Alan Webb, Joy Sanders hope for better days
U.S. Mile record holder finishes 7th at HCA Virginia 8K; “For the last few years, it really has been very frustrating.”
By Paul Woody, Richmond Times-Dispatch
When almost 20,000 runners fill the streets for a stretch of almost eight hours, it can be easy to run in relative anonymity, if that’s what you seek.
Three races took place in Richmond on Saturday, and the first was the HCA Virginia 8K.
It started at 7:00am, just after sunrise, and the elite runners finished more than 30 minutes before the marathoners even began.
That made it easy to overlook one of the country’s most prominent runners.
Alan Webb once was the next big thing in middle-distance running in the United States. The former Reston resident and South Lakes High School graduate was the fourth American high school boy to clock a sub-4-minute Mile and he also holds the U.S. high school Mile record (3:53.43) from 2001.
He set the American record for the Mile, 3:46.91 in 2007, and made the 2004 Olympic team.
Saturday, he finished seventh in the 8K, which was not his goal.
Webb, 30, makes no excuses for the current state of his career. He isn’t running from anything. Instead, he’s trying to run back onto the national and international scene.
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