Bernard Lagat Sets U.S. Masters Marathon Record at Age 44 – runnersworld.com

• Five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat, 44, set an American masters record on July 7 at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia. It was only his second race at 26.2.
• He finished in 2:12:10, which was 10 seconds faster than the mark Meb Keflezighi set at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials.
• Lagat’s name now joins the top contenders for making the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in the marathon.

Bernard Lagat, a five-time Olympian best known for his feats on the track, is not fading quietly into retirement at age 44.

Instead, he’s moved to the marathon, and he’s continuing his record-setting ways.

On July 7 at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, in only his second attempt at the distance, Lagat ran 2:12:10, setting an American masters record. He bested Meb Keflezighi’s 2016 mark, 2:12:20, which Keflezighi ran at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles.

Lagat finished seventh overall in the race, which was won by Yuta Shitara of Japan in 2:07:50.

Lagat cut more than five minutes off his first marathon, New York, which he ran last November and finished in 2:17:20.

“Was determined to finish strong. Although I didn’t come away with the goal I set for myself, I got a 5 minute PB and the new American Masters Record.” Lagat wrote, in part, on Instagram after the race. “Will give more details later. Now, it’s #naptime.”

With his performance, Lagat’s name joins the top contenders for making the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in the marathon. His time puts him sixth on the list of qualifiers for the Marathon Trials, to be held February 29, 2020, in Atlanta. He’ll be 45 at that race.

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Lagat narrowly missed running the Olympic qualifying standard, which is 2:11:30. But his race was a textbook example of marathon pacing. He ran negative splits: 1:06:26 for the first half, 1:05:44 for the second, and he ran his fastest 5K split, 15:15, between 30 and 35K (between 18.6 and 21.7 miles). For the race, he averaged 5:02 per mile pace.

He now holds masters records at distances from 1500 meters to the marathon, as Jonathan Gault of LetsRun pointed out on Twitter.

Lagat was already something of a surprise to make his fifth Olympic team in 2016, when he won the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials at age 41, sprinting to victory with a blazing fast final lap. Although the marathon trials course in Atlanta will be extremely hilly and might not play to Lagat’s strengths, one thing is for certain: His competitors won’t want to let the race come down to a sprint at the finish if a spot on the Olympic team is at stake.

Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005.