Alistair Cragg started running when he was just 6 or 7, mostly because he got bored hanging around the track while his father – who once finished third at 3000m in the South African national championships – and teen-aged brothers were working out. He ran his first 10K when he was 8 because he didn’t want to sit and watch.

After graduating from Greenside High School in Johannesburg as a six-time national champion, Alistair headed to Southern Methodist University to pursue his education and run a little track. When he was offered a scholarship to the power-house University of Arkansas, “a little” track turned into seven NCAA championships and one of the best collegiate careers ever.

Meanwhile, Alistair began to feel drawn to his Irish heritage, and decided to compete internationally for Ireland, where he has dual citizenship through his maternal grandparents. Since 2002, Alistair has broken the Irish 3000m and 5000m records indoors, the 10,000m record outdoors, won a 1500m national title, and been named to two Olympic teams. He’s also been the victor in two of the biggest 3000m upsets in recent indoor-track history, both at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games: in 2003, he broke the collegiate record for 3000m when he ran away from Noah Ngeny, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist at 1500m; then, in 2005, he defeated 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele when the latter mistakenly kicked with a lap remaining.

In 2007, Alistair set personal bests at 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m, the latter a national record. But as she said in a recent interview, if 2007 was about speed, 2008 is about winning. A recent addition to his team is Rueben Reina, with whom he does strength training. A fellow Arkansas standout and former world-class distance runner, Reina is now the fitness director of the Fayetteville Athletic Club.