by Larry Eder
My view from press seat, Reebok Boston Indoor Games, Sold out!, February 6, 2010, from my I-phone
Welcome to the fifteenth annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games! The meet starts at 5.10 pm, with the first heat of the VISA 60 Mete and ends at 8.05 p.m. tonight with the Women’s 5,000 meters.
Here is how we cover the meet here: We update each event on RBR, twitter it out and will follow up tomorrow with a play by play analysis of the RBK Boston Indoor Games! As famed announcer Toni Reavis says, ” Hello Boston!
Here is how we see each event:
VISA Men’s 60 Meters,Heat 1: Travis Padget, Ivory Williams, Trell KImmons move on, Padget runs 6.60!
VISA Men’s 60 Meters, Heat 2: Michael Rodgers, Daniel Bailey and LeRoy Dixon move to final, with Rodgers sprinting 6.55! Rodgers has equaled the fastest time in the world!
What’s nice about the sprints this season is the no false start rule-one false start and the sprinter is out! No charges to the field, so it makes TV much easier and gives us more to see!
Reebok Men’s Masters’ Mile: Fifteen runners in the field, hitting 400 meters in 67.6, 800 meters in 2:14, another 67 for 400 meters! Lemme, Burdgett, Simpson, Livingstone, Pugsley in fifth. 1200 meters hit in 3:23. Pugsley moving up into second, looking good, very relaxed on Lemme’s shoulder. Chris Teague takes off, with Pugsley in second, Chris Teague wins in 4:29.05, with Ray Pugsley, former training partner of one Rich Kenah, in second in 4:29.43! Chris Simpson in third in 4:30.56, Sean Livingstone in fourth in 4:31.99! What a race, Chris Teague made a great move over the last 200 meters and took the race!
Men’s 60m Hurdles, Heat : Terrance Trammell hurdles 7.49 to lead Eric Mitchum and Ladji Doucoure of France onto the hurdle finals!
Women’s 400 meters: The indoor 400 meters is brutal: you have to lead and you better be strong. It is roller derby, with all of the falling, and lots of “ooohs” and “aaahs” from the crowd. DeeDee Trotter, a veteran 400 meter runner, who had a tough last season, took the lead, nearly fell over, but charged into the lead and won in 53.08! Great early season race! Kineke Alexander was second in 53.54 and Shareese Woods was third in 53.57!
MBTA Men’s 400 meters: Bershawn Jackson, aka Batman, runs down Renny Quow for the win, 46.86 to 47.15. Jackson, the 400 meter intermediate hurdle silver medalist, has the strength and race smarts to know when to move this early in the season! ” Always a great track and always a great crowd” noted a victorious Bershawn Jackson.
Jamal Torrence was third in 48.00. Chris Brown was fourth in 48.36m and in fifth was Michael Tinsley in 48.48.
Women’s 60m hurdles: Damu Cherry wins here, 8.00, with Perdita Felician in 8.01 and Virginia Powell in third in 8.06! The hurdles races indoor are fast and furious, no time for messing up!
Women’s 3,000 meters: This morning, as I was finishing my hour walk, in windy and very chilly conditions (25), there was Shannon Rowbury, floating along on her shake out run. After that, Shannon did a few long stride outs, but she looked ready for tonight…..
The pack of fifteen hit 69 for the first 400 meters2.22.2 for 800 meters and 3:01 for 1,000 meters. Still following Julia Howard, the pace setter, the pack hits 1,200 meters in 3:37,
hitting the mile in 4:50.76 for the top runners. all seem in the game.
Kalkidan Gezahagn and Genzebe Dibaba take off at 1,800 meters, Shannon Rowbury catches them and the break is on!
Gezahagn and Dibaba look tough, but Rowbury looks fit and relaxed! Sara Hall is pushing to get back in the front pack, but she is back thirty meters! Two laps to go, Gesahegn, Dibaba and Rowbury look great! Rowbury comes around corner, with bell lap, ready to go, the kick is on!
Kalkidan Gezahegn wins in 8:46.19! Genzebe Dibaba is in second in 8:47.01, and Shannon Rowbury in third in 8:47.08!
Women’s Junior Mile: McGee, Lipari (Millrose champ) lead through 400 meters in 71, and 800 meters in 2:26. Joanna Stevens in third, Kathleen Stevens (they’re twins) in fourth, 1200 meters in 3:43.4, Lipari starts to waver, McGee pushes, Joanna Stevens in second, with one lap to go, Mcgee, now Lipari pushes back to make a rush to take lead over Mcgee and busts her way to the finish in 4:46.79! What a race! Emily Lipari takes win in 4:46.79, Joanna Stevens took seond in 4:50.02, Cory Ann McGee in third in 4:50.6 and Kathleen Stevens in fourth in 4:51.03 aith Katrina Coogan in 4:59.96! Another example of how good our junior women are around the country. Lipari is a racer, and she has a few moves that will continue to astound! Great race Emily LIpari!
Women’s 60m finals: Lisa Barber wins here in 7.22, with Marshevet Myers in second in 7.29, and Muna Lee is third in 7.30. 2005 LJ World Champ Tianna Madison is fourth in 7.31. Bianca Knight is fifth in 7.32!
VISA Men’s 60m finals: Ivory Williams and Mike Rodgers duel, with Williams wining in 6.51 to Rodgers in 6.53 and Bailey in 6.54! Two victories, in two weeks for Williams!
