Alan Webb (athlete)

Alan Webb (born January 13, 1983, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American athlete. He holds the American record in the mile, with a time of 3:46.91. He competes professionally for Nike.

High school

Webb attended South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. In 1999, he broke Jim Ryun's 4:07.8 high school record for sophomore's mile run by running 4:06.94. At the New Balance Games in January of 2001, Webb's mile time of 3:59.86 at New York City’s Armory made him the first American high schooler ever to run a sub-four minute mile indoors. Webb's time broke the previous American indoor high school record of Thom Hunt — a 4:02.7 — as well as Hunt's indoor HS AR in the 1,500 meters (3:46.6) as Webb came through the 1,500 mark in 3:43.27. Four months later, on May 27, 2001 at the Prefontaine Classic, Webb ran a mile in 3:53.43 to shatter Ryun's 36-year-old national high school record of 3:55.3. En route Webb passed the 1,500 mark in 3:38.26 to take down Ryun's 37-year-old high school AR of 3:39.0 set in 1964. He followed up his run at Prefontaine by winning the Virginia State High School 800 meters title in 1:47.74 to become the fourth-fastest high schooler ever at that distance.

College

Following his high school achievements, Webb went on to run both cross country and track for the University of Michigan. During the fall cross country season, he won several meets including the Wolverine Interregional [1] and the Big Ten Championships [2] (both 8 kilometer races) in times of 25:12 and 23:19.9, respectively. After claiming runner-up at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional [3] to Boaz Cheboiywo, he finished in eleventh place at the NCAA Championships with a time of 29:38 for the 10 kilometer race [4] to earn All American honors. After redshirting the indoor track season, he won the Big Ten championship in the 1500 meters run during the outdoor season, clocking a time of 3:49.27 to win the title [5]. Webb competed in this race at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships a few weeks later, finishing in fourth place with a time of 3:43.23 [6]. Shortly after the completion of the outdoor season, Webb decided to leave the university to turn professional and return to his high school coach and mentor Scott Raczko. He continued his collegiate education at George Mason University.

Post-collegiate/professional

Since turning professional in 2002, Webb has competed for Nike. In 2005, he won another national title at 1500 meters, and made it to the Finals of the World Championships in Helsinki in that event. He also set personal records (PRs) at every distance from the 1500 to the 5000 meters, setting the American record at 2 miles along the way.

In 2007, Webb once again won the national championship in the 1500 m run, surging past Bernard Lagat in the final 50 meters for the title. He then finished 8th in the final of the 1500 m at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. On July 6, 2007 Webb won the IAAF Golden League meet 1500 m race in Paris in a lifetime best of 3:30.54, third fastest on the American list. On July 21, 2007, at a meet in Brasschaat, Belgium, Webb broke the American record in the mile. His time of 3:46.91 bested the 25-year-old record of 3:47.69 run by Steve Scott.

On July 6, 2008, Webb failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the 1500 m after finishing 5th in the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 3:41.62.

After many disappointing results since breaking the American mile record, Webb decided in August 2009 to move to Portland, Oregon, to train with coach Alberto Salazar.^[1] At the time, Salazar already coached Kara Goucher, Galen Rupp, Amy Yoder Begley, and Dathan Ritzenhein, and Webb was his first 1500 m runner.^[2] In March 2011, Webb decided to leave Salazar on amicable terms.^[3]

He underwent surgery for an Achilles tendon injury in 2010 and returned at the Fifth Avenue Mile in September, finishing in fourth behind defending champion Andrew Baddeley.^[4]

After his split with coach Alberto Salazar, Webb decided to be coached closer to home under the University of Virginia's Jason Vigilante.

Personal

Alan Webb married Julia Rudd in October 2010.^[5]

Select races by event

800 m

1500 m

Mile

3000 m

2 Mile

5000 m

10000 m

Cross Country

Personal records

Outdoors

Indoors

Cross country

See also

• Middle distance track event
• Nike, Inc.

References

Further reading

Lear, Chris (2003). Sub 4:00: Alan Webb and the Quest for the Fastest Mile. Rodale Books. ISBN 1-57954-746-X. 

External links

• U.S. Track & Field biography
• IAAF profile for Alan Webb
• Video of Alan Webb`s American Record for the mile