Record Run In Us A Boost For Mottram

The Age

Monday January 28, 2008

Len Johnson

FITNESS, strength - and talent - can take you a long way in distance running.

Last year at the world titles in Osaka, Craig Mottram's fitness and strength were compromised by a hamstring injury that also affected his acclimatisation to the hot and humid conditions.

It was neither hot, nor humid, in Boston on Saturday night, but Mottram showed he had rebuilt the fitness and strength to go with his native ability when he beat Haile Gebrselassie's US all-comers' record for 3000 metres at the Boston Indoor Games.

The record was the icing on a very tasty cake, the ingredients of which included an Australian indoor record and a winning time of seven minutes 34.50 seconds on a 200 metres-a-lap track, very close to his outdoor record on a 400-metre oval.

One of the things Mottram has taken delight in on his regular US indoor forays is dispelling the notion that tall men find it difficult to run fast on tight indoor tracks. He questioned it after running 7:39.24 in Boston last year; he comprehensively confounded it on Saturday.

His time also beat the US outdoor all-comers' mark set by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in 2004. "It's nice to be the fastest person to have ever run 3000 metres in America," Mottram said.

"But it's even nicer to beat one of Haile's records. The only thing better would have been to have him here in the race and have beaten him. He's the greatest ever and I had one of my best-ever races with him in London (in 2004), but unfortunately, he beat me that time."

Mottram said his training stints at Falls Creek at the end of last year and the start of 2008 had convinced him he was in good shape. "I know I've done a lot of work and this confirms that the strength is there," he said.

Mottram now heads to New York for the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games on Friday night. Last year, he and Bernard Lagat rocked Madison Square Garden with an epic clash in the race. Mottram took the lead late in the race then but was unable to withstand Lagat's finish.

"I'm looking forward to a good race," Mottram said. "He beat me last year - but I feel I'm much fitter this year, so hopefully, I can turn the tables on him."

? Steve Hooker passed pole vaulting's Holy Grail when he cleared six metres in Perth yesterday. Hooker, competing for the first time since September, became the 15th man in the world, and third Australian, to clear the height. He is one of 13 to do so in outdoor competition; two others have done it indoors.

Hooker said the result "vindicates the decisions I have taken in the last 18 months". He and coach Alex Parnov have made changes to his technique, which Hooker admitted had left him "vulnerable" at last year's world championships in Osaka.

Hooker also has been battling the after-effects of glandular fever.

© 2008 The Age

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