Lagat seeks to tie mile record at Millrose Games

NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Lagat took five weeks off from running starting in late September, the perfect time to shop for baby furniture as the birth of his second child neared.

On Nov. 1, he resumed training. On Nov. 2, he skipped his workout to welcome his daughter into the world. On Nov. 3, it was back to practice.

After a disappointing Olympics in which an injured Lagat finished far from a medal in both his events, he's feeling healthy and fit again - and chasing another career milestone.

If he wins the Wanamaker Mile at the 102nd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, Lagat will tie Eamonn Coghlan with a record seven victories.

"I'm here because I know I need to see if I can get to where the respected athlete Eamonn Coghlan did," Lagat said Wednesday as he joined Coghlan for a news conference. "It's a privilege for me to be here again to be able to run and try to see if I can get that record."

Coghlan, the former indoor world-record holder in the mile, was dubbed the "Chairman of the Boards" for his dominance on the old wooden Millrose track. His last Wanamaker title came in 1987. Now "semiretired" and living in Dublin in his native Ireland, he runs a marketing business.

"I have no doubt in my mind that Bernard is one of the greatest indoor milers ever," Coghlan said. "And the fact that he has pursued the chase of trying to outdo what I did all those many, many years ago says a lot about the respect that he has for this particular event and the sport here in New York."

Lagat won the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the 2007 world championships and hoped to pull off the double again in Beijing. But a left Achilles' tendon injury hampered his training leading up to the Olympics. He failed to qualify for the final in the 1,500 and came in ninth in the 5,000.

His main competition Friday fared much better in Beijing: New Zealand's Nick Willis won a bronze medal in the 1,500. He's beaten Lagat in their past three head-to-head meetings, in fact, including edging the American in the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York in September.

"What fun would it be if Bernard gets an easy stroll in the park to get it?" Willis said with a laugh.