Marc Scott smashes European indoor 5000m record
Marc Scott, the US-based Yorkshireman, enjoyed another terrific performance in Boston on Saturday (Feb 13) when he sliced 11 seconds off his own European indoor 5000m record as he smashed the 13min barrier for the first time.
With 12:57.08 the 28-year-old obliterated his European mark of 13:08.87 and also dipped inside Dave Moorcroft's iconic 13:00.41 – which was a world record at the time in 1982 and until this weekend remained the second fastest ever by a Brit.
Only Mo Farah, with 12:53.11 set outdoors in Monaco in July 2011, has run faster among British athletes.
Scott's run at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational saw him finish third on a day of crazily fast times. The winner, Grant Fisher, clocked 12:53.73 to break Galen Rupp's US record of 13:01.26. Fisher, 24, was also very close to Bernard Lagat's outdoor US record of 12:53.60.
Runner-up Moh Ahmed ran a Canadian record of 12:56.87. All three men are part of the Bowerman Track Club.
Behind, another US-based Brit Sam Atkin was also inside Scott's European record with a big PB of 13:03.64. What's more, Scott's and Atkin's times were inside the qualifying standard for this summer's World Championships in Oregon.
HOLY #%~$🤯🤯🔥🔥
⚠️12:57.08⚠️New British & European Indoor Record tonight. Couldn’t have done it without these two and all the guys not pictured. @bowermantc on a MISSION!!!#MadMarc #BostonMagic #Sub13 pic.twitter.com/HMdj1aUm96
— Marc Scott (@_MarcScott) February 13, 2022
The mood was set for the flurry of fast times when Woody Kincaid, the US 10,000m champion, clocked 13:05.56 to win the 5000m B race.
In the A race the pacemaker Zouhair Talbi took the field through 3000m in 7:53 before Fisher soon took over and gradually dropped all of his rivals, many of which were Bowerman Track Club team-mates such as Scott and Ahmed.
Fisher's final mile was a blistering 3:57.56 as Ahmed and Scott also finished hard to break the 13-minute barrier.
Earlier at the same meeting Neil Gourley, who had an injury-hit 2021, ran 3.35.32 to win the 1500m – a performance that is quicker than his outdoor best and which puts him No.3 on the UK all-time indoor rankings.
Gourley is set to face Jake Wightman and others over 1500m at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham next Saturday, while he is also entered for the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham on February 26-27.
In addition, Scott has also accepted his entry invitation to run the 3000m at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships, which suggests he has the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade as a target.
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