Galen Rupp Wins His 7th Straight US 10,000 Crown; Ben True 2nd; Hassan Mead Third

by LetsRun.com
June 26, 2015

EUGENE, Ore — Running in his first race since the ProPublica/BBC report came out with doping allegations against the Nike Oregon Project, Olympic silver medallist Galen Rupp didn’t seem impacted by the scrutiny as he won his seventh career USA 10,000 title in impressive fashion in 28:11.61 tonight at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as he blew away the field over the last 1200m. Recent New York Diamond League 5000 winner Ben True was 2nd in 28:14.26, with fellow 13:02 5000 man Hassan Mead third in 28:16.54. It was the first time that True or Mead had made a U.S. team on the track. Former Oklahoma State runner Shadrack Kipchirir, last year’s NCAA runner-up at 10,000, was fourth in 28:19.40.

Galen Rupp and Alberto Salazar hugged but didn't talk after it was over Galen Rupp and Alberto Salazar hugged but didn’t talk after it was over

“It’s great [to win my 7th title], especially to do it in front of these fans on my hometown track,” said Rupp on the USATF.tv broadcast after the race. When asked how he’s stayed focused on the task at hand given the recent allegations coming out against him and his coach Alberto Salazar, Rupp said, “It’s definitely been hard with all of that other stuff  going on. But I always try to keep focused on the track, always be professional. I still have a job to do.”

Rupp Makes it Look Really Easy the Last 1200m

The race came down to the final 1200m as there was a pack of 10 still in contention at that point. Rupp then went to the front and a 63.86 dropped everyone in the field except for Ben True, Hassan Mead and Shadrack Kipchirchir. A 57.78 penultimate lap gave Rupp a nearly two-second lead on True who managed a 59.40 as Mead was another two seconds back. This one was all over at this point as Rupp extended his lead on the backstretch and was able to look back over his shoulder multiple times to make sure he had this one in the bag.

The small crowd of Hayward faithful (the homestretch was roughly 50% full, the backstretch about 10% full) had been quiet when Rupp was introduced during the race, but many of them rose to their feet and gave the former Oregon Duck a standing ovation as he won his 7th USATF title.

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Rupp’s final 1200 was 3:02.12 as True managed a 3:05.02 final 1200m.

Rupp Addresses Nike Oregon Project Investigation (We have a separate article on this here)

The big news in the 10,000m was not really the race itself but the possible doping violations surrounding the Nike Oregon Project and Galen Rupp. A media throng awaited Rupp after the race and he was prepared. He deflected questions about supplements he may take, reiterated that he stood for clean sport, and was really pleased with Alberto Salazar’s “report” that came out yesterday.

Tim Layden has a tremendous piece on Rupp and Salazar in Sports Illustrated here. Tim writes, “Three times he (Galen) said some version of, “I stand behind [either Salazar or Salazar’s statement] 100 percent.” Three times he said some version of, “I believe in a clean sport.” Three times he said some version of, “I’m not gonna lie, it’s been hard.””

Or as Ken Goe of the Oregonian quoted Rupp, “”It’s been hard. I’m not going to lie. It’s been difficult to focus…”I’m real happy that report came out yesterday. I stand behind it 100 percent. I believe in a clean sport.”

Goe also spoke to Salazar who said, “The idea was to run just as slow as possible to save himself for Sunday. He could have run faster. We weren’t worried about it. He’s in the best shape he’s ever been in.”

As for his critics, Alberto said, “People are going up with something else that’s crazy. You can’t worry about it. Batter up. If somebody else wants to come up with something crazy, batter up.”

Full interview with Galen below:

True is very good, but Rupp is much better.

Ben True tried to keep it honest, but the final lap was just a coronation for Rupp. He clearly could have gone faster on the last lap but cruised in with 60.50 to close out a 2:28 last 1k.

Seven national titles in the 10,000 is a record and there is a reason Rupp has won 7 in a row (last losing a US 10,000 in 2008 to Abdi Abdirahman). He’s incredibly good.

