Reebok Boston Indoor Games Distance Races Look Top Notch

What You Need To Know About The Highest-Caliber Indoor Distance Meet In The US

By LetsRun.com
February 3, 2010

We know LetsRun.com fans will be excited for a great distance meet this Saturday at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Enjoy it while it's here because it's one of the few times you can see the world's best runners square off in America on an indoor track.

Not everyone knows this yet, but the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas - typically a venue for great, fast pro races like Galen Rupp's American record 13:18 last year - will not have any pro meet this year. This means the big pro meets in the US are: 1. Millrose, 2. Boston Indoors, 3. USATF Championships (Albequerque, NM). That's right, the VISA Championship series is only three meets this year.

The good news is that Reebok Boston is going to be incredible for distance fans.

Meet Information - Takes Place At Reggie Lewis Saturday 5-8:30 - TV Sunday Replay 2-4pm ESPN2 (Moved To Accommodate Super Bowl)

First of all, we look at when you can see the meet. If you can get to Boston, we highly recommend you attend this meet, as it is very distance fan friendly and it has all the other circus elements as well (jumping, sprinting, etc.). The meet is at the Reggie Lewis Center (directions) and runs from 5:10 to 8:05. All of the distance races with the exception of the women's 3,000m (6:20pm) are from 7-8 (meet schedule here). To get tickets, you're going to have to pay (cheapest tickets still available are $40 but they're great seats and children's are $30; get tickets here).

If you want to watch on television, unfortunately all you can get is a taped replay Sunday from 2-4 on ESPN2 (originally they had it scheduled during the Super Bowl). We'll have coverage up after the meet and will have two distance running people on hand to give accounts of the evening.

The Distance Races In Order Of Interest To Us

Men's 5,000m - Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp (Questionable) And Top Field - Likely American Record

This is easily the most stacked field in the meet, with excellent Ethiopian, Kenyan, European and American talent. We're pretty sure the American 5,000m indoor record is going to go down in this race, probably to Bernard Lagat. Thanks to reporting from Oregonian reporter Ken Goe, we know that Galen Rupp has been sick, but according to his coach Alberto Salazar is in great shape (he mentions 13:05).

All we have to do is look at the field and we know it's going to be A) a fast race B) an interesting race.

Athlete	Nat.
Alistair Cragg	IRL
Shadrack Korir	KEN
Markos Geneti	ETH
Reid Coolsaet	CAN
Bernard Lagat	USA
Bobby Curtis	USA
Haron Lagat	KEN
Dejen Gebremeskel	ETH
Scott Overall	GBR
Galen Rupp	USA
Bekana Daba	ETH
Ian Burrell	USA
Sam Chelanga	KEN
Josphat Boit	KEN
Adam Perkins	USA

Women's 5,000m - Tirunesh Dibaba Goes For World Record

This race is all about Tirunesh Dibaba and we can't imagine being one of the other runners entered in the field, such as NCAA great and LetsRun favorite Sally Kipyego. The first mile will be covered in something like 4:36 and that's a time most milers would be happy with at this point in the season. Dibaba will be going for Meseret Defar's 5,000m indoor world record of 14:24. Dibaba has the outdoor world record at 14:11. Dibaba was in great shape in mid-November after a year plagued by injury in 2009. In The Netherlands in November, she broke the world 15km road record and looked incredible.

Athlete	Nat.
Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH
Sally Kipyego	KEN
Aheza Kiros	ETH
Korene Hinds	JAM
Marina Munćan	SRB

Men's Mile - Nick Willis Returns And Faces Interesting Field

When we look at the field, two names jump out at us (well, actually three): Kiwi Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis and American Leo Manzano. They have the best mile credentials in the field as far as we can tell. Manzano had a great 2009 and Willis is getting back after injury knocked him out last year. He is typically an excellent indoor runner and challenged Bernard Lagat last year at Millrose.

The third name that jumps out at us is David Krummenacker. He'll serve as the pacemaker and this is good for all involved as he is an excellent rabbit. We're not really sure why an early February indoor mile that doesn't have a world record contender needs a rabbit, but that's beside the point.

Athlete	Nat.
Nick Willis	NZL
Rob Myers	USA
David Torrence	USA
Leo Manzano	USA
Peter van der Westhuizen	RSA
Tom Osborne	NZL
Will Leer	USA
Henok Legesse	ETH
Dan Huling	USA
Jacob Hernandez	USA
Garrett Heath	USA
Tim Bayley	GBR
David Krummenacker	USA

Women's 3,000 - Christin Wurth-Thomas, Shannon Rowbury And "Little Dibaba" Headline

We think this might be a very exciting race, as the field is just stacked with interesting names, including US World Championships medalist Shannon Rowbury, sub-4:00 1,500 runner Christin Wurth-Thomas, and Tirunesh Dibaba's younger sister Genzebe Dibaba. Add in Hannah England and Sara Hall, who dueled competitively in Madison Square Garden, and some other international talent and it should be a great race.

Athlete	Nat.
Shannon Rowbury	USA
Genzebe Dibaba	ETH
Megan Metcalfe	CAN
Amy Mortimer	USA
Hannah England	GBR
Barbara Parker	GBR
Frances Koons	USA
Kalkidan Gezahegn	ETH
Christin Wurth-Thomas	USA
Sara Hall	USA
Mardrea Hyman	JAM
Lennie Waite	GBR
Julia Howard	CAN

Women's 1,000 - Anna Pierce, One Of World's Top 800m Runners, Makes Season Debut

This field really excites us. Gina Gall tore up the NCAAs while at Michigan and runs, we think, her first indoor race as a pro. Anna Pierce (formerly Willard) won 4 major international 800s last year, all under 2:00. Morgan Uceny was a rising US star in 2008 and almost made the Olympics at 1,500/800, but was injured last year. Erin Donohue's coach Frank Gagliano is having her focus on the 800 this year and says she can run 1:57. With three other top women in the field, look for a fast race in the women's 1,000.

Athlete	Nat.
Morgan Uceny	USA
Gina Gall	USA
Erin Donohue	USA
Treniere Moser	USA
Alice Schmidt	USA
Karen Shinkins	IRL
Anna Pierce	USA
Anna Johnstone	CAN
Kenia Sinclair	JAM

 

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