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USA Track & Field
Bernard Lagat Sets National Indoor Two Mile Record of 8:10.07
Courtesy of New York Road RunnersFebruary 12, 2011; updated 2/22/11
New York, NY
Bernard Lagat (2010 photo at left by www.photorun.net) secured a fifth national indoor record in the New York Road Runners Deuce Record Challenge on Saturday night, February 12 at the Armory New Balance Track & Field Center in New York City. He won the men's two mile in 8:10.07, an American record, on the Armory's 200-meter track. Doug Padilia set the old mark (8:15.02) in 1990 at the Los Angeles Forum. ''With six laps to go, I started to take off," Bernard Lagat remarked. ''With two laps to go, I thought I was going to get it. I was feeling good. I felt like I had it. Today I felt unbelievable.'' Lagat ran the final mile in 4:02.
Bernard Lagat, 36, of Tucson, AZ now owns U.S. national indoor records for 1500m, one mile, and 3000m. He is also the USA outdoor record-holder at 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m. (Galen Rupp broke his mark for 5000m on February 19, 2011.)
“All the records are special, but this one is very special,” said Lagat, who was running his first professional indoor 2-mile race.
Lagat was led through the first 1200m by University of Virginia sophomore Robby Andrews; New Balance Grand Prix mile champion Russell Brown of the Nike Oregon Track Club took over pacing duties through 2000m. "The easy consistent pace made it possible for me to have energy at the end," Lagat said.
In the same race, Lukas Verzbicas, a high school senior from Carl Sandberg (IL), missed Gerry Lindgren's 1964 prep mark by three seconds. Verbicas finished in 8:43.24, still the third fastest time in U.S. high school annals.
New York Road Runners presented Bernard Lagat with a $10,000 check for breaking the mark. He also owns a record eight Wanamaker Mile titles at the Millrose Games. The NYRR Deuce Record Challenge was a featured attraction of the NYRR Saturday Night at the Armory III Collegiate meet at the Armory with Brown, Columbia, Rutgers, Iona, St. John's, West Point, Virginia, Pennsylvania and eight other teams participating.
Lagat is a multiple Olympic and World Outdoor Championships medalist at 1500m and 5000m. Most recently, he won the 2010 World Indoor men's title at 3000m (7:37.97) in Doha, Qatar; he won the same title in 2004. On the outdoor track, he won double gold at the 2007 IAAF World Championships (1500m, 5000m) in Osaka, Japan, and he took home silver (5000m) and bronze (1500m) at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
Bernard Lagat has been a resident of the United States since 1996, gained U.S. citizenship after the 2004 Olympics, and became eligible to compete for the United States on August 25, 2007 (per IAAF rules). As a Kenyan, Lagat won Olympic silver at 1500m in Athens (2004) and bronze at 1500m in Sydney (2000).