Games, a great event put on down at the Reggie Lewis Center every year. If you are planning on being there, then keep an eye out for me as I’ll be there with both my still and my video camera!

The Games will not be televised live, but will be on ESPN on Sunday from 4:00-6:00. If you haven’t made your picks yet, you have until 4:55 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday to choose who you think is going to score in tomorrow’s meet.

I am very excited about the meet. When making my picks, I saw that Kevin Sullivan is racing in the mile, so I had to make that pick despite thinking that he probably isn’t going to be able to beat Alan Webb.

Kara Goucher should put in a good 3000m as she gets herself into shape for the Boston Marathon, her goal race for 2009 and which has not been won by an American (man or woman) since 1985.

I’m also looking forward to watching Shalane Flanagan in the 5k and Galen Rupp in the 3k.

I also noticed today that the USATF Indoor Championships are also in Boston this year, so I am going to have to see if I can arrange my schedule to let me get down there again at the end of the month.

See you there!

What did Alan Webb have to say to the Americans back home after breaking Steve Scott’s mile record in Belgium?

“Dreams come true, man!”

Flotrack has some great videos of Alan Webb’s record-setting mile:

• Video of the Race (low resolution version)
• Post Race Interview

The interview is about 7 minutes long while the refs are waiting for him to take a drug test.

Thanks to Amby Burfoot from Runner’s World for bringing the interview to my attention.

Photo by Erik R. BishoffTwo weeks ago, Alan Webb ran a 3:30.54 in a 1500 meter race in France, the fastest so far this year. Yesterday, he ran the fastest mile this year and broke the American record by running 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Belgium. There were less than 1000 people there to see the race.

Webb is having a great year, having already set some fantastic marks in the 800m as well as the 1500m earlier in the season and winning a few meets. Steve Scott, who set the previous mile record of 3:47.69 in 1982, was not surprised that his record was broken.

“I want to personally congratulate Alan,” Scott said. “I anticipated it being broken. After his 1:45 and his 3:30, you knew he was capable of it. It was just a matter of having the right pace and conditions. Even if conditions weren’t perfect, he’s so strong, I knew he could do it. I had a prediction of 3:46.5 for him.

“I’m happy that it was Alan who broke it, and I believe at the end of the day, when all is said and done, that people will consider him the greatest distance runner America has ever had. He has such range, he’s so young and he’s accomplished so much. I have nothing to be ashamed of, losing the record to him.”

The USATF has published a transcript of excerpts from the teleconference with Webb after the run on their website.

Update: There are also videos available of the race itself and his post race interview.

(Sources: USATF – LA Times)