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5 middle & long distance records at Pre

FIVE MIDDLE & LONG DISTANCE RECORDS SHATTERED AT PREFONTAINE CLASSIC By David Monti, @d9monti (c) 2014 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.   EUGENE (31-May) -- On the second and final day of the 40th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field here, a sold-out crowd of 13,150 saw six world-leading times in the middle and long distance events, including five meeting records.  Four of those marks in this IAAF Diamond League meeting --led by Ayanleh Souleiman's spectacular 3:47.32 mile, the fastest mile run in the world since 2007-- were the quickest ever recorded on U.S. soil.   The record party got started with the International Mile, probably the most competitive "B" race in the world.  Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano, running for the first time in Hayward Field for his new sponsor Hoka One One, closed with an explosive sprint to win in a world-leading 3:52.41, the third-fastest time of his career.  He narrowly beat a fast-closing Jordan McNamara of the Oregon Track Club Elite, who ran a career best of 3:52.89, and American steeplechase record-holder Evan Jager who finished third in 3:53.33, also a personal best.   "You know, I've had some fantastic workouts," Manzano told reporters.  "I didn't know what I could do."  He continued: "Today was just amazing. I feel so great, so blessed."   But Manzano's world leader would only hold up for two hours and 16 minutes, when 16 men lined up for the meet's closing event, the Bowerman Mile.  Behind the strong pacemaking of Kenyans Hillary Kipkorir Maiyo and Andrew Kiptoo Rotich, the pack strung out quickly, hitting 440 yards in 53.8 and half-way in 1:53-flat.  After the pacemakers retired, reigning world champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya was on the front, followed by Souleiman of Djibouti, Silas Kiplagat of Kenya and Aman Wote of Ethiopia.     Kiprop hit the three-quarter mark in 2:51.9, but the tall and lanky two-time world champion couldn't respond when Souleiman and Kiplagat surged with about 250 meters to go.  Explaining later that "it wasn't his day," Kiprop faded to finish seventh in "only" 3:50.26.   With Kiprop out of the frame, Souleiman and Kiplagat quickly hit top speed, and duked it out down the homestretch as the Hayward fans rose to their feet.  Souleiman, the reigning world indoor 1500m champion, got the upper had in the final 50 meters to get the win. Kiplagat had to settle for a 3:47.88 personal best in second; Wote set an Ethiopian record in third (3:48.60). Ten men ran under 3:52.   "It was a good race; I'm happy to win," a smiling Soulieman told reporters in English.  "This is my dream.  "I am running the Doha 1500 in 3:30 (May 9th).  At that time I told myself I'm running mile in 3:47, 3:48.  That's my goal."   Down the finish order, American Matthew Centrowitz ran a career best 3:50.53, good for eighth place.  London Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria finished 11th in 3:52.15.  Nonetheless, he set a personal best.   In the race just before the Bowerman Mile, David Rudisha made his comeback in the 800m after a year away from racing.  The world record holder and London Olympic champion from Kenya ran a fearless race, following pacemaker Bram Som of Holland through the 600-meter split in 1:17.19.  But the last 200 meters were difficult for the adidas-sponsored athlete, who tied-up in the homestretch, fading from first to seventh.  Finishing in 1:44.87 --without any pain in his right knee-- Rudisha got an honest read on his fitness.   "It was tough," he told more than a dozen reporters jockeying for position in the mixed zone to hear the soft-spoken athlete.  He continued: "The race was good.  In the beginning I started pushing, but only in the last 100 I felt it was a little bit tough."   Ahead of Rudisha, Botswana's Nijel Amos, the 2012 London Olympic silver medalist, powered ahead to a meet record and world-leading 1:43.63.  He narrowly defeated reigning world champion, Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia, 1:43.63 to 1:43.99.   "Actually, I'm so happy to see myself in second race 1:43," Amos said, referring to his season-opening effort of 1:44.54 in Doha when he took second to Aman.  "It shows I'm in good shape to go back (to training) now."   Caleb Ndiku won a strategic men's 5000m in a world-leading 13:01.71.  The reigning world indoor 3000m champion clocked a 54.7-second final lap to beat Ethiopia's Yenew Alamirew (13:02.91) and defending Prefontaine champion Edwin Soi (13:04.92).  Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat had an off day. Telling reporters that he felt "flat," the 39 year-old was never a factor in the race and finished 14th in 13:31.23.     WOMEN BREAK RECORDS TOO   Women put on an formidable display of running here today, too, especially the impressive all-comers record in the 1500m by Kenya's Hellen Obiri: 3:57.05.  The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships silver medalist put herself near the front of the race early, following both the pacemaking of Phoebe Wright and the bobbing ponytail of 2011 world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson.  Wright got the leaders through 800m in a very fast 2:08.07, then Simpson took over, going for broke, just like her coach Heather Burroughs had advised her.   "'I'll make this really simple,'" Simpson recalled Burroughs telling her.  "'Just forget about the different mantras, the different plans and things, and just go out and get on Phoebe and run hard."     Simpson was in the lead at the 1200m mark (3:11.49), but Obiri, reigning world champion Abeba Aregawi of Sweden, and Kenyan's Faith Kipyegon were hot on her heels.  Aregawi went to the lead with about 200 meters to go, but was swallowed up by the fast-closing Obiri.  Aregawi clocked 3:57.57 for second, Kipyegon got third in 3:58.01, and Simpson set a personal best in fourth: 3:58.28. It was the second time she had broken four minutes at Hayward Field.   "I like this stadium because last year I had a PB, this year I had a PB," Obiri told Race Results Weekly.  "So I love to come here next year."   The women's two-mile also produced an all-comer's record.  Kenya's Mercy Cherono and Viola Kibiwot, and Bahrain's Mini Belete engaged in a three-way battle after an ambitious first half of 4:33.5.  Cherono got the victory in the final sprint, clocking the fastest time ever on U.S. soil: 9:13.27 (it was also a world-leader).  Kibiwot ran 9:13.48 and Belete 9:13.85, an area record.   In fourth place Shannon Rowbury set a USA record of 9:20.25, surpassing Amy Rudolph's previous mark of 9:21.35 set in Cork, Ireland, in 1998.   "I thought, I knew, coming into this race I had a shot at the record," Rowbury told Race Results Weekly.  "That being said, you never know on a given day.  The last 100 meters, I saw the clock, I heard the announcers, and I knew it was going to be close."   Ethiopia's Sofia Assefa also ran an all-comers record in the women's steeplechase, winning a close contest over compatriot Hiwot Ayalew, 9:11.39 to 9:12.89.  America's Emma Coburn, a training partner of Jenny Simpson, finished third in a career best 9:19.84. While pleased with her performance, she nonetheless saw room for improvement.   "I'm happy with the PR (personal record), obviously," Coburn told Race Results Weekly.  "But I was definitely hoping to go a few seconds faster and have a stronger last kilometer than I did.  I kind of of checked out a little from 1200 to go to 400 to go (when she was running by herself)."   The 41st annual Prefontaine Classic will be held on May 29 & 30, 2015.

