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January 30, 2005 -
The Reebok Games in Boston were quite simply everything that a track and field meet should be in America in the year 2005. This is clearly the best indoor meet on US soil each year, especially with the demise of Millrose. We'll have more on how good this meet is later but for now you can read praise of the meet from the Boston Globe here. Or listen to 3k winner Alistair Cragg, "It is one of the best meets in the world I think, the atmosphere, the organization. It definitely is a place I like coming to. I've had two career changing runs here (Cragg ran 7:45 to win the 3k in 2003)."

We know give you the LetsRun.com recap of the mid-d and distance events.

Full Results can be found here: http://www.bostonindoorgames.com/2005/live/index.html

Women's 5k.
Tirunesh Dibaba smashed the old world record (14:39.29) by over 6 seconds. Approximate splits were 5:50.3 (3k), 8:51.3 (3k), 11:46.2 (4k) and then a spectacular final k of 2:46.7 for a finishing time of 14:32.93. She powered away from her sister quite easily during the 4th kilometer. The crowd was going nuts during the race and there was a big Ethiopian contingent with flags. The meet promoters got the crowd really going by playing the music from the from the music video dedicated to the Kenenisa Bekele. Afterwards, Dibaba said she "just wanted to break the world record" and knew she would break the world record when she was with the pace maker and felt good. Read a much better recap here from the Boston Globe.

5k Photos Here

Reebok Men's 3k -
In case you didn't read the recap elsewhere, Kenenisa Bekele in the first race since the death of his fiancee, kicked a lap early and as a result was beaten by Ireland's Alistair Cragg.

Cragg stuck with the leaders throughout, and really surging for home from 500 meters out which might have thrown Kenenisa off, as perhaps Kenenisa figured Cragg wouldn't be trying to kick for 2.5 laps.

Afterwards Cragg indicated the plan from coach John McDonnell was to go from 500m out all along. He had led earlier in the race and said, "Those are two guys (Geneti and Bekele) you don't want sitting on your butt with 1200m to go. The plan was to go at 500, no matter what whether I'm feeling good or not...He's (McDonnell) never failed me up until to day, so I just followed coach McDonnell's words and it paid off."

Cragg indicated that his body has really matured and he's training at another level, a lot of his training with Mark Fountain, who set an Australian record in the mile. Cragg said the run was the "easiest" 7:39 he's ever run. Cragg ran 7:38 last year for 3k indoors and ran 7:45 2 years ago at this meet.

Splits for some of the big players as well as quotes from Bekele appear below. For quotes on Cragg taking advantage of Bekele's misfortune, click here to read from the Boston Herald.

One of the more interesting moments of the night during a very interesting night of track and field was when a LetsRun.com reporter (can we call ourselves reporters?) was standing trackside when an old Irish American man walked up to Cragg and said, "Irish, I'm so proud of you. Where are you from?" Cragg (who was raised South African and has been to Ireland maybe at most a handful of times) replied, "Ireland." The fan said, "What part?" Cragg, "I don't know." The fan didn't understand Cragg's response so he asked again and Cragg replied "Killarney" which greatly pleased the fan.

The splits for Bekele as taken by LetsRun.com
28.46
58.58
1:29.44
2:01.1 only rabbit and Cragg, Geneti and Bekele up in lead.
2:32.7 - 1k
3:03.95
3:34.51
4:05.51
4:36.58
5:08.67 (5:08.4 for Geneti) - 2k so 2nd k split of 2:36.0 -
5:40.82
6:13.23
6:42.87
7:09.62 (so that's a 26.8 for Bekele kicking early
7:41.42 (so that would be a 31.6 last lap accounting for FAT conversion) - last k of 2:32.5 for Bekele.

American Tim Broe finished 4th in 7:44.87. He ran much of the first part of the race near American Jonathan Riley before catching and passing Canadian Kevin Sullivan at 2k. Broe's Splits. 1:33 at 600, 2:05.01, 2:37.24 at 1k., 3:08.81, 3:40.86 (Riley is ahead of Broe here), 4:13 ish at 1600, 2k - 5:14.18 (Broe passes Riley here and catches Canadian Kevin Sullivan). 5:45.66, 6:16.19, 6:46.46. 7:16.30 - finishing time of 7:44.87 FAT.

Kevin Sullivan's finished in 5th in 7:50.75. His splits. 2:03.56, 3:06.66, 4:10.44, 4:42.30, 5:14.18, 5:46, 6:18.72 (with Riley here), 6:50.
Missed the last few in the excitement.

Bekele's comments from post-race press conference:
On the race.

Bekele: "I thought it was the lap so I miscalculated and that was my undoing... I knew this race was going to be a difficult one. Hopefully in the next races, I'll do a better job."

Q: Did he train at all prior to coming to this meet after his fiance's death? B: "I only did one week of training - the previous week. It was not good training."
Q. Why isn't he going to double at world cross? B: "It would be difficult for me to run both races given the situation that I'm in as you must be aware."

