NEW YORK (26-Jan) -- Unlike the first time he came here to compete at the Millrose Games, Bernard Lagat is now a student of the Wanamaker Mile and Madison Square Garden's quirky 145.5m banked track. With a record eighth Wanamaker title within his grasp, the 35 year-old two-time Olympic medallist from Tucson, Ariz., told reporters today that he had done the work, and was ready to displace Eamonn Coghlan as the new Chairman of the Boards.
"All of you know the history," Lagat said. "This event is so special we have to make sure we are ready when we come over here, and just make sure the training is good. I'm in good shape. The speed is there. The endurance is there."
Lagat's dynasty began in 2001 when, on his first-ever trip to New York City, he prevailed over Laban Rotich and defending champion Mark Carroll in 3:58.26. Lagat doesn't recall too many details of that race.
"I can't remember less about that race," he said, looking just a little embarrassed.
But the small four-lane track left a strong impression. "This one seems like a little too small," he recalled saying to himself.
But that small track would become Lagat's big advantage. It takes a little more than 11 laps to cover a mile in the Garden, and Lagat has learned how to make precision passes on the short straight-aways to secure his victories. Besides Rotich and Carroll, Alan Webb, Kenenisa Bekele, Rui Silva, Craig Mottram and Nick Willis have all been on the losing end of the Wanamaker Mile to Lagat.
On Friday, another five men will try to beat him, led by Kenya's Asbel Kiprop, the 2008 Olympic 1500m gold medallist (Kiprop had finished second in Beijing but race winner Rashid Ramzi was later disqualified for doping). The long-legged Kiprop --who was a last minute replacement for Ethiopia's Deresse Mekonnen, the 2008 world indoor 1500m champion, who couldn't get a USA visa in time-- and Britain's Andy Baddeley, will be Lagat's key rivals.
"I'm prepared for them," Lagat said. "With Kiprop you're adding an Olympic champion."
But neither Kiprop nor Baddeley has ever run on the Garden track, a huge advantage for Lagat. At the Millrose Games, the athletes are not given any opportunity to test the track. The only time they can sample it before the race is when they run half a lap after the meet announcer, Bob Hersh, introduces them just before the gun.
"You don't even have a chance to practice," said Lagat, still marveling at that Millrose tradition. "The only time you have is the introduction."
Lagat admitted today that he had earned his victories while in varying states of fitness. In 2005, when he broke Coghlan's meet record and clocked 3:52.87, he was in top shape. But in 2008, when his wife Gladys had just had their first child, son Miika, Lagat was only running 30 miles a week (he normally runs 70 to 80). Craig Mottram was in the lead with four laps to go, but relying on his natural speed, Lagat shot past him on the backstraight of the penultimate lap to win in 3:57.51.
"He surprised me," Mottram said at the time. "He came by very quickly."
Lagat said today that he is in similar shape to 2005, and said that he had covered 400m in 54 seconds at the end of a very hard workout, recently. He smiled like a poker player who knows his hand is hard to beat.
"I just want to win this eighth one," he said. "These are not easy guys."
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