Lunch With Lagat & Coghlan

Walt Murphy's News and Results Service

Each Monday during the indoor season, the NY Track Writers Association meets for lunch in Manhattan to discuss upcoming events. We also usually have an athlete or two to interview, either in person or on a phone hookup.

Today's lunch was one of those special occasions where we had not one, but two great athletes in attendance, both of whom were in town as members of NYC2012's "Circle of Olympians and Paralympians". NYC2012, the group that is trying to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to NY City, is playing host to the IOC's Evaluation Commission this week.

After attending a ceremony at the ice skating rink in nearby Rockefeller Center, Eamonn Coghlan and Bernard Lagat (they didn't skate), the #2 and #3 fastest indoor milers of all time, joined our group for lunch.

As you might have read, Lagat won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in 3:52.87 to break Coghlan's seemingly untouchable 24-year old meet record of 3:53.0. Coghlan, who noted today that Lagat was 6 years old when the meet record was set, saw the results on the internet back home in Ireland, and thought, "It's about time!". He also said he was happy that Lagat was the one to break his record--"Couldn't happen to a finer gentleman".

Lagat went on to run 3:49.89 in Fayetteville the next week to become only the 3rd man in history to break 3:50 indoors. Coghlan was the first to do it in 1983 when he ran 3:49.78, and that record stood until Hicham El Guerrouj set the current record of 3:48.45 in 1997.

Also in attendance today were David Katz, the current Millrose meet director, Howard Schmertz, the Millrose head during Coghlan's reign as the "Chairman of the Boards", and Ray Lumpp, who was the meet director of the Olympic Invitational at the Meadowlands when Coghlan ran his sub-3:50. Lumpp was an Olympic gold medalist in basketball at the 1948 Olympics(See attached photos).

It was a great trip down memory lane as Coghlan talked about his aggressive style of running hard into the turns on tracks where he had his greatest indoor successes--Madison Square Garden (the old track), San Diego, and the Meadowlands.

Just as Coghlan was adopted by New Yorkers as one of their own, Lagat, the winner of three Wanamaker Miles, is quickly reaching that status, but doesn't see himself topping Coghlan's record 7 wins at Millrose.

When asked about his short term plans, Lagat said, "Eamonn told me he ran his best at 31. I hope to run my best at 30 (Lagat turned 30 in December). I don't want to make any predictions, but I do want to take a run at the (1500) world record this year". Lagat plans to open his outdoor season with a 5k at the Mt.SAC Relays in April, and will then run a couple of miles in the U.S. before heading to Europe in his preparation for the World Championships in Helsinki. The Finnish capitol was the site of one of Coghlan's greatest achievements, winning the gold medal in the 5000-meters at the inaugural World Championships in 1983.