Q. Bekele, who was coughing non-stop for the 15 minutes of the press conference, was asked by LetsRun.com if he was sick in addition to not having trained a lot recently.
"I drank water with ice (after the race)- that's why I'm coughing. Before that, I'm healthy."
Editor's note: It's interesting to note that last year Geb was coughing as well and said he didn't like the Boston air. It just reminds one how different the training environment in Ethiopia is from America.

Q. Bekele was asked by LetsRun.com if training/running is a release for him - a time of the day when he can forget about the tragedy? B: "No. I'm not really focused (when I'm training) because I used to train with my fiance so a lot of thoughts come into my head so it's been very difficult to train."

Q. Another reporter then said there have been reports that Bekele is considering training out of the country to help him forget. Did he think that might help? "It's not about changing the training place or area. (The memories) are just too fresh."

Reebok Joe Concannon Men's Mile:
The men's mile started off fast from the gun as the rabbit went through 4:00 in 55.9. At 800 (1:55.8), the rabbit was gone and Olympic silver medallist Bernard Lagat took over. Lagat did all the work from here on it and proved that he wanted to run fast, not just win as he risked defeat by opening up a gap on the field. The field eventually caught up and coming off the final turn, Kenya's Laban Rotich, 3rd in the world indoors last year, took the lead and held on the for the win.

Michigan's Nate Brannen (Canada) ran 3:55.11 for 4th which either broke or didn't break the 30 year old collegiate record of 3:55.0. Brannen's splits according to the Letsrun.com watch were 57 mid, 1:25.9, 1:56.5,2:26.4, 2:56.8, 3:26.2. 3:55.0 hand.

Splits for leader (rabbit through 800) 55.9 for rabbit, 1:55.8, 2:56.2 and then the finish 3:53.19.

Full Results - 1.Laban Rotich 3:53.18 2. Bernard Lagat 3:53.61 3. Elkanah Angwenyi 3:54.23 4. Mark Fountain 3:54.77. 5. Nate Brannen 3:55.11 6. Rob Myers 3:58.83 7. Scott McGowan 3:58.91 8. Mike Woods 4:01.56 9. Fumikazu Kobayashi 4:04.76 10. John Mortimer 4:04.95 11. James Hatch 4:06.36 12. Fidel Baregensabe 4:20.15

Mile Photos Here

Post Race Quotes From Brannen:
LRC asked Brannen if he was pleased with the performance despite missing (or breaking if you are a track stats geek) the collegiate record in the mile. Nate Brannen: "Definitely (I'm happy). I didn't think I was close. I didn't feel great early but then with 400 to go I realized (I had a chance).

"Finally, (I'm putting it together). I've been in ******* for 4 years now and I don't think I've lived up to the hype. Hopefully now I can end things the right way as a senior," said Brannen who indicated he's planning on running the 800 and DMR indoors and the 1500 outdoors at NCAAs.

Women's 3000m
A tragedy occurred in this race as Olympic 5k champion Meseret Defar possibly denied a world record and $25,000 because some lapped runners got in the way on the final turn. Defar needed to run about a 31.0 or 30.9 on the final 200 to get the world record and she was rolling. Half-way around the final turn Defar came up to the lap runners but Defar didn't go wide, apparently expecting the lap runners to get the hell out of the way. One of them did move wide at the last minute, but the other didn't and thus Defar had to slow and then squeeze between them.

It's not 100% sure Defar would have got the record as she missed it by .90 but it very well may have fallen.
Full Results 1. Meseret Defar 8:30.05 (#2 all-time) 2. Sentayehu Ejigu 8:46.67 3. Kim Smith 8:49.61 4. Sarah Schwald 8:54.42 5. Amy Rudolph 8:56.96 6. Carmen Douma-Hussar 8:59.20 7. Amy Mortimer 9:02.90 8. Mestawat Tadesse 9:08.88 9. . Hilary Edmondson 9:09.53 10. Berhane Hirpasa 9:14.24 11. Lisa Labrecque 9:14.37

After the race, Defar put on a good show and smiled to the crowd during her victory lap. However, she was really very upset about the whole affair as she then proceeeded to stand and watch the rest of the meet in the athlete/press area and her anger was visible. The whole time, standing track side maybe 20 meters from where the incident occurred, she repeatedly and angrily shouted her recap of the race to her Ethiopian teammates who tried to console her.

Our only suggestion to the meet director for next year (as the meet was an unbelievable success), is to make it clear to lapped runners they have no business being in lane 1. And they don't get paid if they stay there. They can always go run at Terrier if they are unhappy.

Rabbit/Leader's Splits
6:8.8, 2:16.9, 1k 2:50.1, 1500 reached in 4:15 mid, 4:32.4 at 1600, 5:06.8, 5:40.7 at 2k (250.6), 6:15.3, 6:49 high, 7:24.2, 7:58.0, 8:30

We also got splits for Kim Smith who is now a pro after absolutely dominating the college scene for the last year and a half. She just missed her pr of 8:49.18 with a 8:49.61. Kim's splits were: 70-71, 2:19.2, 2:55.1, 3:30.6, 4:23-4 at 1500, 4:41.9 at 1600, 5:17.1, 5:53.1, 6:28.7, 7:04.5, 7:41.1, missed next lap and then 8:49.61 FAT.

