Running News Daily

Yomif Kejelcha smashed the Indoor Mile World Record clocking 3:47.01 in Boston Sunday

Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia broke the world indoor mile record when he clocked three minutes 47.01 seconds during an invitational meet in Boston on Sunday.

The 21-year-old smashed the 22-year-old record of 3:48.45 set by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997.

Kejelcha had come within one hundredth of a second of the record when he clocked 3:48.46 at the Millrose Games in New York last month.

The twice world indoor 3,000 meters champion was also targeting the indoor 1,500m record but narrowly missed it with a 3:31.25.

This makes Kejelcha, who is coached by Alberto Salazar, the third-fastest in the 1500m behind compatriot Samuel Tefera's February world record of 3:31.04 and El Guerrouj's 3:31.18

Eariler in the week Oregon live reported, “As promised, Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar has declared the NOP’s Yomif Kejelcha will be running for a world indoor record in the 1,500 meters -- and, possibly, the mile -- in the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile Sunday at Boston University.

Salazar said making a world-record assault public puts pressure on the runner making the attempt, but also causes the runner to focus. And, he thinks, world-record attempts create the kind of publicity and attention the sport needs.

"If we’re going for a record in Boston, people are going to know," Salazar said then. “If we say we’re going for it, we’ll go for it.”

He told DyeStat’s Doug Binder on Wednesday that Kejeclha is fit and ready.

“He likes the 1,500 (meters), but I think the mile is more prestigious,” Salazar told Binder. “He’s going for the 1,500 record, and afterwards just hopes to maintain so he can get the mile as well.”

This is how the race in Boston unfolded as described by the IAAF. 

Kejelcha followed three different pacemakers for the opening laps and passed through 809m in 1:52. Worried the pace wasn't quick enough, he moved past the final pacemaker about two minutes into the race and was then out in front alone.

He was inside 2:51 with two laps remaining and kept up his swift pace for the last 400 metres. The clock had already ticked over to 3:31 by the time he passed the 1500m checkpoint, but he – and the eager fans – would have to wait until after the race to find out his official split. His immediate concern was reaching the finish line of the mile.

Kejelcha dug in deep and crossed the line in 3:47.01, taking 1.44 seconds off the previous world indoor record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. Moments later, his 1500m split was confirmed at 3:31.25, making him the third-fastest indoor performer in history behind Tefera and El Guerrouj.

Kejelcha's mile time is also an outright Ethiopian record, bettering the outdoor mark of 3:48.60 set by Aman Wote.

America's Johnny Gregorek (second photo)  finished second in 3:49.98, moving to sixth on the world indoor all-time list, just 0.09 shy of Bernard Lagat's North American indoor record.  This is the seventh best time by an American Indoor or outdoors according to LetsRun.  

(03/03/2019) ⚡AMP

British athlete Dewi Griffiths will be running the Houston half marathon

Dewi Griffiths will line up in the half marathon hoping to lay down a marker before making a return to marathon racing later this year.

The Welshman, who ran a fantastic 2:09:49 marathon debut in 2017, had his 2018 season scuppered for the most part due to injury.

Griffiths made a steady return to action in the latter part of the year, building up to a 1:02:55 performance at the Cardiff hosted Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in October, before ending on a high with a 28:49 10k at the Corrida de Houilles in France.

Among those Griffiths will face are five sub 60 minute athletes, including Kenyan trio Bedan Karoki Muchiri, Bernard Ngeno and Geoffrey Koech, while USA’s Shadrack Biwott and Bernard Lagat are also in the field.

(01/08/2019) ⚡AMP

The five-time track Olympian Bernard Lagat finished 18th in 2:17:20 at his New York City Marathon debut

Bernard Lagat, 43, thought marathon runners were crazy. Even for a decorated runner who has excelled at ‘long distance’ on the track, the thought of 26.2 miles was daunting. But now that he’s tried one, he’s hoping to develop an addiction – the good kind, of course - the one that most marathon runners seem to have. “They say once you run one marathon, you come back and run again. It’s addictive,” Lagat, a five-time Olympian and American track superstar, said. Lagat finished 18th in two hours, 17 minutes, 20 seconds at the New York City Marathon Sunday morning.  It was his first marathon and he finished 11:21 behind winner Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia. “Oh man, it was something out there,” Lagat said. “It was fun. I’ve never been in such an environment like that before. I enjoyed it. The fans were amazing on the road. It’s one of those things where I didn’t even know going in that I would experience something like that today. It was really awesome.” Lagat came up a bit short of his stated goal – breaking Meb Keflezighi’s American masters record of 2:12:21 – but he says they’ll be other chances. This won’t be a one-time thing for Lagat. “I hope I can come back to New York once more,” Lagat, who won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said. (11/05/2018) ⚡AMP

Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios is training with Bernard Lagat as they get ready for the New York Marathon

Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios and American Bernard Lagat have competed against each other at the highest level, but that doesn't keep them from training together for the New York Marathon. Bernard Lagat is a five-time Olympian, an American record holder and five-time world champion in distances from 1,500 to 5,000 meters. He's also a fine foodie. Come dinner time, that means a lot to Juan Luis Barrios. "Lagat is the chef," Barrios says. "He's really good in the kitchen." Since August, Lagat, Barrios, a two-time Olympian for Mexico, and Abdi Abdirahman, a four-time U.S. Olympian, have been training partners and housemates in Flagstaff, Arizona, as they get ready for Sunday's New York City Marathon. There the trio will find a strong field including Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, who is the defending champ. The three have found they have similar easygoing personalities and taste in food. Lagat and Barrios often yield to Abdirahman when they go out to eat, though, because when he finds a restaurant he likes, he sticks with it. Lagat jokes he's "a snob" and playfully suggests his friend won't even go anywhere for coffee but the one little spot he has visited for years. For Lagat, Barrios and Abdirahman, Flagstaff stays also mean time spent talking, eating, going out for coffee and watching TV before and after long days of training. Lagat, who will make his marathon debut at New York at the age of 43, calls Barrios and Abdirahman his brothers. He and Abdirahman, 41, first met when they competed against one another in the Pac-12 in the late 1990s and have been training together in Flagstaff since 2002. All three became friends in 2012 when Barrios made Flagstaff his base before the London Games. "I have the same conditions for training, altitude," says Barrios, 35, of his home in Mexico City. "But I don't have these kind of training partners." (10/30/2018) ⚡AMP

Bernard Lagat, the second fastest 1500m runner of all time, will debut at New York City Marathon

Bernard Lagat, at the age of 43, with two Olympic medals and five world titles to his name would have every reason to walk away from his beloved sport feeling proud. Instead, he wants to achieve more.  The 2018 New York City Marathon will be Lagat’s debut at the distance.  The Kenyan American has the second best record in history at 1,500 meters. Today, this nationalized Kenyan American athlete in 2004 is best known for all the achievements he has achieved at an age when many others have long since retired from the world of athletics. But the truth is that Bernard Lagat has earned the respect of all fans of athletics for their brands in recent years and for still running at an elite level at age 43. Lagat is the American record holder in the 1500m and mile indoors, as well as the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m outdoors, and is the Kenyan record holder at 1500m outdoors. Lagat is the second fastest 1500m runner of all time, behind Hicham El Guerrouj. Lagat is a five-time Olympian, having competed in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, and is a thirteen-time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals. Going into the Rio Olympics with the age of 41, in the 5000m, he finished 5th among 16 starters (10/29/2018) ⚡AMP

Five-time U.S. Olympian Bernard Lagat will Make his Marathon Debut in New York City

Five-time U.S. Olympian Bernard Lagat will make his long-awaited marathon debut at this year’s New York City Marathon. At 43 years old, Lagat is remarkably still one of the top U.S. distance runners. He most recently represented the United States at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in March and claimed the U.S. 10K title in July. If he continues racing at the elite level, there may be a chance for Lagat to try and make a sixth U.S. Olympic team in 2020. For now, he’s solely focused on his 26.2-mile debut and possibly making a run at Meb Keflezighi’s U.S. Masters record of 2:12:20. The women’s field for the New York City Marathon is absolutely loaded with the defending champion Shalane Flanagan, Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, London Marathon champion Vivian Cheruiyot and three-time New York champion Mary Keitany. The men’s field already includes last year’s champion 25-year-old Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya. (08/23/2018) ⚡AMP

Tyler Penner says he surprised himself by placing third at the Peachtree 10k today

America’s Tyler Penner surprised himself today at the AJC  Peachtree Road Race 10k.   He wrote, “In such a strong field I didn't know how well I could run. I had been working out alright, but not fantastic. Last week, I felt awful, and my confidence was not where it usually is. All that carried over to the race. I felt terrible in the first half, with doubts creeping into my mind. I was drifting off the back of the back at times, almost just wanting to let them go. I took a few minutes regroup and reset. I told myself, "I've made it this far, be tough, all that strength from the marathon should be kicking in anytime now." Surprisingly that worked. I began to stick my nose in the race, eventually getting to the front truly believing I could win. Unfortunately the speed at the end was not quite there, but it's coming back.”  Tyler finished third clocking 28:49 only four seconds back of Bernard Lagat.  It was a hot and humid day and this is a challenging course.   (07/04/2018) ⚡AMP

Mission accomplished, a five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat wins AJC Peachtree Road Race

Bernard Lagat wanted to see it again. He was determined to return to Atlanta and win The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race after finishing fifth a year ago. Mission accomplished: With a time of 28:45, Lagat won the 2018 Peachtree Road Race.  “I wanted to come back again, and I wanted to win this,” Lagat said. “So I trained so hard. I decided not to race in some other races before this. My last race was in March. From March until this, there’s a lot of races I missed. But I thought it wouble be worth the sacrifice.” Lagat, a five-time Olympian, prepared for the hill challenges presented in the course. He had a much deeper understanding of it than a year ago. (07/04/2018) ⚡AMP

America's Lopez Lomong 10,000m track champion says it would be amazing to win Peachtree 10K too

