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| pointer outer guy |
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So, it isn't looking good for Al. Alan is a great time trial runner - he can run fast, but he simply isn't a racer. Today's DNF at Carlsbad illustrates this point - a miler with 800m to go in a slow 5k is a wolf amongst sheep. DNFing a 5K against b-team runners ... he doesn't have the killer instinct that he needs to win on the world stage. Alan Webb is a fast runner, but he just doesn't have "it" when it comes down to being in a race with a clutch of other runners who all have a good shot at winning. |
| malmo |
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I hope you don't really think that the Carlsbad 5k means squat, do you? It's a Turkey Trot in April. If you knew anything about this sport at all, you'd know that Webb has an astonishing competitive record. |
| Beaverton born and raised |
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You don't have any idea what was going on with 800 to go... |
| pointer outer guy |
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what happened at the usa 8k champs? |
| pointer outer guy |
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| malmo |
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Who cares? |
| pointer outer guy |
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what happened at the world championships - when does it start to mean squat? C'mon malmo - he has no racing skills, it's obvious. |
| malmo |
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You little boys don't get it. Just being in the final of the world championships is an outstanding performance. That being said, Webb ran a GREAT race, but he was beaten by better runners that day. That's the thing about world championships, there's only one winner in the race, but many champions. |
| Indifferent |
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I would ask anyone who doesn't think Webb can race to again look at video of the Paris Grand Prix last July when he thought he had the race won, then saw Mehdi Baala move past him, and then stayed patient until the right time to pass Baala again. It was the fastest 1500 time of 2007. You can also look at his Reebok Grand Prix Mile in NYC. When people on this board wonder about what is wrong with American track, perhaps #1 on the list should be the fact that so called followers and fans of the sport are overly anxious to cannibalize and discard the best runners we've got. You're boring. |
| Race Photog |
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Anyone get any snaps of Webb poofing out ? How about one of the race photogs ? (I'm one of the many volunteer major marathon photogs on the press trucks who gives away free photos too). |
| jsquire |
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Ever listen to sports talk radio? This is gentle compared to that. If you want T&F to be as popular as other sports you've got to take the bad with the good. |
| ROADrunner219 |
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This is actually a really good post. People think distance running is just going to get huge and everybody will love it and we'll all just quit our jobs, join hands and go running all day long. Anything (good or bad) in the American/World public will be taken through the ringer by the American/World public. |
| Spiders Webb |
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Get your head out of your butt. He has a history of bad races. He has a ton more bad ones than good ones. Food poisoning his last race (yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight) and now this disaster. It's par for the course for Webb. |
| Webb feat |
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So a win in this weekend's 5km would have meant what? A quick phychological boost? Beating so called "B" runners in a spring roadrace, so what. As Steve Scott said in the news article, better for Webb to be training his arse off now than piddling around winning road races. The big races are months away. On the other hand, why show up at all (appearance money?) if you don't plan on winning? You can "train through" these races but if it means dropping out with sub-par performances why bother? |
| Spiders Webb |
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It would mean he can consistently beat second tier runners for starters. He still hasn't shown he can do that. Even he doesn't know what happened. Anyone who claims these 2 bad races doesn't mean anything, it's just early in the season, blah blah blah are in a fantasy world. You need to stop making excuses and face reality. Start expecting Webb to do poorly instead of the other way around and you won't be so disappointed. |
| No problem |
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But his good ones have been superb. He will produce another great performance this summer. As was pointed out earlier he is a bit hot-headed and tactically not the greatest but when he gets it right everyone is talking about it. I was in Paris last year and that was a faultless performance in terms of tactics. I still question how Bekele / Geb / ElG were able to run so many big races a season without ever having an off day. There is something more to that story.. |
| spyder webb |
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Webb doesn't lie. He was sick puking his guts out before the 8K. This race is no excuse like that, but i'm sure Raczko is going to back off on the training after a response of dead legs like this. Webb will be right where he needs to be in a few weeks. |
| 800 dude |
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He was totally cooked when he dropped out. When you're pushing really hard to hold a pace that's too fast, the collapse tends to hit you all at once. If he'd been willing to let the leaders go, he probably would have finished with an acceptable time. My concern isn't that he dropped out, it's that he might actually read any of the inane shit that's being posted here about him. I'm also sick and tired of hearing about how Webb "can't run tactical races" and how he "always blows up." This narrative has little to do with his actual record. He ran 6 flawless mile races last year (Drake, Reebok, USATF, Paris, American Record, and Osaka). If you think he sucks so much, why don't you ask El G about how easy it is to win a championship 1500, even when you're the best in the world. The only reason you believe this fantasy narrative is because Webb is the only guy whose every race is scrutinized like this. When lesser runners crash or make a poor tactical decision, you hardly bat an eye. Geb, Bekele, El G--they all have bad races. All of them. |
| intelligent life |
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This is an intelligent post. |
| Sagarin |
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A couple of early road races to test one's fitness are hardly a harbinger of things to come. Webb will be ready on the track when it actually matters. That said, I would bet against him medalling at the Olympics. Let's make sure he gets to the finals first, and then we can begin speculating. |
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