Alan Webb

Webb at the KBC Night of Athletics in 2007
Personal information
Born	(1983-01-13)January 13, 1983 (age 42) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	145 lb (66 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Athletics/Track,Mid-distance running
Event(s)	800 meters,1500 meters,Mile,5000 meters,10,000 meters
College team	Michigan Wolverines
Club	Nike
Coached by	Scott Raczko
Now coaching	Ave Maria University
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2004 Athens 1500 m, 25th (h)
World finals	2005 Helsinki 1500 m, 9th 2007 Osaka 1500 m, 8th
Personalbests	Outdoor[1] 800 m: 1:43.84 (Heusden 2007) 1500 m: 3:30.54 (Paris 2007) Mile: 3:46.91 (Brasschaat 2007) 3000 m: 7:39.28 (Eugene 2005) 2-mile: 8:11.48 (Eugene 2005) 5000 m: 13:10.86 (Berlin 2005) 10,000 m: 27:34.72 (Palo Alto 2006)
Medal record Men'sathletics RepresentingtheUnited States USA Outdoor Championships 2007 1500 m 2005 1500 m 2004 1500 m

Alan Webb (born January 13, 1983) is an American formertrack and field athlete and formertriathlete. He held theAmerican national record in themile, with a time of 3 minutes 46.91 seconds, from July 2007 to September 2023. He holds the record for the fastest mile run by an American high schooler, with a time of 3:53.43, set in 2001. Webb represented the United States at the2004 Summer Olympics in themen's 1500-meters race. He competed professionally forNike until the end of 2013. He retired after the 2014Millrose Games.

He currently serves as head coach for theAve Maria University's cross country and track and field teams inAve Maria, Florida.

Webb was born January 13, 1983, inAnn Arbor, Michigan.

He attendedSouth Lakes High School inReston, Virginia. In 1999, he brokeJim Ryun's national sophomore mile record of 4:07.8 by running 4:06.94, while beating Nathan Conley by one second. During the fall season of his senior year, Webb placed second at the 2000Foot Locker Cross Country Championships behindDathan Ritzenhein.

At theNew Balance Games in January 2001, Webb's mile time of 3:59.86 at New York City's Armory made him the first American high schooler ever to run asub-four minute mile indoors. Webb's time broke the previous American indoor high school record ofThom Hunt — a 4:02.7 — as well as Hunt's indoor HS AR in the1500 m (3:46.6), as Webb came through the 1500 mark in 3:43.27. Webb's record was surpassed fifteen years later byAndrew Hunter fromLoudoun Valley High School in Virginia with a time of 3:58.25 set on the same track.

Four months later, at the age of 18 years, 4 months, and 14 days, on May 27, 2001, at thePrefontaine Classic, Webb ran a mile in 3:53.43 to shatter Ryun's 36-year-old national high school record of 3:55.3, which placed him first on thelist of high school students who have run a four minute mile.^[2] En route, Webb passed the 1500 mark in 3:38.26 to take down Ryun's 37-year-old high school AR of 3:39.0 set in 1964.

Webb followed up his run at Prefontaine by winning the Virginia State High School800 m title in 1:47.74 to become the fourth-fastest high schooler ever at that distance. He wasTrack and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 2001.^[3]

At the end of his senior year, Webb appeared as a guest on an episode ofLate Show with David Letterman.^[4][5]

Following his high school achievements, Webb went on to run bothcross country and track for theUniversity of Michigan. During the fall cross country season, he won several meets, including the Wolverine Interregional and theBig Ten Championships (both 8 kilometer races) in times of 25:12 and 23:19.9, respectively. After claiming runner-up at theNCAA Great Lakes Regional to Boaz Cheboiywo, he finished in eleventh place at the NCAA Championships with a time of 29:38 for the 10 kilometer race to earnAll-American honors.

Afterredshirting the indoor track season, Webb won the Big Ten championship in the 1500 m run during the outdoor season, clocking a time of 3:49.27 to win the title. Webb competed in this race at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships a few weeks later, finishing in fourth place with a time of 3:43.23.