Women's 3k Full Results 1. Meseret Defar 8:30.05 2. Sentayehu Ejigu 8:46.67 3. Kim Smith 8:49.61 4. Sarah Schwald 8:54.42 5. Amy Rudolph 8:56.96 6. Carmen Douma-Hussar 8:59.20 7. Amy Mortimer 9:02.90 8. Mestawat Tadesse 9:08.88 9. Hilary Edmondson 9:09.53 10. Berhane Hirpasa 9:14.24 11. Lisa Labrecque 9:14.37

Men's 1000m-
The rabbit (Fred Sharpe) went out a bit hard and no one even considered going with him except for Americna Jesse O'connell, the NCAA-runnerup last year outdoors for Georgetown. Sharpe his 200 in 26.4, 500 in about 69, 600 in 1:23.7. O'connell split the difference and had 5 meters on the field at 600 which he hit in 1:24.6. O'connell would keep his lead but the field closed over the final lap and David Krummenacker passed O'Connell coming off the final turn to take the lead and get the win in 2:20.91. O'Connell would also be passed last year's winner Berhanu Alemu at the line by for 2nd. Local favorite Said Ahmed of Arkansas (who attended highschool in the Boston area) moved up late to get 4th.

Krummenacker was pleased with the race afterwards, "I felt really good, anytime you have a season opener. there are a few jitters involved. Anytime you start the season with a victory it really a good feeling in your heart..I'm just in a base phase, I wasn't looking for a (specific) time." He said last year was tough not making the Olympics after dominating the 800m in the US the last few years, but the good thing about track and field is there is a world championship this year to gear up for.

Full Results - 1.David Krummenacker 2:20.91 2. Berhanu Alemu 2:21.19 3. Jesse O'Connell 2:21.26 4. Said Ahmed 2:21.36 5.Patrick Nduwimana 2:22.24 6. Jebreh Harris 2:23.11 7. Neil Speaight 2:23.30 8.Derrick Peterson 2:24.65 9. Tim Dunne 2:25.04

Women's 800 meter run

Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia dominated this race from start to finish. Her splits were 29 mid, 60.1, 1:31.1, 2:01.52 (FAT). Former NCAA star Tiffany McWilliams was not a factor in her indoor pro debut.
Full Results 1.Jolanda Ceplak 2:01.52 2.Alice Schmidt 2:04.52 3. Marion Burnett 2:04.97 4.Tiffany McWilliams 2:05.68 5.Treniere Clement 2:06.13
6.Kameisha Bennett 2:06.50 7. Francis Santin 2:06.77 8. Kristina Bratton 2:07hotos here.39 9. Meskerem Legesse 2:10.03

Boys Highschool Mile
The race wasn't all that impressive. Started off slow, finished fairly fast. Footlocker champion Kenneth Cornier showed his inexperience with indoor racing as he must have taken and given up the lead 3-4 times in the first 1200. He kept making little moves to regrab the lead (and we're sure a lot of coaches would say wasting a lot of energy) before getting beat at the end.
On the last lap, New York's Kevin Tschirart took the lead before being passed by eventual champion Laef Barnes of Washington with 100 to go. Barnes won in 4:13.61..Scotland's Ross Toole moved up from 4th on the final stretch to grab 2nd in 4:14.56.
Leader's splits.
63.7, 1:37.8, 209.42, 2:40.87, 3:12.83, 3:44.86, 4:13.52.
Barnes after the race: "I had no idea of my physical level (coming into the race). I just came here with the mindset - no matter what the competition is like - I wouldn't leave anything on the track."

Photos here

Boys' Junior Mile Full Results
1.Laef Barnes 4:13.61 2. .Ross Toole 4:14.56 3. Kevin Tschirhart 4:15.29 4. Cody Harper 4:15.32 5.Kenneth Cormier 4:16.30 6. Daniel LaCava 4:17.01 7.E.C. Gibbs 4:17.88 8. Ryan Finn 4:18.03 9. Ryan Gasper 4:19.60 10. Brian Trembley 4:25.57 11.Mark Mitchell 4:25.95

Women's Junior Mile -
Aislinn Ryan held of Nicole Blood on the final lap to get the win in 4:49.92. The leader's splits in this race were. 68.1, 2:22.0, 3:36.8.
Full Resutls
1. Aislinn Ryan 4:49.92 2. Nicole Blood 4:50.87 3. Mary Liz McCurdy 4:53.07 4. Lindsey Ferguson 4:55.36 5. Samantha Gawrych 4:56.21 6. Jennifer Barringer 4:57.62 7. Caitlin Lane 4:58.92 8. Avril Ogrodnick 5:00.34 9. Brittany Sheffey 5:02.91
10. Natasha LaBeaud 5:05.32 11. Lise Ogrodnick 5:07.33

Photos here


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