The Week That Was In Running: August 9 - 15, 2010

By LetsRun.com
August 17, 2010

To read last week's LRC Week That Was, click Here.
To read any 2010 LRC Week That Was, click Here.

This week, we give five observations on the London Diamond League meeting and talk about Alan Webb. Along the way, we chide Dwight Stones, wonder what happened to the best 800m and 1,500m men on the planet in David Rudisha and Asbel Kiprop, conclude that Andrew Wheating is better than Nick Symmonds, praise Morgan Uceny, wonder what happened to Alysia Johnson and tell those that are writing off Alan Webb that they are making a big mistake as "talent doesn't go away."

Coming off of vacation, we don't feel like recapping the entire week last week. The London Diamond League meet was the big event of the week and you can relive it all here if you need to.

5 Observations/Comments Regarding London

1) Andrew Wheating is indeed better than Nick Symmonds at 800 in 2010. Wheating and Symmonds came into the race at 1-1 on the year at 800 but both runners could make excuses for their losses to the other this year. In Paris, when Symmonds lost, Symmonds ran up front as Wheating cherry picked from the back. In Stockholm, when Wheating lost, there was a collision with the rabbit that hurt Wheating's chances. Well, in London, Wheating defeated Symmonds decisively as the two followed each other around the track. They both ran almost exactly the same race and encountered the same traffric and Wheating finished .72 ahead of Symmonds and came pretty close to Abubaker Kaki as he was 2nd in 1:44.56 to Kaki's 1:44.38.

To come within .18 of Kaki is pretty good. Ignoring Kaki's loss to David Rudisha, no one had come that close to Kaki all year as in his five wins, the closest anyone had gotten to him was Boaz Lalang, who got within .19 of him. Kaki's winning margins this outdoor season are as follows - .57, .89, 2.60,  .61, .19 and now .18.

Speaking of the Wheating-Symmonds race, we gotta give a Thumbs Down to television announcer Dwight Stones, who said the following about Wheating on the first lap of the race: "(I'm) waiting for the wheels to fall off for this young man ... You can only peak so many times and run so many quality races. I understand that he's young but he might be asking for trouble down the line with this type of season."

He says that and then Wheating sets a PR for the third time in his last four races.

Stones' statement is wrong on a number of levels. First of all, Wheating's season isn't going on too long. He's set personal bests in both his last 800 and his last 1,500. We can maybe expect someone to wonder when the PRs will stop but as long as he's PRing, he most certainly should be racing. Secondly, to suggest that Wheating is going to harm himself by racing a bunch of 1,500s and 800s when he's PRing nearly every week is simply ridiculous. That's why they need to let distance experts announce distance races. Moreover, even if it was true, we'd still say he should be racing. Just like the point of life shouldn't be to live as long as possible, the point of running isn't to have as long of a career as possible. A long mediocre career is worse than a brilliant short one.

2) Speaking of David Rudisha, can someone please tell us where he and Asbel Kiprop have been since the African champs? The world's best 800 and 1,500 meter runners haven't been seen. For Rudisha, he hasn't raced at all since July 30th and hasn't raced in Europe since July 10th. We have no idea why a guy who is 8 for 8 on the year at 800 and has run 1:41.51 wouldn't be ca$hing in on the European circuit. Kiprop likewise hasn't been seen in Europe since July 10th and hasn't raced since August 1st. If you know what's up with Rudisha or Kiprop, please email us. Maybe it comes down to money, as Rudisha is running this Sunday in Berlin (the former Golden League meet is the big independent meet left in the world as it did not join the Diamond League) and Kiprop likely will race for the Diamond League title next week in Brussels.

3) Nice to see Leo Manzano lower his PR from 3:53.01 in the mile to 3:50.64, although in reality the PR isn't really a PR for Manzano. Manzano's new mile PR is equivalent to 3:33.55 in the 1,500 using the standard 1.08 conversion and his 1,500 best from last year is 3:33.33.

4) The break for the European and African championships wasn't good for Alysia Johnson. When Johnson last raced on July 22nd, she was the top 800-meter runner in the world as she won in Monaco in 1:57.34. Now she is only 8th best in London 2:00.51. A long break is never a good idea for an 800 meter runner and the first Diamond League meet in Stockholm after the break didn't have an 800 in it, so Johnson didn't race for three-plus weeks.

5) The top American mid-d woman for the second straight week was Morgan Uceny. Uceny beat Rowbury, Pierce and Wurth Thoams at 1,500 in Stockholm and beat Pierce, Johnson, and Vessey in London.

"Talent Doesn't Go Away" - Alan Webb Isn't Done
Alan Webb's comeback began last week. In his first race since June of 2009, Webb opened with a 1:52.32 800.

We're not sure what to make of the actual performance (some are speculating he ran the race as a workout and we were coming around to that viewpoint until someone pointed out that a guy that looks and sounds a lot like Alberto Salazar appears to be yelling some 300 meters into the race, "Come on Alan, close that gap now."), but we will make one thing clear. Alan Webb isn't done.

One of our all-time favorite quotes in track and field is "Talent doesn't go away." We think Nick Willis told us this quote a few years ago, but whoever told it to us was dead on. Talent is a god-given gift that doesn't vanish.

Webb is extremely talented. He's still relatively young - only 27. Thus, if he's healthy, he will do good things again.

Will he ever be a player on the world scene again? We can't say that with 100% certainty, but we'd definitely say it's more likely than not (although he may never beat Andrew Wheating). We will say one thing with certainty. If healthy in both 2011 and 2012 (we want at least 5 races each year), Alan Webb will run at least sub 3:35 or 13:20 (or equivalent) at least once or LetsRun.com will pay some lucky visitor $3,350.

Webb himself has a history of coming back from the dead. In 2006, Webb ran his first 800 of the year in 1:51.59. His seasonal best for 800 that year was just 1:50.83. He seasonal best in the mile was 4:00.87 and his best 1,500 was even worse (3:46.91). The next year, Webb had the #1 time in the world at 1,500 (3:30.54), mile (3:46.91) and was #2 in the world at 800 (1:43.84).

Those whose are saying Alan Webb is done for good are fools.

We were trying to think of other runners that came back from sub-par years. Lasse Viren is one. The double Olympic champ in 1972 didn't race in 1973 and then in 1974, he only ran 13:24 and 28:29. Yet in 1976, he was double Olympic champ yet again. In 1976, Viren was 27 just like Webb is now.

Last week, Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis also began his comeback as well.

More: Alan Webb Comeback Begins With 1:52.32 800 Meter Race *Huge Message Board Thread On Webb's Return Link takes you to the middle of the thread after Webb's race was already run.
*2nd Message Board Thread On Webb's Run *LRC: Olympic Silver Medallist Nick Willis Edged By Russell Brown At CIGNA Falmouth Mile As Both Break 4:00.00. *After Tough Summer, Russell Brown Pleased To Defeat Willis