Photo above by www.photorun.net: Alan Webb won the Men's 1500m (3:30.54) at the Meeting Gaz de France in Paris on July 6, 2007, his first victory in a Golden League event. It also was the fastest 1500m performance in the world last year.

Note: On Friday, April 25, Andrew Logue reported in the Des Moines Register that Alan Webb withdrew from Saturday's race due to unsatisfactory progress in his training. Last Thursday, April 17 during a media teleconference, Alan had expressed optimism on his readiness to race on the track at the Drake Relays. Read More

His Goal This Year at Drake: Win
Read about Alan Webb's 2007 Mile at the Drake Relays

Alan Webb (25), who shattered the Drake Relays record in the invitational mile last year, and then two months later set an American record, will return to defend his title during the Saturday, April 26 session of the 99th annual Drake Relays. This weekend's appearance will mark his 2008 debut in the mile.

"This will be my first mile race on the track since last year," said Alan Webb during a Thursday teleconference. "Hopefully, it wlll be the beginning of great season."

Alan Webb enjoyed an amazing season in 2007, ending the campaign with the fastest times in the world in the mile (3:46.91 AR) and 1500m (3:30.54), and also posted the second- fastest time in the world in the 800m (1:43.84), all of which were personal best times.

On July 21, 2007, Webb set the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderen meet in Brasschaa, Belgium, to break the mark of 3:47.69 set by Steve Scott in 1982. That time was the eighth fastest time in history.

Alan Webb won his first U.S. indoor title in 2007 in the mile before going on a tear during the outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott's mile record at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa of 3:55.26.

"I'm excited about coming," said Alan Webb, who was named the Drake Relays outstanding performer last year. "Obviously, I ran great there last year. It was my first time at Drake and I have a lot of fond memories.

"It was incredible to see the fans, the excitement in the stadium--the noise level was pretty incredible. Those factors literally propelled me to run faster than I expected," added Alan Webb, whose performance at Drake was the fastest mile ever run by anyone in the world in the month of April.

On June 24, 2007 in Indianapolis, IN he ran 3:34.82 in the 1500m to break Scott's 25-year old meet record at the USA Outdoor Championships; it was his third career national outdoor 1500m title. Read More

The biggest win of Alan Webb's career came July 6, 2007, at the Golden League meet in Paris, when he ran a personal-best 1500m time of 3:30.54, the fastest time in the world last year. Ten days later, he set a then personal best in the 800m, running 1:45.80 in Malmo, Sweden.

The Drake Relays Men's Mile Field
The invitational mile field includes former NCAA champion Vincent Rono, who won the 2007 Drake Relays university-college 1500m; Moise Joseph of Haiti; Phillip Lagat from Kenya; Steve Sherer, who was third in the 1500m at the 2008 U.S. Indoor Championships; and former Drake distance star Matt Gabrielson, now with Team USA Minnesota.

Rono won the 1500m at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a junior at South Alabama and placed fourth last year in a personal best of 3:37.96. He opened the 2008 campaign winning the 1500m (3:42.62) at the Alabama Relays

Lagat, 25, ran a personal best of 3:39.81 in the 1500m to win the 2007 Twilight Classic in Ypsilanti, MI. Joseph, 26, owns a personal best of 4:03.32 in the mile set in 2001.He was third in the 800m in a personal best of 1:45.74 at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships competing for Florida. Sherer, 26, owns a personal best of 3:56.00 en route to winning the indoor mile at the Washington Invitational February 2.

Matt Gabrielson, 29, has competed in three straight World Cross Country Championships as a member of Team USA. He was second in the 2005 U.S. Half Marathon Championships, and won the 2007 Drake Relays Half Marathon in a meet record 1.07:45. The Belmond, IA native owns a personal best of 4:02.70 while winning the 2007 Jesse Owens Classic Mile. He was a five-time All-Missouri Valley Conference champion at Drake, including titles in the indoor 3000m as well as 3000m steeplechase.

Alan Webb opened the 2007 campaign by winning the mile at the New Balance Indoor Games in a personal indoor best of 3 minutes 56.70 seconds. He broke that personal best mark a week later running 3:55.18 in Boston, winning the Reebok Invitational Mile. He also won the mile at the 2007 U.S. Indoor Championships.

Alan Webb won the 1500m at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, and 2005 U.S. Outdoor Championships. He continued his steady climb up the ranks of the world's best 1500m runners in 2005 by qualifying for the final at the World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, Finland. He finished the campaign ranked No. 7 in the world by Track & Field News. His fastest race in 2005 was a personal best 3:48.92 at the Golden League meet in Olso, Norway.

Alan Webb also made a huge splash by winning the 10,000m (27:34.72) at the 2006 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, CA, which was the fastest-ever debut by an American at that distance.

Alan Webb earned the world-class status he promised as a high schooler by winning four major races in 2004: the Home Depot Invitational, the Golden Spike meet 1500m in Ostrava, Czechoslavkia, the Nike Prefontaine Classic Mile, and the U.S. Olympic Trials 1500m. His time of 3:32.73 at Ostrava (at that time) was the second fastest in the world in the 1,500m that year, while his 3:50.85 from the Pre Classic was the world's fastest mile (at that time) in 2004.

A high school phenom after breaking Jim Ryun's prep mile record for sophomores in 1999, Alan Webb became an internationally heralded athlete in 2001as the first American high school miler ever to run under four minutes indoors at the New Balance Games with a time of 3:59.86. In May, 2001 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, OR, a well-paced race and a final lap of 55.3 seconds enabled Webb to run a 3:53.43 in the mile, breaking the national high school record of 3:55.3 set by Jim Ryun 36 years earlier.

As a freshman at Michigan, Webb won the 2001 Big Ten Conference cross country championship and was 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. An Achilles injury forced him to sit out the 2002 indoor track season, but he bounced back to win the Big Ten Outdoor Championships 1500m and placed fourth in the 1500mat the NCAA Championships. Webb left the University of Michigan in June of 2002 to turn professional under his high school coach and mentor, Scott Raczko.

Photo above by Drew: Alan Webb spoke with the media after winning his third Men's 1500m title at the 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis, IN.

A feature article, "Alan Webb Advances on Track's International Stage," appeared in the September/October 2007 issue of the Washington Running Report. Read More.