Lagat plans to run through at least 2013 worlds

NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Lagat smiles and says, "If I was to retire someday ... "

The 37-year-old American knows he'll stop running one of these years. That still feels far off considering he narrowly missed a gold medal in the 5,000 meters at last summer's world championships.

Lagat plans to compete through the 2013 worlds - at least.

He won his first of two Olympic medals in 2000, a dozen years before the London Games he fully plans to participate in. He's won six medals at the outdoor world championships, including two golds in 2007.

"I'm sure even before 2007, people were starting to believe it: `Well, I think he's slowing down,''' Lagat said Friday.

He may be slower in the 1,500, the event in which he first won major medals, but believes he's still improving in the race that's now his focus: the 5,000.

Lagat nearly chased down Britain's Mo Farah in the final meters in Daegu, South Korea, in September, finishing just 0.28 seconds back. He earned silver in the 5,000 for the second straight world championships.

On Saturday, Lagat will return to his mile roots, racing in a venue where he's dominated at the distance.

At the U.S. Open in Madison Square Garden, he'll take on a field that includes Kenya's Silas Kiplagat, the silver medalist in the 1,500 at worlds.

Lagat won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games at the arena a record eight times. He lost last year to Deresse Mekonnen, but said he wasn't too disappointed by the second-place finish, just embarrassed by his time (3:59.01).

Millrose is moving uptown to the Armory after nearly a century at the Garden, with the USA Track & Field-sponsored Open taking over the space. Lagat will still run at Millrose on Feb. 11, but will race the 5,000 in hopes of regaining the American indoor record.

Other top races at the Open include the men's 50 meters, with former 100-meter world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica and American Justin Gatlin, who once shared the world record with Powell before it was stripped because of a doping violation.

The women's 50 hurdles feature reigning 100 hurdles Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper and two-time indoor 60 hurdles world champion Lolo Jones, both of the United States.

Joined at a news conference Friday by Jones, hurdlers Kellie Wells and David Oliver and high jumper Jesse Williams - all under the age of 30 - Lagat joked about being surrounded by these "young men and women.'' He attributes his longevity to emphasizing quality over quantity in his training.

Lagat works out just once a day, six days a week. Most of his competitors run twice daily.

"If you just go crazy twice a day every day, by Thursday will you be as strong as Monday?'' he said. "I doubt it. But for me, I'm strong from Monday to Saturday.''

Lagat believes that's why he's still winning medals at age 37 while many Kenyan stars stay on top for only a few years while training many more miles.

"That burns them like crazy,'' said Lagat, who was born in Kenya and came to the United States for college, later becoming an American citizen. "By the time they're five years into professional running, the body cannot take it anymore.''

The American indoor 5,000 record is held by 25-year-old Galen Rupp, one of several promising young U.S. distance runners who make the country much deeper in those events than when Lagat was breaking in. For now, they're still chasing the ageless veteran around the track.

"If I was to retire someday,'' Lagat said, "I would look back and say, `Hey, I'm leaving my sport happy knowing that people in my country have stepped up and they're doing the best in the world.'''