Alan Webb: Totally Incredible!!!!

Alan Webb, the high school miler from Reston, Virginia, stole the show at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic by running 3:53.54 to shatter Jim Ryun's old high school record in the mile of 3:55.3. Webb may have placed 5th in the mile, but his performance was truly amazing and captivated the track crazy Eugene crowd.

Webb, ran a brilliant race biding his time in the back of the pack through opening splits of 58.1, 1:57.8 (in last place) and 2:58.4. Webb after the race said he felt great the whole way and he must have because then he really started running the final lap. He blazed the final lap in 55 seconds, and briefly got into 4th place before finishing in 5th. In the process, he beat the NCAA collegiate indoor mile champ Brian Berryhill. Webb impressed everyone at the meet and electrified the crowd.

The comments of praise came from all over, and Marion Jones was virtually ignored in the press room after the race. The comments from the greats: Alberto Salazar, former American record holder in the marathon: "This kid can be the best in the world. He's the greatest hope we've had since Jim Ryun." Bob Kennedy, American record holder in the 5k: "Spectactular". Maurice Greene, WR 100m and budding comedian: "He don't look like no high school dude." But perhaps the greatest praise came from the winner of the race and the world record holder in the mile, Hicham El Guerrouj: "He can become my number one rival if he works at it."

Webb's run is without a doubt the top high school distance mark ever. No high school miler in the States had been under 4 in 34 years and Webb did it by nearly an unbelievable 7 seconds. But in surpassing the incredible Jim Ryun at the high school level, Webb started the comparisons between him and Ryun. Ryun ran a 3:51.3 mile as a junior (19 years of age or younger), so believe it or not there is one American junior mile record out there still for Webb to shoot for. But as preeminent American miler of the 1990's Steve Holman said, "Every couple of generations a freak of nature comes through who also works very hard. Ryun was a freak. This guy's a freak, too. And he's our freak. It's exciting." Indeed it is.

Other action:
Believe it or not there was other exciting action at the Prefontaine meet. More stories can be found in our news section, including Suzy Favor Hamilton's return to action after her collapse at the Olympics with an impressive win in the 1500m. But we're going to report on the men's 5000m because it was a race not reported elsewhere and is of interest to US distance fans.

Heading into the men's 5000m, the talk centered on whether Meb Keflezighi, the new AR holder in the 10,000m would defeat Bob Kennedy, the top US 5k runner for the last decade, and perhaps whether Kennedy's career was winding down.

Kennedy showed for sure Sunday that his career is not over, and if someone wants to take his title as the top distance runner in America it will be difficult. Kennedy ran behind Keflezighi for the early parts of the race, as a pack of Kenyans were up front, but then midway he pulled ahead of Keflezighi, and gave chase to the lead pack that had opened up a small gap. Kennedy leached onto the lead pack the final 800 meters, and was not content to just sit and enjoy his status up front. He surged into the lead and led the race into the final lap as the runners reached the final 200 meters. But the final 200 meters clearly showed that Kennedy had spent all of his energy catching the lead pack, as 3 Kenyans, Luke Kipkoskei, Leonard Mucheru, and Abraham Chebeii, blew by Kennedy heading into the final turn. Kipkoskei looked like a rocket down the final stretch, running 27 seconds the final 200 meters to get the convincing win in 13:13. Kennedy struggled home after a game effort in 13:19, while Keflezighi who never had been on the lead pack finished in 13:23.

Click here for full results of the meet.

More stories on Webb Here.