8:40 2M Indoor Record under assault by Lukas Verzbicas

12 Feb 2011 - New York City, NY:

The date was February 15th, 1964. Only 17 years old and still in High School, Gerry Lindgren from John Rogers HS in Spokane, Washington, ran a simple race against the eventual winner Ron Clarke from Australia finishing in 8:40, a high-school indoor record which stands to this day.

Fast forward almost 47 years to the "City that nevers sleeps" and one of the nation's great indoor facilities, "The Armory", for a glimpse at what may be this evening as Lukas Verzbicas takes aim at hallowed ground and Gerry Lindgren's 47 year old monster.

With a field of 6 runners, the plan is for Liam Boylan-Pett to pace Lukas through 2 K with the first mile in 4:15.

This is really a race within a race dubbed the NYRR Deuce Record Challenge as Bernard Lagat tries to break the National 2 mile indoor record as well. If Bernard is successful, this will be his 5th national record.