Men’s Pole Vault: Jeremy Scott won the pole vault in a fairly low height for Reggie Lewis Center, 18-4.5 with a nice and clean first attempt clearance at 5.60m.
Yoo Kim of Korea took the silver in his first attempt clearance of 5.40m, and Tim Mack took third in 5.40m, on his first attempt. Brian Mondschein of Isreal in fourth, also at 5.40m, on misses.
Men’s Junior Mile: The pack hit the 400 meters in 64.2, with the Millrose champ Pat Schellberg in lead.
Schellberg hits 800 meters, with Cotton in third (Ian Stewart’s nephew), 3:12.4 for the 1,200 meters. Schellberg, Cotton running one, two, we shall see…Cotton on Schellberg’s shoulder! Alex Hatz charges to lead, and Pat Schellberg, Cotton, Mousa, nearly fall but fight to the finish. Alex Hatz in 4:12.08, Ammar Moussa in second in 4:14.13, Cotton in third, in 4:14.04, holding on after a roller derby experience! Billy Ledder was fourth in 4:16.12 and Pat Scheillberg finished fifth in 4:21.01.
The junior miles here are really great races and Reebok treats the young runners very well. Hats off to Patrick Joyce and Jennifer Thomas for their attention to this event, which gives some of our young talents a little extra encouragement to race well at this super event!
Women’s 200 meters: Sholanda Solomon charged into the lead, and did not stop, running in her lane the entire way, winning in 23.53. Ashley Kidd in second in 23.84, Natalie Knight was third in 23.99 and Sheena Tosta was fourth in 24.22!
Men’s 5,000 meters: This event could be the best of the night! To set a new AR, Rupp and Lagat need to hit 32 seconds per 200, 2.42 for 1k.
So, they hit 62.5 for 400m, 2:06 for 800m, 2:37.79 for 1k, 4:14.5 for the 1,600 meters, 5.19.53 for 2k, with Lagat in second, Rupp in behind him.
Lagat is running well, with GEnuti, Rupp right behind him. Nine laps to go, running near pace, but it will have to be fast to set AR. Two miles in about 8:40.
With five laps to go, Galen Rupp took the lead, and pushed the pace! Daba right behind, Lagat right there, but, like last year at Tyson, when Galen ran 13:18 AR, he took control….
Galen Rupp pushed the pace for three laps, as Daba took control with two laps to go, and Lagat, Rupp, Geneti followed, and the crowd was screaming! Toni Reavis, the announcer, was at the top of his game and the crowd was pleading, screaming, chearing, cajoling Lagat and Rupp to get the AR!
With one lap to go, Bernard Lagat, the best middle distance racer in the world, in my humble opinion, today, ran a 27.90 last two hundred meters to break the AR, running 13:11.50!
In second place, Dejen Gebremeskel took second in 13:11.78, with Bekana Deba third, also in 13:11.78.
In fourth place was the young man who kept the AR in their eyes, Galen Rupp, a bit sick, one week after a nice mile/3k double, running 13:14.81, his indoor (and I believe outdoor as well)!
Hats off to Bernard Lagat, who won Millrose number 8 last week and ran 5,000 meters indoor, his first time for an AR, with a blazing 27.90 last two hundred meters!
What a race, but also the revelation that Bernard Lagat is at the top of his form, and Galen Rupp is going to be even faster, and
when he hits top form, Holy Jebus!
Bobby Curtis was eighth in 13:36.00!
Women’s 1000 meters:
Karen Shinkins took pack through 31.7, and 400 meters in just at 60. The 600 meters was passed in 1:34 and the 800 in 2:08. A snorer!
Anna Pierce stayed on the shoulder of Alice Schmidt. Then Erin Donahue took the lead and made her move. Pierce was right there, and, with one lap to go, she took the lead. Erin Donahue did not give up, as Anna Pierce looked to be on her way to winning. Except, someone did not tell Kenia Sinclair, of Jamaica, who came off the last turn and edged up past, Erin, then past Anna Pierce. Kelly Sinclair won in 2:38.62 to Anna Pierce in 2:38.76 and Erin Donahue in 2:38.98. A great competitive race over a seldom run distance!
Reebok Men’s Mile
A great early pace, with 56.4 for 400 meters, and 1;56.4 for 800 meters, cooled to 2:59.4 for 1,200 meters. Will Leer took the lead with just about three laps to go and it was Leer and Nick Willis, back in shape, for the battle over mile supremacy.
Leer lead through the penultimate lap, and then, kept the lead at the start of the bell lap. Nick Willis took over with one hundred meters to go, running a smart 3:55.26 for the win, defending his title from last year! Will Leer continues to impress with his second place, smartly run race, in 3:55.66. David Torrance was third in 3:56.69, Leo Manzano was fourth in 3:56.82, and Garrett Heath was fifth in 3:57.74, with Tim Bailey also under four minutes, in sixth, running 3:59.75!
Six under four minutes! And a very competitive race, that kept the crowd happy! It is all about the competition!
Women’s pole vault: Congrats to Chelsea Johnson, who won for the second week in a row, and had three good attempts at 15-3!
Women’s 5,000 meters: Tirunesh Dibaba ran from 3:55 on in the race to a fine 14:44.52 for 5,000 meters. Give her four weeks and that is WR shape! More details tomorrow!
Thanks again for reading RBR, watch for analysis tomorrow plus photo galleries! Thanks to Reebok BIG and Global Athletics for making this meet possible! Support our sport!
Upcoming events: See www.adidasgrandprix.com
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