Top Runners Ready to Test Themselves

The top two milers in the United States will compete at the Adidas Classic on Sunday at The Home Depot Center.

But Bernard Lagat and Alan Webb will not run against each other. Lagat -- a native of Kenya who became a U.S. citizen last year -- will be in the 1,500, and Webb -- the high school national record holder in the mile -- is entered in the two-mile.

This will only add to their rivalry as both runners aim to set the U.S. record in the mile this year.

Lagat, who set the national record in the 1,500 meters last year with a time of 3 minutes 29.30 seconds, and Webb, who ran a personal best of 3:48.92 in the mile last year, are both determined to break Steve Scott’s U.S. record in the mile of 3:47.69.

Scott, who coaches at Cal State San Marcos, said this about the possibility of Lagat’s breaking the mile record:

“If I said that I wouldn’t be bothered by having someone who was not born American break the record, I’d be lying,” said Scott, who established his mark in 1982. “It bothered me when Sydney Maree, who came here from South Africa, broke the record in the 1,500. If you’re going to have you’re record taken away, you’d like it to be broken by someone born and raised here in America.

“But on the other side of the coin, almost all of us came here from somewhere else. My mother’s parents came over from Germany, so I’m just a second generation here. That’s how this country is set up. Just one of those things that happens.”

With Lagat and Webb ranking among the world’s best four-lap runners, the U.S. has been going through an upswing in the middle distances. But the key to the resurgence is Lagat, a two-time Olympic medalist for Kenya. Although he’s ineligible to compete internationally for the U.S. this year, Lagat is regarded as a major runner among the world’s best milers. His personal record in the mile is 3:47.28, a performance Lagat accomplished in 2001 and a time he hopes to better this year.

“I wanted to do it last year, but it didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Lagat, a former NCAA champion runner at Washington State. “So this year, I’m really trying to go after it this year.”

On Sunday, Lagat’s main competition is expected to come from Rachid Ramzi of Bahrain, the 2005 world champion at 800 and 1,500 meters, and Adam Goucher, a talented U.S. cross-country champion.

But Lagat knows that down the line, his top competition will come from Webb, who ran 27:34.72 in the 10,000 at Stanford earlier this year, the fastest debut in U.S. history.

“Alan is a young one, but then again, he’s been around a while and we don’t look at him as a newcomer anymore,” Lagat said. “He’s a great athlete who runs very well. He’s been running cross-country and his time in the 10K was amazing. To see a miler run like that is really good stuff.”

Webb, the reigning U.S. champion in the 1,500, will have a tough race against Abdi Abdirahman, two-time U.S. champion in the 10,000 -- a challenge Scott says Webb can handle because of his throwback style.

“Last year, I predicted that he’ll be the best American middle distance runner ever and I still stick by that,” Scott said. “I know that I’m just an old broken-down miler, but I truly believe that. He just needs to work on his 800 a little bit. Just look at his times across the board, from the 800 to the 10,000.”

Craig Masback, chief executive of USA Track and Field, is thrilled about watching the rivalry grow between Lagat and Webb.

“There’s going to be a lot of exciting duels between them to come,” Masback said. “But it’s not just them. We’re having the best fields that we’ve ever had with an American base. I believe we’re seeing the best depth in middle distance runners in 20 years.”