Anselm LeBourne eyes outdoor WRs in 8, 15, mile and maybe 3K
Only hours after claiming his fifth world record of the season Tuesday, M55 Anselm LeBourne was pounding out responses to my quickie Q&A. As if he didn’t have enough to do. (But thanks for the gracious reply, champ.) As you might expect, he’s not done with record attempts. The Hall of Famer says he’ll target outdoor world age-group records in the 800, 1500, mile and possibly 3000. (The listed WRs stand at 2:03.7, 4:12.35, 4:35.04 and 8:56.80.) Last June, he ran a nonratified 2:01.63 outdoors, so he just needs a sanctioned, kosher, cross-your-Ts-and-dot-your-I’s meet. He has several in mind — including one in Lyon, France.
Anselm finishes mile WR (4:34.79) at Armory. Photo courtesy armorytrack.com
Here’s my Q&A:
Masterstrack.com: What were your splits at Armory? The results site had them garbled.
Anselm LeBourne: Ken, I am not sure of the splits, but they were more like 67 (400), 2:16 (800), 3:25 (1200), 4:16 at 1500.
Did you expect to go sub-4:35?
The goal was to run faster than the outdoor world record of 4:35 held by my great friend Keith Bateman and become one of those individuals to run indoors faster than the outdoor world record.
Did the Armory meet announcer give you recognition during or after the race?
The Armory announcer was very gracious in announcing to the public that it was a world record. In addition, the Armory Social Media guru, Justin Gaymon (400 hurdler) interviewed me after the race, tweeted out information and also an article on Armorytrack.com.
What are your outdoor season plans? Where will you compete?
Break outdoor world records in the 800, 1500 and mile. Maybe to keep me motivated, I may take a shot at the 3000 meters. I think I am going to compete in the outdoors national championships and hope to run the masters 800 at the [IAAF] Bejing World Championships. In addition, the other main goal is to win the 800 and 1500 at the world masters championships in Lyon.
Which of your five WRs this season are you most proud of? Which was hardest?
By far the hardest was the 1500 at the USATF championships in Boston. Man, was that race hard. I went out way too fast (64, 2:10) and paid for it once I passed 800. However, I knew my training was fantastic and I held form for the next few laps even though I was totally spent, to break the world record.
Furthermore, I am most proud of the 800 meters world record since I believe the time of 2:01.60 was a fantastic time and will really have to take some running to be broken. The goal is to run 800 under 2:00 outdoors.
Have you done anything in training this year different from previous years? What’s the secret to your amazing results this year?
This year’s training was changed drastically from any speed workout to more speed endurance with much shorter rest. In practice, I have not run any individual 200 under 29 seconds or any 400 under 61 seconds.
Anything else you’d like to share with my readers?
Don’t believe that anything is impossible. Just remember impossible means I’m possible, and remember “Hard Work Beats Talent When Talent Does Not Work Hard.” My goal is to inspire my fellow athletes and others for a better tomorrow.
4 Responses
Looking forward to your outdoor season Anselm!
Noticed a 4:31.9 by a 53 year old outdoors this season. Wonder what he may run in 2 years? He will certainly be interested in what Anselm runs this season and use it as a target.
Pretty sure our man Anselm is 56 folks. Amazing human performance phenomenon. And an all around great guy.
KP
KP.
April 20th age 56
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