Could a HS Rudy Chapa Have Won World Juniors This Years?

I see that Cheptegei's PR is 27:56 (damn, that's fast for a junior!). I'm guessing Chapa could never have beaten him. I wonder if he could've medaled.

Wanjiru's junior record is 26:41, I know it is somewhat unrelated, but just let that sink in ...[quote]GoldenMiles wrote:

JDS wrote:

Wanjiru's junior record is 26:41, I know it is somewhat unrelated, but just let that sink in ...[quote]GoldenMiles wrote:

That's staggering. Sammy was obviously a blazing talent, given his, what, wins in 5 out of 7 marathons he was in (?), but that still seems impossible for a 19-year-old to run.

Rudy's run was impressive, I think he did it at Drake Relays against post collegians I don't know if professional running was officially set up by then).

I ran against Rudy in HS and he had great speed which would have gotten him a medal, but I doubt he could have gone much quicker to compete with a 27:56 guy.

Rudy was very good. The Ugandan and Kenyan runners had big negative splits (1st 5K vs. 2nd 5K) which would have been hard to match. At any level, Age Group through Senior, the Africans are a class apart in the distances. We are only now seeing their true potential emerge. Sadly, due to their societal challenges, we won't get to see many great runners develop their talents.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I was reading about the race and also saw the negative splits. That obviously shows that they were capable of running faster than their times in the race.

I wonder what Rudy ideally could've run a mile or two mile in in 28:32 shape in HS.?

I was there to see Chapa run that 10000m record. He ran a smart, well-paced race and moved up throughout the race-- but especially in the last 8 laps.

It was a remarkably low key meet. Roughly speaking he ran about as fast he might've hoped. Chapa had the advantage of being in lane 1 pretty much the whole way and raced a field about the best size and speed to pull him along. (He also had a great racing day and there was not a whole lot left in the tank when he finished).

Chapa's strengths as a racer were more along Ritz lines: Long

buildup to close.

I think he could have run close to 4 flat for the mile. He did a 4:04. I think his two mile could have been close to 8:40 in the right conditions and with some competition.

A Ritz vs. Chapa race in the two mile or 5K would've been spectacular.

dsrunner wrote:

I was there to see Chapa run that 10000m record. It was a remarkably low key meet.

The Drake Relays a low key meet?? Are you kidding?? Makes me wonder if you were really there.

Yes, I was there and have all of his 220y splits.

He never realized his mile and 2 mile potential as he never paced himself and always went out way too fast.

Per the Computerized Running Programs, his 10k record is worth: 5k 13:25, 2 mile 8:10, mile 3:55

BTW only 2 high schoolers outside of IA have ever run in the Drake Relays, Rudy and Mary Cain.

Rudy didn't have as good Senior year as his Junior after that 10K. I think it took a lot out of him the rest of the season.

lane 8 wrote:

dsrunner wrote:

I was there to see Chapa run that 10000m record. It was a remarkably low key meet.

The Drake Relays a low key meet?? Are you kidding?? Makes me wonder if you were really there.

Yes, I was there and have all of his 220y splits.

He never realized his mile and 2 mile potential as he never paced himself and always went out way too fast.

Per the Computerized Running Programs, his 10k record is worth: 5k 13:25, 2 mile 8:10, mile 3:55

BTW only 2 high schoolers outside of IA have ever run in the Drake Relays, Rudy and Mary Cain.

His 10k is definitely not worth an 8:10.

lane 8 wrote:

dsrunner wrote:

I was there to see Chapa run that 10000m record. It was a remarkably low key meet.

The Drake Relays a low key meet?? Are you kidding?? Makes me wonder if you were really there.

Yes, I was there and have all of his 220y splits.

He never realized his mile and 2 mile potential as he never paced himself and always went out way too fast.

Per the Computerized Running Programs, his 10k record is worth: 5k 13:25, 2 mile 8:10, mile 3:55

BTW only 2 high schoolers outside of IA have ever run in the Drake Relays, Rudy and Mary Cain.

I was at the meet that year but not for the 10,000.

You probably mean 8:40 2 mile. And yes, one of the best HS performances ever but by now almost forgotten. Not much fanfare either, although Track and Field News had a write up. He finished about 5th in that race.

I think Chapa PRd in the 2 mile in his junior year.

And finally, Drake Relays has between 15,000 and 18,000 fans. Other than Penn are there any meets with more in the stands? Low key indeed!

Agreed that he must not have meant 8:10, but maybe 8:30? 3:55 mile is certainly far better than a 8:40 2 mile.

That's cool that only Mary Cain and Chapa have run Drake Relays. What's "IA"?

[/quote]

Agreed that he must not have meant 8:10, but maybe 8:30? 3:55 mile is certainly far better than a 8:40 2 mile.

That's cool that only Mary Cain and Chapa have run Drake Relays. What's "IA"?[/quote]

8:29 and 13:35 are the equvalencies for 2 mile and 5K. So Chapa's 10K was more than 30 years ahead of it's time compared to those events.

IA is the state of Iowa, so Cain and Chapa apparently are the only high schoolers not from Iowa to run at Drake. That's really surprising. Thought that there might at least be a few sprinters in the open events from time to time.

The most impressive aspect of Rudy Chapa's 28:32 is how young he was.

Yes the tables rate it equal to 8:30 for 2 miles and around 13:35 for 5000 meters. But most high school kids with only 3-4 years of training would take a long time to handle a solid 10,000 effort to equal what they could match at 3000-5000.

It was the World Junior Record until 1989 or 90 when the African dominance first kicked in.

Also interesting that he was "only" an 8:54 two miler in high school and more of a 1500-5000 runner in college.

Chapa ran 8:55 as a HS soph, 8:52 as a jr and 8:51 as a senior.

Wasn't that Chapa 10K at Drake run in a downpour?

Or were the photos of that race unusually grainy?

buddy puddy wrote:

Wasn't that Chapa 10K at Drake run in a downpour?

No. It had rained earlier but had stopped before the 10k went off.

YES, I meant 8:10. This is per the Computerized running tables.

I agree it doesn't sound right to me either but that is what the tables say.

If it really is correct (and I have found these tables to be very reliable) it just shows the great talent Rudy had.