Steady Mottram busts a move on star-filled field

Craig ''Buster" Mottram has brought a change of pace to the international track scene, upsetting the African dominance of distance running. But Mottram has long been accepted by his rivals.

''We have all raced with [Mottram] since 2000, so I am not surprised by what he has done," said Kenya's Boaz Cheboiywo after Mottram won the men's 2-mile in the Reebok Boston Indoor Games at the Reggie Lewis Center last night. ''He is a good runner and he is getting better -- he won the bronze [in the World Championships] last year."

Mottram (8 minutes, 26.54 seconds) edged Ethiopia's Sileshi Sihine (8:27.03) in a rematch of the Helsinki World Championships, where Sihine finished second and Mottram became the first non-African to medal in the 5,000 meters since 1987.

Mottram did not take the lead in this race until the final lap, overtaking Sihine and Ireland's Alistair Cragg (8:27.39). Ethiopia's Tariku Bekele (8:27.56) was fourth and Cheboiywo (8:27.75) fifth.

Kenyan Geoffrey Rono set the pace and dropped out after a 4:10 mile, leading the pack by at least 50 meters. Bekele and Markos Geneti exchanged the lead after that, before Cragg took control late in the race and stayed in front until the final lap when Sihine and Mottram overtook him, setting the stage for a last-lap duel in which Mottram passed Sihine in the final 50 meters.

''It wasn't fast, the pace was slow, and it was a bit awkward running on an indoor track," Mottram said. ''But I didn't come 24 hours to not try and win."

Mottram, who takes his nickname from a former professional tennis player [''No one in Australia has a first name," he noted], appears to have a good rapport with his rivals, and with just about anyone with equally gregarious qualities.

Asked about his anomalous appearance -- a 6-foot-2-inch Australian in an event dominated by smaller East and North Africans -- Mottram replied:

''I'm not one to go with the trend. We're trying to change it."

Mottram welcomed the challenge from Sihine and will likely be rematched against him and world champion Benjamin Limo in the Commonwealth Games in Australia in March.

''We race like that all the time," Mottram said. ''When you come to these things you expect to race hard. The next time [Sihine] might beat me. The competition is so good you've got to take your opportunities when they come. I am preparing for the Commonwealth Games and I didn't want to start on a bad note."

Despite the strong field, the times were far off the meet record of 8:16.15 set by Paul Bitok of Kenya in 2000.

''There was some confusion at the start," Mottram said. ''We thought it was going to be run like any normal race, but we had to go to Lane 4 at the start. That was a bit confusing. ''But this was great to learn how to race. You've got to be patient. I got more out of it than running 2 miles flat out."

Mottram said he ignored Rono, the pacesetter.

''I wasn't even looking at him," Mottram said. ''It's a race, not a time trial. I could have gone with him, 10 guys could have. But I would have been a sitting duck. That's the art of racing; you've got to know how to time it right."

Mottram was racing indoors for the third time, the first time since 2003.

''I learned it's a lot of fun running indoors in America," Mottram said. ''I got to see snow in Boston."