Observations from last weekend’s Millrose Games:
Gail Devers stole the show. She’s 40. She was essentially retired for two years and had a baby. What’s that equal? How about the fastest time in the world in the 60-meter hurdles this year as well as the master’s world record?
Devers didn’t simply out-class the field, she beat some real talent, like the defending Olympic champion in the 100-meter hurdles, Joanna Hayes, and Devers’ protégé, Danielle Carruthers.
“Forty is the new 20,” Devers said after the race.
Let’s hope so. In the meantime, Devers has made herself a force – again – for the outdoor season and maybe even the World Championships in Osaka in late August.
Though he has been running well through the indoor season and has shown that he is fit, Webb, 24, appears to have to shore up his mental game and maybe even some of his tactics. Webb surged to the front early in the race, drifted back and was never a factor as Lagat and Mottram proved that they are two of the best middle-distance runners in the world.
Webb finished fourth in the six-man race with a 4:04.
Ethiopian Dibaba won the bronze in the 2004 Olympic 5,000 when she was just 19, looks as if she is coming into her prime and could dominate for the next couple of years… if she can avoid the injuries, of course.
Meanwhile, reports from Boulder are that the snow is melting and the temperatures are a good 50-degrees higher in Colorado than they are here on the east coast. That means the course for the cross-country national championships on Saturday should be nice and sloppy and the temperature just right for good, hard running.