Shortly after the completion of the outdoor season, Webb decided to leave the university to turn professional and return to his high school coach and mentor Scott Raczko. He continued his collegiate education atGeorge Mason University.

After turning professional in 2002, Webb competed forNike. In 2004, he became an Olympian by winning the 1500 m in the U.S. Olympic Trials. He was later eliminated in the first round of Olympic competition in Athens.

In 2005, Webb won another national title at 1500 m and made it to the Finals of theWorld Championships in Helsinki in that event. He also set personal records at every distance from the 1500 to the5000 m, setting the American record at 2 miles along the way.

In 2007, Webb once again won the national championship in the 1500 m run, surging pastBernard Lagat in the final 50 meters for the title. He then finished 8th in the final of the 1500 m at theWorld Championships inOsaka, Japan. On July 6, 2007, Webb won theIAAF Golden League meet 1500 m race in Paris in a lifetime best of 3:30.54, third fastest on the American list. On July 21, 2007, at a meet inBrasschaat, Belgium, Webb broke the American record in the mile. His time of 3:46.91 bested the 25-year-old record of 3:47.69 run bySteve Scott. It remained the American record for more than 16 years, untilYared Nuguse broke it in September of 2023 with a time of 3:43:97.^[6] He ended the year with a victory in the New YorkFifth Avenue Mile.^[7]

On July 6, 2008, Webb failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the 1500 m after finishing 5th in the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 3:41.62.

After many disappointing results since breaking the American mile record, Webb decided in August 2009 to move toPortland, Oregon to train with coachAlberto Salazar.^[8] At the time, Salazar already coachedKara Goucher,Galen Rupp,Amy Yoder Begley, andDathan Ritzenhein, and Webb was Salazar’s first 1500 m runner.^[9] In March 2011, Webb decided to leave Salazar on amicable terms.^[10]

In 2010, Webb underwent surgery for anAchilles tendon injury and returned at the Fifth Avenue Mile in September, finishing in fourth behind defending championAndrew Baddeley.^[11]

After his split with coach Alberto Salazar, Webb decided to be coached closer to home under the University of Virginia's Jason Vigilante.^{[citation needed]}

Webb returned to Portland to joinJerry Schumacher's group and was focused on the 5000 m & 10,000 m, and eventually themarathon.^[12]

Webb announced his retirement from track running on February 15, 2014 following the 2014 Millrose Games Wannamaker Mile.^[13]

In 2013, Webb began as a volunteer assistant coach atPortland State University for cross country.^[14] In July 2019, Webb became an assistant cross country coach and distance coach at theUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock.,^[15] he finished off coaching at Catholic High School in the fall of 2021 for cross country alongside Coach Jennifer Found. He now coaches cross country and track & field at Ave Maria University, a private Catholic university in Florida.

Alan Webb married Julia Rudd in October 2010, who also enjoys running and is an assistant coach for a high school cross country team.^[16] A convert toCatholicism and LIFE Runners member,^[17] Alan and Julia have four daughters, Joanie, Paula, Gabriella (Gabby), and Bridget.^[18][19][20]

800 m

1500 m

Mile

3000 m

2 Mile

5000 m

10000 m

Cross Country

• Middle distance track event
• Nike, Inc.

• Lear, Chris (2003).Sub 4:00: Alan Webb and the Quest for the Fastest Mile. Rodale Books.ISBN 1-57954-746-X.

• Alan Webb atUSA Track & Field
• Alan Webb atWorld Athletics
• Alan Webb atWorld Triathlon
• Alan Webb atOlympedia
• Alan Webb atOlympics.com
• Alan Webb atTeam USA (archived)
• Video of Alan Webb's American Record for the mile

• USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
• 1983 births
• Living people
• American Roman Catholics
• American men middle-distance runners
• American men long-distance runners
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Converts to Roman Catholicism
• Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes
• Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
• Sportspeople from Reston, Virginia
• Track and field athletes from Virginia
• 21st-century American sportsmen

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