May 31, 2014

Rudisha finally ready for comeback

RUDISHA FINALLY READY FOR COMEBACK AT PRE CLASSIC By David Monti, @d9monti (c) 2014 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.   EUGENE (30-May) -- It was here in Track Town USA one year ago that Olympic champion and world record holder David Rudisha of Kenya first learned that his breathtaking ascent to the top of athletics had hit an unwanted pause.  Rudisha, 25, a Kenyan 800-meter specialist, felt that something wasn't right with his right knee which had been bothering him since the adidas Grand Prix in New York City six days before.   "You know, after New York last year I started feeling some pain in my knee," Rudisha told reporters here today.  "It was like something touching.  Well, I continued with my training because I was preparing to come to Pre.  But, while I was here I felt like this is not going to happen.  The pain was increasing every time I go out training."   The initial diagnosis was a bone bruise.  But after going to Tübingen, Germany, where his Australian manager, James Templeton, has his summer base, he found out that the problem was more complicated.   "They run a lot of tests and the bone bruise was still there," Rudisha recounted.  "But, the bone bruise was the secondary problem. The primary problem was the ligaments around the knee were weak, making the knee to play a lot and causing the bone bruise."   Rudisha had to stop running.  Under Templeton's guidance, they saw several doctors and concluded that rest and  physical therapy would be the primary treatment.  Rudisha's knee would need to be strengthened to protect him from future problems.   "He needed to build up strength and stability in the knee, build up the muscle," explained Templeton, who kept Rudisha in Germany at the beginning of this year where he could get therapy.  "So, he stayed in Germany for six or seven weeks to do a good period of training in the gym, supervised training in the gym with the physios there to build up strength and stability."   Rehabilitation is a difficult process for any athlete.  Instead of the glory of competition, there are hours of grinding repetitions in a gym, with no audience or applause.  Rudisha felt down, but said the people around him provided great support.   "Actually, it's really tough," he said.  "When we are out there and not doing training and we are not competing, it's really very tough. It's hard physically and mentally.  I'm happy because I have really good people supporting me, my coach my family.  We are really close.  They encouraged me."   In tomorrow's race, Rudisha will face a stacked field, including Mohamed Aman of Ethiopia, the reigning world champion; Duane Solomon of the USA, the current world leader; and Nijel Amos of Botswana, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist.  While Rudisha was looking for a somewhat softer race to begin his comeback (he scratched from Doha Diamond League meeting on May 9th with a calf strain), he said he's completely ready for tomorrow's race.   "Yeah, I know there is a lot of expectations for me coming back," he said, picking his worlds carefully.  "Training has been good.  I'm confident.  I told even my coach, I think it is just good to start here because I've been doing really good and solid training.  I don't feel there is any problem starting here.  I'm confident I'm going to run well tomorrow."   After tomorrow's meet, Rudisha will focus on preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland at the end of July.  It's the only major championships from which he doesn't have a medal (he's already been African, Olympic, world and world junior champion).  He'll begin those preparations in Germany where he'll train until the adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 14. According to Templeton, Rudisha had started to enjoy Tübingen.   "He's fairly relaxed," Templeton observed.  "We watched a lot of football."

