Mottram Victory in 2 Mile Highlights Reebok Boston Games By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
BOSTON
(28-Jan) -- It took Craig Mottram more than a day to travel from his
home in Melbourne to the usually frigid Massachusetts capital. But
perhaps he brought some of the Australian summer with him as Bostonians
were treated to temperatures in the 50's under sunny skies today.
"You could almost have held the meet outside," one reporter joked.
But
this was indoor track at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center
in the Roxbury section of Boston, and on the newly surfaced 200m banked
Mondo track, anything can happen. Just ask Mottram.
"A bit
confusing," said the World Championships 5000m bronze medalist of the
staggered start of his two-mile race and what happened next. Although
the field was expecting a quick 29-second first lap from pacemaker
Geoffrey Rono, the Kenyan bolted ahead so quickly from the gun that he
shocked the field, running the first 200m in less than 29 seconds. As
he continued to push the pace, the field held back, way back.
"I was just trying not to freak out," said Daniel Lincoln of Fayetteville, Ark., who would finish sixth.
Rono
continued to charge forward, and despite words shouted from his manager
to ease up on the pace, he was soon about 60 meters ahead of the field.
"It was a bit awkward," Mottram said matter of factly.
Rono
ended up rolling through the first mile in about 4:04, while Ethiopians
Tariku Bekele (a younger brother of Kenenisa) and Marcos Geneti were
leading the pack, followed closely by Irishman Alistair Cragg and
Mottram. The pack held steady until there were four laps to go in the
16-lap race; then the pace picked up significantly. Geneti and Cragg
were now at the front and the Irishman thought he was well-positioned
for victory.
"I wanted to wait until the last lap," said the former University of Arkansas star.
With
just two laps to go, Cragg was leading Geneti, Bekele and Mottram, but
it was Bekele who took the bell with Mottram right behind. Sileshi
Sihine of Ethiopia, the Olympic 10,000m silver medalist, surged
forward, taking Mottram with him. Rounding turn 4 on the outside,
Mottram got in front and could not be beaten, his 8:26.54 winning time
hardly revealing the drama of the race.
"I didn't come 24 hours not to win it," said the plain-spoken Australian. "It was great. I enjoyed it."
Sihine held on for second in 8:27.03, and a somewhat disappointed Cragg finished third in 8:27.39.
"I thought I had it covered," he said of Sihine's last lap surge. "But he got me."
BEST INDOOR MILE EVER?
For
the second week in a row, Kenyan Elkanah Angwenyi used an explosive
surge with 150m to go to win his mile race, this time in 3:55.95. But
what happend behind him was just as interesting: 11 men broke the four
minute barrier, the most ever in an indoor race. The previous record
was eight in Stockholm in 2001. So, Neil Speaight (3:58.49), Chris
Lukezic (3:58.53) and Ryan Kleimenhagen (3:59-flat) all ran the best
indoor times ever for 9th, 10th and 11th place, respectively.
DIBABA AND DEFAR CLOSE TO RECORDS
Tirunesh
Dibaba returned to Boston, for the second year in a row, to break the
world record for 5000m. Last year she thrilled the crowd with her
14:32.93, and she certainly came close this year with her 14:35.46. It
was the #2 time ever in history. Mardrea Hyman took Dibaba and her
older sister Ejagayou through 2000m in 5:33.32, slightly behind
schedule. Hyman then retired, letting the two sisters push together
for the record. 3000m passed in 8:51.32, and Tirunesh was now running
alone. Spurred on by the crowd, which included many Ethiopians waving
flags, she got through 4000m in 11:46.51. She would need to cover the
last kilometer in 2:46.42, which would be a challenge for most men. It
took her 2:48.95, just 2.53 seconds too long. Part
of her challenge was getting around lapped runners, some of whom she
lapped more than once. "Yeah, it was a real problem," she said through
an interpreter of the traffic on the track. "I had to shout to get
them out of my way." She also said that she sometimes had to go all
the way out to lane 3 to pass, losing valuable seconds.
Like
last year, Ejagayou finished second (15:18.97) and American Sara
Slattery finished third (15:37.68), setting a personal best.
AROUND THE TRACK
Making
a smooth inside pass on the backstraight of the last lap, DAVID
KRUMMENACKER won the 1000m in 2:21.37. He said of the move: "I
borrowed a page out of the book of the great Rich Kenah. The door was
open so I had to go through it..." NICOLE BLOOD beat AISLINN RYAN in a
closely contested high school mile, 4:51.30 to 4:51.91... Canadian
CARMEN DOUMA-HUSSAR ran a tactically perfect race in the women's mile,
winning in 4:29.52. U.S. outdoor champion TRENIERE CLEMENT came from
fourth place to second in the last 50m... MESERET DEFAR ran the #3
time in history in the women's 3000m (8:30.94), but like last year at
this meet was disappointed that she did not break Berhane Adere's world
record... MICHAEL COE of Lompoc, Calif., won the boys high school mile
easily in 4:07.30.
