Anticipation: A Column By Len Johnson

The trouble with anticipation is that it is as often dashed as fulfilled.

That caveat in mind, however, I have to admit to a growing sense of anticipation at the 5000 metres at next month’s Melbourne Track Classic.

“I’m really excited to be coming down to Melbourne to run the 5000 on 3 March,” Bernard Lagat said this week when it was announced the 2007 world 1500 and 5000 metres champion would be competing in the race.

Lagat’s participation followed the announcement a few days earlier that Chris Solinsky and Matt Tegenkamp would be running and confirming the race would feature a clash between Craig Mottram and Collis Birmingham.

And, of course, there’s Ben St Lawrence, who just happened to defeat Birmingham – among others – in winning both the 2010 national title and the Zatopek ‘10’, and a fourth American, Tim Nelson, a mere 13:20 performer.

Less than a year ago, the prospect of a Mottram-Birmingham meeting alone was enough to headline a media release promoting the 2010 nationals. Now, it is just one more ingredient in a mouth-watering dish.

The Melbourne 5000 is also the national title race. It’s a good fit with the history of Olympic Park, which closes down as a track venue after this year’s national championships on 15-17 April.

Olympic Park has been the venue for outstanding performances across the entire range of events, track and field, but Melbourne’s strongest passions have always been stirred by middle and long-distance running. The 3 March race fits like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

Take Lagat: it is a given that he is one of the world’s best middle-distance performers. Olympic bronze medallist (for Kenya) at 1500 in 2000; silver medallist at 1500 behind Hicham El Guerrouj after an epic battle in Athens in 2004; world champion at 1500 and 5000 in Osaka in 2007.

Lagat’s only previous visit to Olympic Park was for a memorable race. He finished second to El Guerrouj in the 1500 at the 2001 IAAF Grand Prix final, El Guerrouj running an Australian all-comers’ record of 3:31.25.

Mottram is fit and healthy after two years battling injury. Hopefully he is on course back to the form which made him a world championships bronze medallist and a sub-13 minute runner. Solinsky and Tegenkamp have reached that level of performance in the past two years.

Solinsky ran sub-13 three times in 2010, as well as becoming the first non-African born runner to break 27 minutes for 10,000. He has generated the same sort of excitement as mottram did in his break-through years.

So it all shapes up to a great race in Melbourne. Let’s hope it produces something commensurate with the level of anticipation.

Of course, Melbourne has seen some great line-ups for middle and long-distance races over the years. Lasse Viren, Eamonn Coghlan, Steve Ovett, John Walker, Dick Quax, Rod Dixon, Dave Moorcroft, Henry Rono, Noah Ngeny, El Guerrouj, Grete Waitz, Sonia O’Sullivan are just a few of the great internationals to have graced Olympic Park.

One of the best races, and it was at 5000, came at the Melbourne Games of 1977. It was a warm, humid night in early February, so the all-comers record remained unchallenged. But seven runners were in contention as the field came up to the bell and the first six finished within four seconds.

Chris Wardlaw – coincidentally now Mottram’s coach – set the crowd alight when he took up the running coming up to the bell, but Germany’s Olympic bronze medallist Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand took control down the back-straight.

Hildenbrand won in 13:31.4, four tenths of a second clear of 1976 Olympic steeple silver medallist Bronislaw Malinowski of Poland. It was some run from Malinowski – he had already run, and won, the steeple in 8:24.6.

Karl Fleschen of Germany was third in 13:32.0 with the late Dave Fitzsimons getting past fellow Olympic 10,000 finalist Wardlaw to be first Australian home (13:33.2 to 13:34.2). Gerard Barrett was next in 13:35.4 with a third German, Detlef Uhlemann, seventh in 13:38.8.

Uhlemann backed that form up with a third in the world cross-country championships a month later. Who said track and cross-country were incompatible over such a short time?

Actually, the times weren’t that slow. Back then, the 5000 world record was Emile Puttemans’ 13:13.0. Now, it is Kenenisa Bekele’s 12:37.35.

We’ll be very happy indeed, I’d suggest, if the winner on 3 March has to go 12:55 or better.