Lagat goes for 9 Wanamaker wins

By Christopher Hunt
photos by Errol Anderson

NEW YORK -- When Bernard Lagat won his eighth Wanamaker Mile – the most ever – he alluded to the thought that he had finished with the Millrose Games.

Then one day, sitting on the couch, talking to his wife, he started to think.

“What am I doing indoors?” he said. “I’m going to sit down and watch the Millrose Games on television?”

That simply wouldn’t do. So Lagat, crowned “President of the Boards,” will return to Madison Square Garden for an attempt to push his record to nine Wanamaker victories. He broke the record of eight wins by Eamonn Coghlan, “Chairman of the Boards,” last year. Standing in his way this time will be 23 year-old world indoor champion Deresse Mekonnen of Ethiopia.

“This guy is really strong,” Lagat said. “He really knows how t...