Posted: January 23, 2006

Athletics: USATF News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 8

Wanamaker field shows depth, potential "spoiler"

The field for the Wanamaker Mile at the 99th Millrose Games, already featuring two of the world's greatest runners, now boasts a field that also includes an Olympic medalist and World Indoor Championships medal winners.

The second event of the Visa Championship Series, the 99th annual Millrose Games is set for Feb. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

Defending Wanamaker champion, meet and Madison Square Garden record holder and two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat of the United States is set to face Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, the outdoor world record holder at 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

The deep field, announced Monday, should ensure a very fast race and could even provide an upset winner. Included in that field are: Rui Silva of Portugal, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and 2001 World Indoor gold medalist; Laban Rotich of Kenya, a two-time World Indoor medalist and 2005 Wanamaker runner-up who at the 2005 Reebok Boston Indoor Games out-kicked Lagat to win in 3:53.18; Richard Kiplagat of Iona College (by way of Kenya), a NYC-area collegian who on January 13 ran the fastest indoor mile in the world this year, 3:57.40, at the Armory Gotham Cup; and Chris Lukezic, the two-time USA junior champion and the 2005 USA Outdoor runner-up to training partner Alan Webb.

With just a year to go before its centennial running, the 99th annual Millrose Games, the oldest continuing sporting event at Madison Square Garden, is set for Feb. 3.

Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster by phone (212-307-7171); via Internet at www.ticketmaster.com; at a Ticketmaster outlet near you; or by visiting the Madison Square Garden ticket office. Information can be found at www.Millrose-Games.com. The event will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Feb. 5 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Kennedy announces retirement

A two-time Olympian and four-time U.S. Outdoor 5,000m champion, Bob Kennedy has announced his retirement from competitive racing.

Kennedy, 35, who captured his second U.S. long course cross country title in 2004 in Indianapolis, also won the NCAA cross country crown as a senior at Indiana University in 1992, the same year he won his first U.S. cross country title. The American record holder at 3,000 and 5,000 meters, Kennedy won a team bronze medal at the 2001 World Cross Country Championships.

"I have no regrets," Kennedy told the Indianapolis Star. "Of course, you're always thinking, 'I wish I would have done this, I wish I would have run a little faster.' That mentality is what keeps an elite athlete going anyway."

Kennedy will concentrate on his business ventures and support the candidacy of his wife, Melina Kennedy, who is running for Marion County prosecutor. The Kennedys became parents of twins, Marcus and Sophia, on Jan. 11, 2005.

Kennedy owns The Running Company, which has two stores in the Indianapolis area, and will open a third outlet in suburban Carmel soon.

He also serves as a co-chair of the local organizing committee for the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships that will be held in Indianapolis in June and in 2007.

In 1996, he became the first non-African to run a 5,000 in less than 13 minutes. That same year, he finished sixth at the Atlanta Olympics -- the best by an American at an Olympics since Steve Prefontaine was fourth in 1972.

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