Boston Indoor Games!

Every year there are two, big, well-known indoor track meets (besides that national and the world meets) on the professional running circuit. The first is the Milrose Games, which take place in New York City, and the second meet is the Boston Indoor Games, right here in Boston (duh...). The meet is located at a facility called the Reggie Lewis Center, on the campus of Roxbury Community College. This year, the meet in Boston was on February 6, 2010... and I was lucky enough to get to go. My friend Katharine, who I run with sometimes work with at Boston College High School, got 2 tickets for us to go.... I was really excited!

Having only really been to one indoor facility, the Dempsey Indoor at the University of Washington, it was really interesting and exciting to see another indoor meet. This particular track is raised, 200 meters, and the curves are banked. Although I am definitely a little bias, the distance events seemed to be the highlight of the meet. They were certainly expected to be the most exciting, especially as Bernard Lagat (the gold medalist in the 2004 Athens Olympics in both the 1500 m and the 5000 m - the only individual to ever double and win gold in both events) had announced that he was going to attempt to break the American Indoor Record in the 5000 m (13:18). The facility has a really exciting atmosphere, and because all the events happen in such a small space, the place feels crowded and really energetic, not to mention the stands were right on the edge of the track - you were so close to the action!! Because of the short track, the 60 m sprints take place on the infield.

(On a side note... the athlete in pink is Ginny Powell, she is a graduate of Rainier Beach High School in Seattle - she runs the hurdles)

The sprint races were really exciting to watch, especially the 400 m and the 200 m, which were run on the track, but because of the short, intensity of the track, footing and timing was of the essence for these athletes.... one wrong step and you were toast. Several athletes got tripped up and the races were very physical.

The distance races included the women's 1000 m, with athletes such as Anna (Willard) Pierce, a 2008 Olympian, the men's mile, with Nick Willis, an New Zealander (Olympian) who won, the women's 3000 m, with Shannon Rowbury, also an Olympian (she ran at the UW invite just this past weekend also)...

The girl in pink is Shannon Rowbury.... (in case you care....) :)

And the men's and women's 5000 m. The men's 5000 m was perhaps the most exciting race of the night. The race was headlined by Bernard Lagat and Galen Rupp (U of O graduate and Olympic athlete in 2008). Galen Rupp had the previous American Indoor Record, which he set last year.

Here are some pictures from before the gun went off....

The race started out really slow and for the first 3 k they were off American record pace by about 5 seconds. Then, about 3.5 k the race go SO exciting... Galen Rupp surged to the front and pushed the pace. About 4.5 k Bernard overtook the lead and pushed for the win. It was such an exciting race and the crowd was going nuts. Lagat took the win in 13:11 and Galen was 4th in 13:14 - both were under the old American Indoor Record!!!

One of Mom's favorite runners is Bernard Lagat, so I decided that I would try to get his autograph as he was leaving the track. Since the stands were crowded, it made for an interesting scenario trying to get down to go to the edge of the track to wait for him.... I decided to jump over the railing, which was right in front of us, only to have one leg fall straight into a garbage can... classy.

I did in fact get his autograph - I was one of the first people to get it, and I did in fact also donate my blue sharpie to the cause....

Here are some pictures from the race...

This is when Galen took the lead...

To top off the evening, as we were leaving the stadium at the end of the night, Bernard Lagat was doing some interviews on the field, and he came over to the end of the track to high five some people.... me being ambitious asked him for a picture... he was so friendly and a really nice guy. He is so incredibly talented and he is one of the greatest American distance runners in recent history.