Lagat breaks another masters record, ties American record

Bernard Lagat has broken five world masters records this year, and it’s only early May.

The American middle distance runner’s most recent record, the 10K world masters, was broken on Sunday at the Great Manchester Run, where he raced to the third place in 27:48, finishing just behind his training partner Stephen Sambu, the overall winner.

“You know, I actually even doubted why even I signed up for this!” Lagat said in a release after the race.

He bested a record set by Haile Gebrselassie (who was also in the race on Sunday) only two years ago at the same event. His mark is 12 seconds quicker than the previous mark of 28:00. Further, the result isn’t only a world masters record; it also ties the overall American road 10K record set in 1985 by Mark Nenow.

The Great Manchester Run was the 40-year-old’s first attempt at the distance, which is surprising given he’s been among world’s best 5,000m runners for over a decade on the track and in 2013 raced a half-marathon in 1:02:33.

He will likely break a handful more records this summer as his track season opens and he attempts to qualify for and race at world championships, leaving the question open of how many masters records he can break.

Lagat, at 40, is pretty well, by any definition, still a world class runner. He hopes to make the American team for world championships this summer for 5,000m on the track.