Centro Runs At The Armory

The New Year brought special guests to The Armory as Matthew Centrowitz led his family on a visit for a brisk workout and interview about his plans for 2012. Joined by his sister Lauren, a standout at Stanford, and his dad Matt, a popular New Yorker and two-time Olympian, Matthew was interviewed by Armory announcer Ian Brooks.

Matthew spoke of his experience of winning the 1,500-meter bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in South Korea this past summer as well as his breakout year. And he seems to only get better as his workout on the fast Armory track confirmed. Dr. Norbert Sander, the Executive Director of The Armory, was among a handful of observers. Afterward Dr. Sander, watching Centrowitz run with ease and speed, offered, "The only miler I've seen look so good on The Armory track is Bernard Lagat himself."

The top-ranked 1,500-meter runner in the U.S., Matthew was recently picked No. 8 in the world in the event by Track & Field News. In the last 20 years, only five U.S. milers — Lagat, Steve Holman, Leonel Manzano, Jim Spivey and Alan Webb — have ranked higher globally.

The Armory itself was rebounding from a busy holiday season which featured eight meets in five days between Christmas and New Years' Eve. Those events drew close to 20,000 high school and youth runners. Of course, things heat up right away this week, highlight by the Hispanic Games this coming weekend.