Alan Webb

Bio

American record-holder in mile; 3-time USA Outdoor 1,500m Champion (04,05,˜07); 2007 USA Indoor mile champion; National high school record holder for indoor mile, outdoor mile and 1,500m; holds national HS mile record for sophomores (4:06.94); 2001 Big Ten Conference Cross Country champion; 2002 Big Ten 1,500m champion

Webb enjoyed an amazing season in 2007, ending the campaign with the fastest times in the world in the mile (3:46.91AR) and 1,500 meters (3:30.54), and also posting the second-fastest time in the world in the 800 meters (1:43.84), all of which were personal best times. On July 21, 2007, Webb broke the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium. The mark breaks the record of 3:47.69 set by National Track & Field Hall of Famer Steve Scott in 1982 and makes Webb the eighth-fastest man in history, behind Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram, Daniel Komen, Venuste Niyongabo and Said Aouita. Unofficial quarter-mile splits for Webb during the race as 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2. Won his first U.S. indoor title in 2007 in the mile before going on a tear during the outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott's mile record at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 24 in Indianapolis, he ran 3:34.82 in the 1,500 to break Scott's 25-year old meet record at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships, where Webb won his third career national title. The biggest win of Webb's career came July 6 in Paris, when he ran a personal-best 1,500m time of 3:30.54, the fastest time in the world in 2007. On July 16, 2007, Webb set a then personal best in the 800 meters, running 1:45.80 in Malmo, Sweden. He made a huge splash by winning the 10,000 meters at the 2006 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 30, 2006 in the fastest-ever debut by an American at that distance of 27:34.72. It was the second-fastest time by an American in 2006. His season was interrupted when it was discovered that he had low iron levels in his blood. Webb qualified for the final at the 2005 World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, Finland, and finished the campaign ranked #7 in the world by Track & Field News. Also in 2005, Webb ran a personal best of 3:32:52 with his third-place finish at the Rieti Grand Prix, and posted another PR in the mile with his fourth place finish in Oslo in 3:48.92. At the 2005 Nike Prefontaine Classic, Webb posted a 3,000m personal best when he finished as the runner-up in 7:39.28. Webb earned the world-class status he promised as a high schooler by winning four major races in 2004: the Home Depot Invitational, the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, CZE, the Nike Prefontaine Classic. His time of 3:32.73 at Ostrava (at that time) was the second fastest in the world in the 1,500m that year, while his 3:50.85 from the Pre Classic was the worlds fastest mile (at that time) in 2004. Webb set a personal best at the following outdoor competitions in 2004: Home Depot 3:35.71; Hengelo- 3:33.70; Ostrava 3:32.72; and Prefontaine 3:50.85. His 800-meter time of 1:46.53, run June 5, 2004 in Seville, was also a personal best. His win at the Olympic Trials provided final vindication for him as the top American middle-distance runner. The Olympics was a learning experience, as tactical errors prevented him from advancing out of the first round; "stupid, stupid, stupid," he said of his race. A high school phenom after breaking Jim Ryuns prep mile record for sophomores in 1999, Webb in 2001 became an internationally heralded athlete. At the New Balance Games in January, Webbs mile time of 3:59.86 seconds at New York City's Armory made him the first American high school miler ever to run under four minutes indoors. At the Prefontaine Classic May 27 in Eugene, Ore., a well-paced race and a final lap of 55.3 seconds enabled Webb to run a 3:53.43 in the Bowerman Mile, breaking the national HS record of 3:55.3 that was set by Jim Ryun 36 years earlier. Equally impressive was that Webb finished fifth overall in a star-studded international field, Webbs splits at 400m and 800m were 58.1 and 1:57.8 respectively. It was the most exhilarating experience of my life, he said. Webbs performance was the fastest mile time by an American on U.S. soil since 1998, and made him the 19th-fastest American in history. In the wake of his performance in Eugene, Webb appeared on the Today Show, the Early Show, Good Morning America and other national media outlets news of his feat also made page A-1 of the New York Times Followed up his run at Prefontaine by winning the Virginia state HS 800m title in 1:47.74 to become the fourth-fastest high schooler ever at the distance also ran 47.4 for his leg of South Lakes HSs 4x400m relay at the state meet during the summers Webb worked at the shoe store his high school coach, Scott Raczko, managed (Footsteps) in Reston, Virginia as a freshman at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the school started charging admission to events he competed in that were previously freeafter winning the Big Ten Conference cross country title in 2001, Webb was named the Big Ten's Athlete of the Year for cross country and later placed 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. An Achilles injury forced him to sit out the 2002 indoor track season he bounced back to win the Big Ten Outdoor Championships 1,500m and placed fourth in the 1,500m at the NCAA Championships Webb left the University of Michigan in June of 2002 to turn professional and be coached again by his high school mentor Scott Raczko...

courtesy of USATF