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BOSTON (Nov. 25, 2008) – Last January, a rollicking sell-out crowd was treated to a World Record by Meseret Defar, the fastest indoor 3000 meters ever run in the US, a stirring relay anchor leg by a 7-year-old as fearless as he was tiny. More of the same excitement is on tap for the 14th edition of the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, set for Feb. 7, 2009, at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

In the past two years alone, fans have been awarded a sneak preview of a dozen athletes who went on to win Olympic hardware in Beijing, including double gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia (5000m, 10,000m); pole vault gold medalist Steve Hooker of Australia; 1500-meter bronze medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand; and 10,000-meter bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan of the United States, who got her start in nearby Marblehead, Mass. Many are expected to return to the Reggie on Feb. 7.

Besides the 2-Mile World Record by Ethiopian distance queen Defar and the 3000-meter mark set by Australian fan-favorite Craig Mottram here in 2008, three other national records were set. That brings the total number of milestones in the history of the event, which began in 1996, to six World Records, nine American Records and 17 other national records.

“I’m not running today 100 percent,” said Defar afterward, explaining that she could have run even harder despite destroying the previous record, which was also set on this track. It was a statement at which Kim Smith, Defar’s closest rival, shook her head in wonder: Smith had just run the second-fastest indoor 2 Mile in history, a New Zealand national record, 9:13.94, to the Ethiopian’s 9:10.50.

“It was a pity Meseret was there or I could have claimed it myself,” quipped the Providence-based Smith, when asked about the record. “I knew I was in good shape.”

Defar – the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, 2008 Olympic silver medalist, and 2007 World Champion at 5000 meters – was making her seventh-consecutive appearance in Boston, and came in on a hot streak. In a one-year span, she had already set four World Records: at 3000 meters indoors, 5000 meters outdoors, and 2 Miles outdoors (twice).

In Mottram’s race, the brash Australian pushed hard from the start in an effort to defend his Reebok Boston Indoor Games title. New Zealand’s Willis – who would go on to a thrilling bronze-medal finish in Beijing – ran right on his heels for the first part of the race, but Mottram pulled ahead after about six laps and ran out front alone from then on. He broke the tape in 7:34.50, taking the title and wiping out the previous all-comer’s record set here by Haile Gebrselassie in 2004.

“We wanted to run fast, and we did,” said Mottram, the 2005 World Championship bronze medalist at 5000 meters. “Of course, the big thing is to win races, and I did that, too.”

But Defar and Mottram didn’t provide the only excitement of the night. In the women’s pole vault, Jenn Stuczynski defended her title, as well, winning handily with a jump of 15 feet, 1 inch. She then took three tries at the indoor American Record held by Stacy Dragila, but couldn’t quite clear the bar. Stuczynski, the outdoor American Record-holder, would win a silver medal in Beijing.

Running her first indoor race as a professional, former Cornell standout Morgan Uceny won the women’s 800 meters, while Jenelle Deatherage scored an upset in the Mile. Among those defeated by Deatherage was Liliya Shobukhova of Russia, the 2006 World Indoor Silver Medalist at 3000 meters.

Once again, the Boys’ Junior Invitational Mile was a crowd pleaser. Always among the best high school miles in the country – the 2008 field featured four of the top five from the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship – the race was won by Luke Puskedra of Ogden, Utah, who edged Colby Lowe of Southlake, Texas, for the victory, 4:08.77 to 4:08.99. By the time the last finisher crossed the line, 10 of the top 11 times in the country at that point in 2008 were in the books, along with a similar number of memories.

“It’s just crazy hanging out with these guys,” said Puskedra of warming up and chatting with some of the best professional athletes in the world.

But for sheer delight, it was hard to beat the performance of 7-year-old Davonett Bennett. Barely three feet tall, the youngster dug deep to hold off his taller and older rivals in anchoring his Cambridge Jets to victory in the popular Youth Relay, breaking the three-year hold of the Providence Cobras.