May 30, 2014

LIVE UPDATES: Prefontaine Classic

LIVE UPDATES: Prefontaine Classic 2014 (Eugene Diamond League) Eugene, OR | Hayward Field May 30 - 31st, 2014

May 30, 2014

ENTRIES: Prefontaine Classic

ENTRIES: Prefontaine Classic 2014 (Eugene Diamond League) Eugene, OR | Hayward Field May 30 - 31st, 2014

May 30, 2014

RESULTS: Prefontaine Classic

RESULTS: Prefontaine Classic 2014 (Eugene Diamond League)

May 30, 2014

Prefontaine Classic Women's 1500m preview

In a parallel dimension, Elise Cranny wins the 2014 Prefontaine Classic Women’s 1,500-meter in a new American Record, is immediately inducted to the Track and Field Hall of Fame, Hayward Field is renamed in her honor, and she and Mary Cain rule the running world from now until humanity blinks out of existence.   In reality, there’s a decent chance that none of that will happen. Instead, we’re treated to the next best thing: the “best ever” women’s 1,500-meters.   This Saturday’s race will not only feature four sub-4:00 competitors, but will have all three medalists from the 2013 World Outdoor Championships, a red-hot American, one international World Junior superstar, and one absolutely talented American high school senior not named Mary Cain.   Like we did with the men’s field, we’ll breakdown each the 13 entrants in the women’s race.   #1 - Abeba Aregawi 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:56.54 1,500-meter Season Best: 3:58.72 (Shanghai, 1st place)   The only thing that can stop the reigning world indoor and outdoor champion is either a) herself or b) an in-form Genzebe Dibaba.   The Swede looked comfortable in her win at the Shanghai Diamond League Meeting, where she ran her world leading time of 3:58.72. That was her sixth fastest 1,500-meter ever and the seventh time she’s dipped below 4:00.   It’s not a bold prediction, but Aregawi for the win.   #2 - Jenny Simpson 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:59.90 1,500-meter Season Best: 4:00.42 (Shanghai DL, 2nd place)   The Moscow 2013 silver medalist may have once again finished one place behind Aregawi in Shanghai, but Simpson came away with her second fastest 1,500-meter of all-time in 4:00.42. With that in mind, we'll forcast a storm brewing that will soon hit.   Let’s not forget when Simpson set her 1,500-meter personal best back in 2009, it came from second place, too. Let’s also not forget that it happened at her breakout party at the 2009 Prefontaine Classic.     If she’s going to beat Aregawi, it’s going to take something special. Something like, dropping her 1,500-meter personal best from 4:08.38 to 3:59.90 and almost upsetting Gelete Burka.   #3 - Hellen Obiri 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:58.58 1,500-meter Season Best: 4:04.88 (Drake Relays, 1st place)   The defending Prefontaine Classic Women’s 1,500-meter champion and Moscow 2013 bronze medalist is in the form of her life.   So far this spring, Obiri has notched wins at the Drake Relays 1,500-meters (4:04.88), ran a 2:00.6 and 4:10.0 double at altitude, was an integral part of Kenya’s 4 x 1,500-meter relay at the World Relay Championships, and, but certainly not least, ran the unofficial official world record in the women’s 3,000-meters at the Doha Diamond League Meeting.   We chronicle her run here, but 8:20.68 was a Kenyan National Record and the fastest time ever run by a non-supposedly doped up Chinese athlete.   We’ll also add that Obiri’s winning time last year (3:58.58) was not only a Hayward Field record, but the fastest 1,500-meters ever run on U.S. soil.   #4 - Brenda Martinez 1,500-meter Personal Best: 4:00.94 1,500-meter Season Best: 4:06.96 / 3:59.8   While we’re excited for the entire field, Martinez wins the prize for most hype.   The IAAF broadcast said it best, but Martinez was “absolutely brilliant” at the World Relays. She not only ran an unofficial personal best on the 4 x 1,500-meter anchor leg (3:59.8), but doubled back to anchor the 4 x 800-meter squad in 1:58.68. Red-hot indeed.   But here’s a pop quiz for you hotshot: what’s Martinez’ best event, objectively speaking?   I’m not talking which event will give her the best chance at winning a medal (it was clearly the 800-meters last summer), I’m talking her strongest event on paper.   Because we’ve been waiting, waiting for Martinez to pop yet another big 1,500-meters. Last year, that race came at the Monaco Diamond League Meeting, where she finished third in 4:00.94. Her personal best before that race was 4:04.86.   Now, we anticipate an official sub-4:00 performance.    #5 - Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:56.98 1,500-meter Season Best: N/A   The 20-year-old World Junior phenom has range.

