Galen Rupp vs Alan Webb at 2010 Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
November 24, 2010
American track stars Galen Rupp and Alan Webb lead the entry list for
tomorrow's sixth annual Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey
Trot/Elite 5-K in San Jose, Calif., the West Coast's most competitive
and fastest Thanksgiving Day race.
For Rupp, 24, the only athlete to win all five NCAA distance running
titles in a single season, the race will mark his road running debut.
The reigning USA 10,000m champion, who has run 13:07.35 for 5000m,
should be right at home on the race's four-lap, criterium course, and he
could threaten Marc Davis's American road record of 13:24 set at the
Carlsbad 5000 in 1996. The race is offering a $10,000 bonus for
breaking that mark.
"He's in great shape," said his coach Alberto Salazar in a short phone interview yesterday. "And so is Alan."
Webb, 27, the American record holder for the mile with a 3:46.91
personal best, is no slouch at 5-K with a track best of 13:10.86. He's
also run several road races in his career, and has excellent strength
for a miler. It has been nearly one year since Webb underwent Achilles
surgery, and has made steady progress under Salazar who began coaching
him at the end of last year.
The two Americans are only part of a very strong and deep field
assembled by elite athlete coordinator Mark Winitz. Course record
holder Scott Bauhs who ran 13:37 to win this race in 2008, is also
entered, along with Belgian Monder Rizki (5000m PB of 13:04.06),
American Bolota Asmerom (13:15.16), Kenyans Josphat Boit (13:17.12) and
Kevin Chelimo (13:30.55), and Moroccan Ali Maataoui (13:32.14) amongst
others. In all there are 40 men in the invited field, according to
Winitz.
The field of invited women is smaller (18), but is also solid. Misiker
Mekonnin Demissie of Ethiopia, who raced most of her career as Teyba
Naser of Bahrain before switching her citizenship back to Ethiopia, is
the top entrant with a road PB of 15:35. However, the 24 year old
athlete who lives in Albuquerque will have to shake of a disappointing
2:37:39/21st place finish at the ING New York City Marathon on November
7. Indeed, she may still be fatigued from that effort.
Kenyan veteran Jackline Okemwa will try to restart her stalled career.
The 1997 African Junior Championships silver medallist at 3000m has not
yet raced in 2010 and only raced once in 2009. Ethiopian Aziza Aliyu,
who like Demissie ran the ING New York City Marathon, is also entered,
as is American steeplechaser Lindsay Allen (5000m PB of 15:48.97), and
former Stanford runner Teresa McWalters (15:49.54).
The women's course record of 15:41 was set by Kenyan Sally Kipyego last year.
The invitational races are part of a larger and growing race festival
which features both a 5-K and 10-K run for everyday runners. Those
events recorded 5340 and 3236 finishers, respectively, last year,
representing a combined increase of 36% from the prior year. The
invitational races take place after the mass events, so there should be
thousands of spectators on hand to watch the pros.
Rupp and Webb, who are both married and live in Portland, Ore., still plan to be home for Thanksgiving dinner.
"We've got a flight back in the afternoon," said Salazar.
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