DES MOINES, IOWA - Alan Webb, who shattered the Drake Relays record in the invitational mile last year and then two months later set an American record, will return to defend his title during the Saturday, April 26 session of the 99th annual Drake Relays.
Webb's appearance at the Drake Relays will mark his 2008 debut in the mile.
“This will be my first mile race on the track since last year,” said Webb during a Thursday teleconference. “Hopefully, it wlll be the beginning of great season.”
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 posted 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 set the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderen meet in Brasschaa, Belgium, to break the mark of 3:47.69 set by Steve Scott in 1982. That time was the eighth fastest time in history.
Webb 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 of 3:55.26.
“I'm excited about coming,” said Webb, who was named the Drake Relays outstanding performer last year. “Obviously I ran great there last year. It was my first time at Drake and I have a lot of fond memories.
“It was incredible to see the fans, the excitement in the stadium and the noise level was pretty incredible. Those factors literally propelled me to run faster than I expected,” added Webb whose performance at Drake was the fastest mile ever run by anyone in the world in the month of April.
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 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 1,500 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..
The invitational mile field also includes former NCAA champion Vincent Rono who won the 2007 Drake Relays university-college 1,500; Moise Joseph of Haitil; Phillip Lagat from Kenya; Steve Sherer, who was third in the 1,500 at the 2008 U.S. Indoor Championships; and former Drake distance star Matt Gabrielson.
Webb opened the 2007 campaign by winning the mile at the New Balance Indoor Games in a personal indoor best of 3 minutes 56.70 seconds.
He broke that personal best mark a week later running 3:55.18 in Boston, winning the Reebok Invitational. He also won the mile at the 2007 U.S. Indoor Championships.
Webb, 25, won the 1,500 at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and 2005 U.S. Outdoor Championships.
He continued his steady climb up the ranks of the world's best 1,500 meter runners in 2005 by qualifying for the final at the World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, Finland. He finished the campaign ranked No. 7 in the world by Track & Field News. He ran a 3:48.92 at Olso, Norway.
Webb also made a huge splash by winning the 10,000 meters at the 2006 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., which was the fastest-ever debut by an American at that distance in 27:34.72.
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, Czechoslavkia, the Nike Prefontaine Classic and the U.S. Olympic Trials. 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 world's fastest mile (at that time) in 2004.
A high school phenom after breaking Jim Ryun's prep mile record for sophomores in 1999, Webb in 2001 became an internationally heralded athlete as the first American high school miler ever to run under four minutes indoors at the New Balance Games with a time of 3:59.86. Then at the Prefontaine Classic 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 mile, breaking the national high school record of 3:55.3 that was set by Ryun 36 years earlier.
As a freshman at Michigan he won the 2001 Big Ten Conference cross country championship and was 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. An Achilles injury forced him to sit out the 2002 indoor track season but he bounced back to win the Big Ten Outdoor Championships 1,500 and placed fourth in the 1,500 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.
Rono won the 1,500 at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a junior at South Alabama and placed fourth last year in a personal best of 3:37.96. He opened the 2008 campaign winning the 1,500 (3:42.62) at the Alabama Relays
Lagat, 25, ran a personal best of 3:39.81 in the 1,500 to win the 2007 Twilight Classic in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Joseph, 26, owns a personal best of 4:03.32 in the mile set in 2001.He was third in the 800 in a personal best of 1:45.74 at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships competing for Florida.
Sherer, 26, owns a personal best of 3:56.00 en route to winning the indoor mile at the Washington Invitational Feb. 2.
Gabrielson, 29, has competed in three straight World Cross Country Championships as a member of the U.S. team. He was second in the 2005 U.S. Half Marathon Championships and won the 2007 Drake Relays Half Marathon in a meet record 1.07:45.
The Belmond, Iowa, native owns a personal best of 4:02.70 en route to winning the mile at the 2007 Jesse Owens Classic.
He was a five-time All-Missouri Valley Conference champion at Drake including titles in the indoor 3,000 as well as 3,000-meter steeplechase.