Fresh off his national title in the 10,000m on the track one week ago, Lopez Lomong (Portland, OR) will compete for a 10 km title on the road for the first time as the AJC Peachtree Road Race will be Lomong’s 10K road debut. At the USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships last month, Lomong unleashed a furious kick on the final lap to become the only man in history to win U.S. titles in the 1,500m and the 10,000m on the track. “The Peachtree is one of America’s most amazing events,” said Lomong. “It is my honor to come and run the streets of Atlanta. It’s a U.S. championship so it would be amazing to win it, but even to be a participant is massive.” Lomong, the torch-bearer for the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will join previously announced contenders like U.S. Half Marathon Champion Chris Derrick (Portland, OR), his teammate in the Portland-based Bowerman Track Club and Bernard Lagat (Tucson, AZ), a five-time Olympian who smashed the AJC Peachtree Road Race masters course record (28:42) in 2017. Also in the men’s field are the top two American men from the rain-soaked and raw 2018 Boston Marathon: Shadrack Biwott (Folsom, CA), and Tyler Pennel (Blowing Rock, NC). Reigning USATF 25 km champion Sam Chelanga (Colorado Springs, CO) and 2016 Olympic marathoner Jared Ward (Kaysville, UT) will also compete. Last year’s Peachtree runner-up Shadrack Kipchirchir has withdrawn from the race, as has Abdi Abdirahman. “We are excited to welcome athletes who have won American titles, set American records and represented the United States around the world to Atlanta’s celebration of running and country on July 4,” said Rich Kenah, Executive Director of Atlanta Track Club and Race Director of the AJC Peachtree Road Race. “The AJC Peachtree Road Race has a rich history of crowning the legends of road racing and that history will continue in the race’s 49th running.” (07/02/2018) ⚡AMP

Middle Distance Superstar Bernard Lagat at 43-years-old move to the roads has been impressive

Every sport has examples of athletes who seem infuriatingly immune to senescence, 43-year-old Bernard Lagat is in another league entirely. Lagat has competed in five Olympics, a distinction that puts him in very select company among track and field athletes. The fact is all the more impressive when you take into account that his first games didn’t happen until 2000, when he was 25...In the men’s 5,000 meters at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, the 41-year-old Lagat was in sixth place going into the last lap of the race. He proceeded to unleash a 52.82-second final 400 meters to win the most competitive 5K ever held at a U.S. Trials. Lagat had the decency to retire from track racing at the end of the 2016 season, he is once again redefining what should be feasible, only this time on the roads. In January, he ran the Houston Half Marathon in 62 minutes flat, breaking Meb Keflezighi’s U.S. masters record for the distance by over a minute. In March of this year Lagat was the second American finisher at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. For someone who holds the third-fastest 1,500-meter time ever, Lagat seems to be having way too much fun competing in the half marathon. Full story at Outside Online (04/04/2018) ⚡AMP

Geoffrey ripped apart the field with his impressive 13:01 wind aided 5k at the 15k mark

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor romped away over the final six kilometres to secure his third successive world title over the distance at the World Half Marathon today in Valencia, Spain. A sluggish early pace as the wind started to pick up contributed to Kamworor not breaking the hour and having to be content with a finishing time of 1:00:02 but what will be remembered is the way that the Kenyan threw in a 13:01 split between 15 and 20km to rip apart a very classy field. The first 5km were passed in a relatively leisurely 14:31 with Japan’s Kenta Murayama and Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem being the most prominent faces at the front of a huge pack of almost 70 runners...Down the finishing straight, Geoffrey beaming smile stretched broadly across his face and he started blowing kisses to the crowd. The one-hour mark just eluded Kamworor but no one was going to begrudge him his chance to celebrate what had been a tactically perfect race. Cheroben took the silver medal in 1:00:22, Bahrain’s first individual medal in the history of the championships, as Kifel passed Yimer with 500 metres to go to take the bronze in a personal best of 1:00:31...Canada's Cameron Levins scores a PB with 1:02:15, one second ahead of ageless 42yr old wonder Bernard Lagat! (03/24/2018) ⚡AMP

Korir and Lagat lead USA team for IAAF World Half Championships

National cross-country champion Leonard Korir and 2-time world champion Bernard Lagat will lead the US team at the IAAF Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships Valencia. At the end of last year Korir became the second-fastest US man ever for the half marathon when clocking 59:52 in Delhi. Lagat, who has won numerous global medals on the track both indoors and outdoors, recorded a PB of 1:02:00 at the recent Houston Half Marathon to secure his place on the team for Valencia. USA Men's Team: Samuel Chalanga, Diego Estrada, Leonard Korir, Bernard Lagat, Jared Ward. (02/09/2018) ⚡AMP
USA Teams

Lagat runs AR Masters for Half of 1:02:00 at Aramco

Bernard Lagat runs 1:02:00 for Masters American Record. Bernard retired from elite track & field on September 3, 2016, with a 3000 meters at ISTAF Berlin. Lagat spent much time each year training in Germany, and he decided that it would be a fitting way to end his athletics career. Bernard Lagat went out fast and furious and his 1:02:00 was impressive, a 32 second improvement on his PR. Looks like he could run under the World Masters record of 1:01:19! (01/15/2018) ⚡AMP