May 29, 2014

Prefontaine Classic Men's 5K preview

Talented Group of Americans face stacked International Field

May 28, 2014

Prefontaine Classic Men's Mile preview

William Jay Bowerman was many things. He was a renowned coach. He was an innovator. He was the tyrant of his wife’s waffle iron. In a booming era of coaches wearing hats, his tyrolean cap stood alone.   For these, and some other achievements, his legacy includes, but isn’t limited to, a trophy, Donald Sutherland, and lastly, a mile at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.   The Bowerman Mile, for us non-metric folk, is the best thing to stem from the imperial measurement system since NASA lost a Mars orbiter in 1999 because one engineering team used the metric system and the other didn’t. The next year, the Prefontaine Classic named the classic mile distance for the grand ol’ man and all was forgiven.   In what’ll be the finale for this weekend’s event, an incredible field of 13 world-class milers will close the curtain on the 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic. And when we say world-class, we mean it in every sense of the word.   Below, we’ll preview the 13 entrants in order that we think they’ll finish.   #1 - Asbel Kiprop Outdoor Mile Personal Best: 3:48.59 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:27.72 Season Best: 3:29.18 (Doha DL, 1st place)   In short, let's just say that Kiprop is superb at the mile. Since 2008, he’s been ranked no lower than number two in the world and has maintained the number one spot on three occasions. But at Hayward Field, where legends never die, Kiprop has been king of the Bowerman Mile.   The reigning world champion and number one metric miler in the world has won the event three out of the four times he's run it. He’s gone sub-3:50 in all four races as well.   After the Doha Diamond League, where he bested the best of the best and ran the fastest 1,500-meter ever before July, we expect more of the same.   Also, for what it’s worth, the fastest mile ever run in May was 3:49.92 by Hicham El Guerrouj at none other than the Prefontaine Classic.   #2 - Ayanleh Souleiman Outdoor Mile Personal Best: 3:50.07 1,500-meter Personal Best: 3:30.16 Season Best: 3:30.16 (Doha DL, 3rd place)   Souleiman, the aggressor, tried to hold off Kiprop over the final 200-meters in Doha. Although his efforts left him for broke in the final meters (he finished 4th), he still walked away with a new personal best and Djibouti national record.

May 28, 2014

Rupp confirmed for Pre Classic 10K

May 27, 2014 For Immediate Release   Rupp is Ready to Rip a 10k at Pre Classic   Eugene, Oregon – Galen Rupp has already set two American records this year, and with good conditions, his own American 10k best of 26:48.00 could be in jeopardy Friday night at the Prefontaine Classic.

May 27, 2014

World's best milers to Pre Classic

April 28, 2014

Apr 28, 2014