this saturday with bekele. should be interesting.
this saturday with bekele. should be interesting.
No, not really.
ill accept your apology when you give me it.......
i believe he was saying that ritz racing bekele wouldn't be that interesting, maybe not though.
why is bekele even running this? if he has quit world cross then whats the point. why not turn your attention to indoor track or get on the road a run a marathon or half?
I'd sooner give you a Cleveland Steamer
1337 wrote:
why is bekele even running this? if he has quit world cross then whats the point. why not turn your attention to indoor track or get on the road a run a marathon or half?
its a trick.
Uck! You are absolutely creepy!
1337 wrote:
why is bekele even running this? if he has quit world cross then whats the point. why not turn your attention to indoor track or get on the road a run a marathon or half?
Never heard of M-O-N-E-Y?
If you look at the bottom of that page that is the start list for 2006! Also looking through it I can remember most of those athletes ran last year so unless someone has the start list for 2007 I dont think Ritz is running!
the link from "who who" is to the 2006 start list. Despite several of the 2006 field appearing in 2007 there are obviously changes, for example Farah, Lebid and de la Ossa are running the mens 4km
However this does confirm that he is running! 2007 elite athletes list!
I read the attachment very closely, and I don't think it is fair at all that Ritz has to run an extra 100 m.
It also seems that if Mottram had run, he'd get a 200 m head start...
YE4 seriously WTF h0w th3 he11 4re th3y g0ing t0 h4v3 4 r4c3 with diff dist4nc3z OMFG liek mayb3 h4ve 2 st4rt 1inez 0r wh4t??!?!?!?!
Ritz is an excellent XC runner; as far back as HS he has shown a knack for running on natural surfaces. E.g., 2 times FLNC and making it look easy both times against some good athletes (Webb/Hall); US Jr Nat champ and finishing third at World Jrs at age 18 teen, one of the guys he lost to in that race was KB; won NCAAs being only a couple of months removed from an injury and he has raced well in international competition. Ritz was injured on and off from 2002 to 2005, but when he is healthy, he is easily one of the top 10 XC runners in the world.
While Ritz can certainly hang with the best XC runners in the world, the problem is that the top guys are also sub-13 5K and world class milers as well; I don't recall if Ritz has every run a sub-4 mile or the 1500 equivalent and has not come close to the 5K credentials of the world’s best XC guys. Most the international XC races are won in the last couple hundred meters, which in my mind against guys like Mortam, Bekele, Kipchoge and Shaheen, Ritz will always be in the mix as a bridesmaid or a least a member of the wedding party...which ain't bad.
The Edinburgh race is supposed to have Tadesse, Bekele, Kipchoge, Shaheen, Boniface, and Gebremariam; that is a World XC type field. Last year Ritz got 4th in this race, if he can get into the top 5 this year…forget about XC, everyone of these guys are sub-27 10K guys and I predict Ritz (& Abdi) will crush the US 10K record in ’07. (The Edinburgh race and Ritz possible scenarios are big; I think the US T&F media is sleeping on this one.)
By the way, if KB wins this race, there is no way he skips World Cross.
It's supposed to be raining in Edinburgh over the next few days. Ritz has done well in the slop in the past. Mud is somewhat of an equalizer (no TRUE equalizer when racing the Africans), but it'll help.
He was not the Jr Nat Champ. He was 2nd to Tegenkamp. It was his first XC loss in over 2 years.
TrackCoach wrote:
Ritz was injured on and off from 2002 to 2005, but when he is healthy, he is easily one of the top 10 XC runners in the world.
.
Um, where did you come up with THAT little concept? A few years back he finished in the 20's in world cross (but there were two races. With only one race he might have been more around 30th or worse). 2 years ago, even with two races, he got destroyed, finishing......what, around 40-50th ? Last year he barely made the US team and didn't run worlds.
SO........coach, until he finishes in or near the top 10 in the BIG SHOW, then he is not "easily one of the top 10 xc runners in the world." In fact, he is hardly one of the top 10 xc runners in the world until he does so. This year there is one race. In Kenya. If healthy, you are SURE he will get top 10....."easily" ??? If so, I can only conclude that you are Flagpole Willy in disguise.
I wish Ritz well, but I surely hope he doesn't peak for some early season races and then fade late in the seeason (pick your reason: blisters, sick, injured, etc) by either running poorly at world's or not running at all.
Note: It didn't look easy in 1999.
Be careful not to hype up a rust-buster too much. DR hasn't raced since November, when he ran a marathon. It will be interesting to see how he came off of that, and perhaps even more interesting will be to see how he has handled the feet of snow that have been dumped on his training grounds in Colorado.
Regarding your statement that "most [of] the international XC races are won in the last couple hundred meters", this happens when guys think defeat is inevitable so they just sit and play into Bekele's hands. Look at the World Cup 3K (yes, I know it's a track race) when Mottram put KB on the ropes from almost a kilometer out. Kipchoge and Shaheen made big moves (relatively) early at World Cross in 2005 to try and beat Bekele. Unfortunately for them it didn't work but if more guys would reject the status quo and try to shake things up I doubt you would see every single race come down to KB blowing people's doors off in the last 500m.
What would Ritzenhein's best strategy be for trying to finish with if not beat some of these guys? Should he throw in hard surges, or push hard from 3k out? I bet that, if he hasn't had any sickness or little injuries since the marathon, he runs a pretty good race. These are the top distance runners in the world he is going up against, with the exception of Isaac Songok, Said Saeef Shaheen(who actually is not in the race), and a couple Kenyans. If he's very close to them in a hard race, that would be a big leap for him. I wish him the best. My predictions:
1. Bekele
2. Tadesse -0:01
3. Kipchoge -0:02
4. Ritzenhein -0:32