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INDIANAPOLIS - Organizers of the 2007 Reebok Grand Prix played host to a media conference Thursday featuring Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram, who will compete in the men's mile at that event in New York City on June 10.
A Global Athletics & Marketing, Inc., event, the Reebok Grand Prix is the third event of USA Track & Field's 2007 Outdoor Visa Championships Series. It will be televised on June 2 on ESPN2 from 11 p.m. - 12:30 a.m., and on June 3 from 1 - 2 p.m. on CBS. All times are Eastern.
Lagat and Mottram will participate in a rematch of their exciting Wanamaker Mile duel at the 100th Millrose Games in February, where Lagat passed Mottram on the final turn for the win.
Both athletes are well-known in New York. Two-time Olympic medalist Lagat, the reigning U.S. Champion at 1,500m and 5,000m and the American record-holder at 1,500m outdoors, is a five-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile. Mottram, the 2005 World Championships bronze medalist at 5,000 meters and Australian record-holder in the mile, is a two-time winner of the Healthy Kidney 10K and champion of the 2005 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. at Icahn Stadium at Randall's Island. Tickets, at $20, $30 and $40 each, are available by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC. USA Track & Field welcomes you to pay with your Visa. For more information and event updates, visit the event website at www.ReebokGrandPrix.com
Excerpts from the teleconference Bernard Lagat and Craig Mottram follow:
Q: Bernard, what have you been doing since the indoor season?
A: I decided not to run Mt. SAC because I had a long indoor season, so I wanted to take a longer rest before training hard for the summer. I'm back training now.
Q: Why are you running in this meet (the Reebok Grand Prix)?
A: I wanted to run this one because I've haven't run any outdoor meet in New York. I've only been running in the Millrose Games. I just wanted to run New York and it is the one for me because I have a time frame, where I wanted to train for six weeks before running in a race and the end of this week will be six weeks for me.
Q: Craig, could you take us back to the Millrose Games and talk about your race with Bernard?
A: It was a fantastic race. I love New York. Every opportunity I get to run there I will. The Millrose Games was an experience for me and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll be able to come back again next year and race Bernard and Alan Webb as well. Bernard was a little too strong in the last lap, but it was a great race and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll have many more races like that in the future.
Q: Both of you guys train in Flagstaff (Arizona). Craig, how has your training been going?
A: My training has been going great. I'm probably at the same level where I have been at this time for the last four or five years. The main goal for me is not until the end of August, and I'll be flying then. There's always going to be a few bumps in the road along the way and you just have to iron them out. Coming into the race on June 2 against Bernard in New York over a mile I'm pretty confident in my fitness and looking forward to a great challenge. Bernard is one of the best milers in the world and if you want to go up against a good competitor and get a good indication of where you're at then he's the one to go up against.
Q: Craig, what will you run at the World Championships?
A: The 5,000.
Q: Bernard, could you talk about your Millrose victory earlier this year?
A: The Millrose Games brings a lot of excitement and it's a fantastic race to run, and I've been doing that now for a long time. I know the track after running there for a while, and winning there for the fifth time was good for me, and I like it because I'm trying to get the record from the great Eamonn Coughlan, who was a great athlete running in the Garden.
Q: Bernard, how has your training been going?
A: Sometimes you train and train and you don't really know your shape, but with the workouts I've been able to do I'm doing faster than last year, like what I did on Monday, I did with a really fast tempo, a four-mile tempo in 20 minutes and I didn't feel like I was working extra hard. I feel like my shape is where it's supposed to be, but then when it comes to the race I need to prepare for that and get faster workouts going.
Q: Bernard, are we going to see you in the 5,000 at the World Championships?
A: My only goal is to run 1,500 and try to get a gold medal in the 1,500. I know it's getting tougher as I get older, but I want to make sure I'm training even harder than before and focusing more on one thing instead focusing on two. I'm going to focus on the 1,500 and go for the World Championships team in the 1,500.
Q: Will you try to get the American record in the 5,000?
A: Not this year for sure. My focus is on the 1,500.
Q: Bernard, the U.S. mile record by Steve Scott has been on the books for a long time now. Do you have plans to break it?
A: That record has been there for a long time. To run that one you have to really have a perfect day and everything has to be perfect. It's not an easy race. I think it might be hard to do it, but if I can have the opportunity, why not try.
Q: What kind of shape are you in right now?
A: With my workouts that I've been doing, anything under 3:53 is what I can do right now. I think I can run 3:53 or even faster.
Q: Craig, how fast can you go this week?
A: That's the million dollar question. I ran Millrose in 3:54 on a small track, so I think I can run under 3:54. I've got no idea. I can run fast enough to be competitive.
For more information on the Reebok Grand Prix and the 2007 Visa Championship Series, visit USATF.org.
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