GRESHAM, Ore. — Morocco's Brahim Boulami ran the fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase ever in the United States on Saturday, winning the Oregon Classic Grand Prix II in 8 minutes, 4.51 seconds.
Boulami, the world record-holder in the event, was inspired by a trio of Kenyans who swept the top spots in a Grand Prix meet in Qatar earlier this week. Wilson Kipketer won that race in 8:05.98.
"I came here to run between 8:06 and 8:08, but when I knew that Kipketer in Qatar ran 8:05, I imagined I could run it," Boulami said.
Boulami had to lead the pace himself for much of the race, and he held off Kenya's Stephen Cherono by 1.24 seconds.
Boulami said he hopes to bring his time under 8 minutes later this season. He set the world mark of 7:55.28 in Brussels last August.
American Tim Broe finished third in 8:18.86, but didn't come close to his goal of breaking Henry Marsh's 1985 U.S. record of 8:09.17. Had Broe broken the mark, he would have earned a $50,000 bonus, but he was happy with his first race of the season.
"I had no delusions of grandeur that I was going to come out in my first race and stomp it, but it was set up perfectly to try it," Broe said.
In other events, Adam Nelson had the longest shot put in the world this year, a personal-best 73 feet, 10 1/4 inches. Coby Miller won the men's 100 in 9.98 seconds, and Shawn Crawford, who had the fastest time in the world last week — 9.94 — took third in 10.09.
As expected, the seven-man shot-put competition came down to a duel between John Godina and Nelson.