MANCHESTER, U.K. – At the Morrison’s Great Manchester Road Race Sunday, Bernard Lagat (40) eclipsed the world’s best 10 km Masters time established in 2013 by the legendary long distance runner, Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia.
 
Lagat (Tucson, Arizona) made his debut at the 10 km road distance after a winter of breaking Masters indoor records. He raced across the finish line Sunday in 27:48, 12 seconds faster than Gebreselassie’s existing world best.
 
Lagat, who also broke the American Masters record of  29:37 set by Steve Plasencia in 1998, indicated the plan he and his coach, James Li, discussed before the race worked perfectly as he tied Mark Nenow's American open record set in 1985.
 
Crediting his training partner and the overall winner, Stephen Sambu, for his encouragement during the race, Lagat noted that Sambu urged him forward after the first kilometer to move up and run in the lead group. Lagat finished third overall right behind South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka, and just ahead of Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, who recently finished second at the Virgin Money London Marathon.
 
Although Lagat is far from done on the track, he has certainly made an excellent transition to the roads so far. In April, he smashed the American Masters Road Record for 5 kilometers at the Carlsbad 5000 in 13:41, breaking John Tuttle’s 1999 record by 38 seconds. Now, he has the world’s best 10 km Masters time. 

Click here for a complete rundown on the results of the Great Manchester Run.

Contributed by Paul Carlin
National Media Coordinator
USA Track & Field-Masters Long Distance Running
317.372.0267
therunningprof@gmail.com