Question for Elite American 10k runners

The Marathon is not for everyone.

A lot of these guys can't figure out the marathon. I believe Wejo ran 28:05 and 2:17 in the marathon. Carney and Bizuneh are good example of guys that can run under 28 minutes and not break 2:15.

No, Solinsky himself said right after the race that he didn't consider himself a 10,000 man at this point, that he was only dabbling. He's going to keep his main focus on the 5000 through 2012. Besides, he's still just one guy and there are three spots per event for any team and he still has to get to the line healthy and ready when it counts. Let's just say that he doesn't yet have the best track record for peaking at the right time.

I don't get why all the bandwagon-humping fanboys think that when a guy runs a particular time that he's just a robot who has been programmed to always be ready to run like that. Have you ever known any teammate or rival runner who dependably ran his brains out and won every time he stepped to the line? There are no Herb Elliotts anymore, at least not in the U.S. Chris had a special night, take nothing away from that, just don't make it out to be more than it is.

But yeah, it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to get after the marathon. With races like Rocket City, CIM, and Houston, you can do a quality marathon and still do a nice build-up for track.

I think Solinsky along with Rupp and Ritz have changed the playing field. Abdi and Torres will take the marathon a little more serious.

The dreamers that have not yet broken 28 minutes will NEVER be a factor any way.

Nice to think anyone with a 2:15 best would have a shot in Houston. Houston is one of the big boys now with sub-2:10 and sub-2:25 standards.

You're saying anyone with "a 2:15 best" wouldn't have "a shot" of running faster in Houston? There are no runners at all between the 2:09:59 finishers and the 3:00 finishers? It's still a place to go to run a fast time and still have time to recover and do a good build-up for track.

These threads confuse me.

Did Meb's 27:13 discourage people from trying to break 28:30?

Best answer. It's also worth considering that this is one race, a great race, but just one race, run at an event which is specifically set up for fast times. An Olympic Trial is a very different animal and there have been plenty of guys who have not made the team despite having the fastest time going in.

In light of Saturday's performance its become very odd why Solinsky is so caught up in running the 5K. In the World Championships last year he was near the lead going into the final lap and then just got destroyed by everyone, not just Bekele and Lagat. I see no evidence that he has the speed to even come close to seriously competing at the elite level in the 5K. In the 10K however? If Ritz, Rupp, and Solinsky teamed up to protect Solinsky, and then he ran a final 800M like he did Saturday, it would be very interesting to see if he could sneak in for a medal.

let the excuses begin wrote:

Does Solinsky's new AR discourage all of the 28:20 guys? Guys that have a lifetime goal of breaking 28 minutes now realize that they would still be a lap down. Why stay with it to never be a factor? Do all of these guys move up to the marathon?

Does it discourage you that chicks run faster 10ks than you?

Ryan Foreman wrote:

If Ritz, Rupp, and Solinsky teamed up to protect Solinsky, and then he ran a final 800M like he did Saturday, it would be very interesting to see if he could sneak in for a medal.

Come back to reality, dork.

Speed at the end of 5k/10ks is largely about aerobic fitness more than pure foot speed. Solinksky was a 13:10 guy last year. He is going to get destroyed by 12:50 guys over the last lap even if he can run a faster 400m. If Chris had a 12:55 or so PR and got destroyed, then he should move up.He should still think about running more 10ks. The 5k/10k are looking to be as deep as they have been in a long time where if your not a sub 13:20 or 27:40 guy, you will not have much of chance to make the team. Now after saying that Lagat is going to slow down with age, Ritz will run the marathon, German will never set another PR, and Jager will decide to focus on growing his hair to reduce our depth to more normal levels....

Ok, the performances at Stanford over the weekend were incredible. Solinsky is down in territory that we have never seen from an American, and the last 1:56 800 was great. But in my mind, the question isn't how fast you can run the last lap or two. The question is how will our guys respond to dramatic pace shifts mid-race? How do Solinsky and Rupp respond to a 60 or 61 second lap thrown in after the 5k point? Because that is how the Africans race. The white guys (not just Americans, this goes for Mottram as well) have yet to prove that they can hang on through those surges and be in position to use their kicks on the last lap.

Ok, the performances at Stanford over the weekend were incredible. Solinsky is down in territory that we have never seen from an American, and the last 800 in 1:56 was great. But in my mind, the question isn't how fast you can run the last lap or two. The question is how will our guys respond to dramatic pace shifts mid-race? How do Solinsky and Rupp respond to a 60 or 61 second lap thrown in after the 5k point? Because that is how the Africans race. The white guys (not just Americans, this goes for Mottram as well) have yet to prove that they can hang on through those surges and be in position to use their kicks on the last lap.

Ok, the performances at Stanford over the weekend were incredible. Solinsky is down in territory that we have never seen from an American, and the last 800 in 1:56 was great. But in my mind, the question isn't how fast you can run the last lap or two. The question is how will our guys respond to dramatic pace shifts mid-race? How do Solinsky and Rupp respond to a 60 or 61 second lap thrown in after the 5k point? Because that is how the Africans race. The white guys (not just Americans, this goes for Mottram as well) have yet to prove that they can hang on through those surges and be in position to use their kicks on the last lap.

Ok, the performances at Stanford over the weekend were incredible. Solinsky is down in territory that we have never seen from an American, and the last 800 in 1:56 was great. But in my mind, the question isn't how fast you can run the last lap or two. The question is how will our guys respond to dramatic pace shifts mid-race? How do Solinsky and Rupp respond to a 60 or 61 second lap thrown in after the 5k point? Because that is how the Africans race. The white guys (not just Americans, this goes for Mottram as well) have yet to prove that they can hang on through those surges and be in position to use their kicks on the last lap.

let the excuses begin wrote:

Question for Elite American 10k runners

Sorry, no elite runners visit these message boards.

It is certainly nice to see an American who is not caught up in the " wait until it's too late" running program. Still, until that final 800m there was a lot of snoring coming from the people in the stands.

Almost any runner who can run a decent pace can steal the race on American soil. Our 10K is usually a pace-race. If one of you guys would decide to LOSE the race rather than try to win it there would be some great racing to watch. What happened to American mid-race sprinting? Anybody with the courage to sprint mid-race could even whup Bekele. EVERYONE can be beaten.

You realize of course that there is a certain amount of FEAR in every runner, don't you. If you USE that fear instead of buying into it, you have a chance; a great chance. Suppose you sprint in mid-race. It's suicide. The fear you provoke is proportional to the speed of the sprint. A 55 second quarter mile induces near-panic in everyone in the race. Of course I realize it causes panic in the sprinter as well as it does in the followers. I have been there many times. After a hard sprint, when you are trying to maintain some sort of race pace, your whole body panics. But the guys running behind you don't know that. They see a super-runner ahead of them.