Bernard Lagat Confirms He's Going for the American Record at 3k on Sunday

not alone.... wrote:

It should come down to Lagat against Tariku. He looked great in Zurich on Friday but Lagat looked in some shape last week easily handling everyone in a slow 3000. He seems ready to put a time on the board....

Depending on the pace thru 2K, I say a good shot he gets it. Bekele would be a fool not to try and run away with 600 or more to go and that should be enough for Bernard to stay within range and I'm sure he can close the last 200 better than BK did.

I kind of hope he doesn't knock it out of the park, so the up and comer americans have something to sniff instead of just look at.

i hope he doesnt break it

not a fan when ARs aren't exactly ARs

Yeah, the only "true" AR holder is Bill Mills.

S/B Billy Mills. Sorry for the typo.

Nice call. I'm sick of the prejudice against Lagat.

Lagat says things like this, but typically he will not do any of the work. The onus will be on Chepkok, T. Bekele or someone of that ilk to do enough fast running from 1600-2600 after the rabbit drops off to bring Lagat through in a fast time. I've seen it too many times before from Lagat. He might want a record, but he'd rather not jeopardize his chance to win the race, so he won't lead until late. There's a reason his best times in the 1500 came when he ran behind El G directly, and it took so long for him to break 13. I can't fault him for it too much because at the end of the time we all care more about wins and losses than records. In a non-championship year, though, I think it's a bit different.

coach d wrote:

@lagat1500

@chrissolinsky

@ryanhall3

So many world class athletes on twitter that if you follow this line of reasoning, you might have to change your motto to:

"We don't talk about elite track."

He said they "don't tweet". Not "we won't follow information athletes release by whatever means"

coach d wrote:

@lagat1500

@chrissolinsky

@ryanhall3

So many world class athletes on twitter that if you follow this line of reasoning, you might have to change your motto to:

"We don't talk about elite track."

well..... wrote: He said they "don't tweet". Not "we won't follow information athletes release by whatever means"

I didn't realize tweeting was a major resource for elite track information. I learn something new on letsrun every day, it seems.

I agree. I don't know how it can be considered an "American record" when it's owned by a guy who was born in Kenya and has only been an American for the last 4-5 years or whatever.

I'm sure other people in other countries would feel the same way if Justin Gatlin became a citizen of Kenya, Ethiopia or wherever and started being classified as their national record holder.

agreed wrote:

I agree. I don't know how it can be considered an "American record" when it's owned by a guy who was born in Kenya and has only been an American for the last 4-5 years or whatever.

Well, if you cannot get your little head wrapped around that, then that says more about you and your little head than it does about the fact. I might add that Lagat has been in this country for a LOT longer than 4-5 years...

Didn't say he hasn't been in the country longer than that, did say he's only been a citizen that long (actually it's 6 years.

well..... wrote:

He said they "don't tweet". Not "we won't follow information athletes release by whatever means"

Twitter is where true elite athletes "live" these days. and if you want to know what they're up to, you send them a tweet.

Wake up. It's not 1995 anymore.

You are correct that you didn't say that, but...

On a thread-related issue, nobody broke 7:30 in 2008 and nobody has done so this year. It is a formidable task, and although I have predicted Lagat breaks Kennedy's record, I would be surprised if he broke it by much.

Will Tariku be a little tired from Thursday's 12:55? Or perhaps instead he is simply on a roll? Tariku has gone under 7:30 and it wouldn't surprise me to see him do it again.

Bekele could have surely run the 3k WR. He must have went through close to the 3k AR.

I really would love/have loved to see him do a year of the shorter distances (3k,1500,...800?). Definitely a sub 3:30 15 guy if he wanted to be.

I wish Lagat had moved up to 5k training completely in ~2006 or earlier. He might actually have an olympic 5k medal. Probably a 12:45 guy in his prime and would have had a devastating finish (more devastating than now).

chet wrote:

agreed wrote:

I agree. I don't know how it can be considered an "American record" when it's owned by a guy who was born in Kenya and has only been an American for the last 4-5 years or whatever.

Well, if you cannot get your little head wrapped around that, then that says more about you and your little head than it does about the fact. I might add that Lagat has been in this country for a LOT longer than 4-5 years...

Bernard Lagat has lived in the US since August 1996. He is one of the finest examples of a proud American and I hope he gets his 3000 record this weekend. I know for a fact he would be happy and proud for Solinsky or Rupp to break his US 5000 record.......but why the distinction? From where I sit Ritzenheim sounds German and Solinsky sounds Polish.....they were born in the US but so what? Their parents obviously embraced the US just as Lagat has done.

chillll wrote:

Bekele could have surely run the 3k WR. He must have went through close to the 3k AR.

I really would love/have loved to see him do a year of the shorter distances (3k,1500,...800?). Definitely a sub 3:30 15 guy if he wanted to be.

).

Are you talking about Kenenisa? If so, you seem to be overlooking the 2007 season where he ran a lot of good 3Ks and 1500s. He topped out at 7:25 and 3:32.3. He's obviously an aerobic beast, but sub 3:30 I'm not so sure.

viewfromlane9.blogspot.com wrote:Are you talking about Kenenisa? If so, you seem to be overlooking the 2007 season where he ran a lot of good 3Ks and 1500s. He topped out at 7:25 and 3:32.3. He's obviously an aerobic beast, but sub 3:30 I'm not so sure.

I think you are misremembering (to quote RC). He did run several good 3k's, but i believe he only ran one 1500, his 3:32, in his very last race of the year at the end of Sept. That was pretty impressive considering it was just for kicks at the end of a year he hadn't lost in anything until that race (he took 2nd).

You are correct- good catch. I thought he'd run 3:33 that year, but that was the year before. I still don't know about 3:30, though. If he could do that you would think he would have gone faster than 7:25. After all Komen was a 3:29 guy and slower in the 5, and he ran that 7:20. That was an unbelievable effort obviously, but he ran the 2 sub 8 minute 2 miles as well.

Lagat has the American record at 1500 and 5000, so needless to say the 3k record would make a nice trifecta. In fact, he actually ran 3:27 after he became an American citizen, though before declaring it publicly. He didn't take a long time to run sub 13; he took a long time to get the AR, as he had several sit and kick sub 13's (12:59), one in which he beat K. Bekele. Unless he runs another 5 this year, his record is vulnerable to three guys, Ritz (if he returns to the track next year), Sol and Teg (injured again?), if he doesn't get down under 7:29, the 3k record will be vulnerable, and Wheating obviously has the 1500m record in his sights for next year. Lagat really cheered Wheating on after that Monaco race (see the interview), so you know that he would support AW's quest for the record. Just a great guy.