Last year, Rupp moved into first place in terms of most 10,000 titles at USA by winning #6, moving ahead of Frank Shorter, who won 5.

Ben True acknowledged there was nothing he could do to stop Rupp, “I knew Galen was going to go…I could tell he was getting agitated behind [me]. When he went, I couldn’t match it and he kept looking back at me and I was getting a little mad.”

Ben True on NOP Doping Investigation and 5k/10k “I’d like to think I could be a 5k guy but a lot of times the distance picks you, you don’t pick the distance”

Ben True was asked after the race if his better race might be the 5k, but he wasn’t convinced even with his monumental Diamond League win in New York. He said, “I’d like to think I could be a 5k guy but a lot of times the distance picks you you don’t pick the distance. If I had my choice I’d be a 1500m runner right?… I don’t know if I have the full speed to kick with the top guys in a fast 5k…. I’m almost 30; strength is a little bit easier to work on that speed.”

He will run the 5k on Sunday and then decide what event he runs at Worlds if he makes the team. “I like the 5k more but who knows,” he said.

True, who tweeted out a picture of his anti-doping disclosure form recently, said of the NOP investigation, “Allegations are allegations, rumors are rumors. There have been things floating around for a couple of years. If they are true, I am against any sort of doping or unethical performance enhancements and I would be very disappointed if that was the case and I would hope a strict penalty came about. Even abuse of TUEs that’s been alleged too, I think whether that is legal or not in the code of WADA and is against the spirit of the sport and should be looked on and punished. Right now they are all allegations so we’ll have to see what happens.”

When asked what supplements he takes he said he does not take ibuprofen, drinks Gatorade “twice a year,” takes probiotics (acidophilus) from time to time because he’s lactose-intolerant, Vitamin D sometimes in the winter, and melatonin when he can’t sleep.

Making Team USA at 10,000 Was Always the Plan for Hassan Mead; He’s Not Running Sunday’s 5,000

Mead had a slight setback in March/April, but said he was over it by the end of May and felt great in his last two races at Pre (27:33 pb) and tonight. He said he was keying off Rupp, True and Estrada and just wanted to make sure he was in position to respond when a move was made because he knew the last kilometer was going to be fast.

When Mead joined coach Mark Rowland and the Oregon Track Club three years ago, Rowland wanted to make sure Mead could run a good 5,000 before moving him up to the more challenging 10,000 distance. After a 13:02 at Payton Jordan and a third-place finish at USAs last year, Mead accomplished that and showed Rowland that he was ready to advance to the 10,000 in 2015.

Mead said he was frustrated by his first 10,000 this year at Payton Jordan because he just missed the 27:45 IAAF standard in a race that went out in 14:08 and that it required an adjustment to his schedule as instead of running the 5,000 at Pre and the 1500 at the Portland Track Festival, he had to go back to Flagstaff and do more 10,000 training before running the 10,000 again at Pre. None of that matters now, as Mead has an important race on his schedule that won’t be changing: the World Championship 10,000 final on August 22.

Mead also said that he will not be running the 5,000 on Sunday.

Chris Derrick Post-Race: Pleased With Everything But Last 600 and on Whether All Athletes Push It to the Anti-Doping Limit: “We are not sociopaths, we have values and we have things we believe in…. “

After the race, Chris Derrick  said, “I was pleased with everything until the last 600m.” He wants to run a full track season and will see what races he gets into.

When we asked him about the Nike Oregon Project Investigation and what supplements he may or not be on, he said, “One of the things that bothers me is when people say of course people are going to do whatever they can under the rules because they want to win. We are not sociopaths, we have values and we have things we believe in…. I take iron and Vitamin C when I’m at altitude. I probably should take my iron more often but I don’t. That’s what I take,” he said.

“I guess the strongest medicine I’ve taken is Clofenac. It’ s an anti-inflammatory that is prescription in US and you can buy it over the counter in Europe. I’ve used that for some injuries… I think that was the only thing I was prescribed in college.”

He also revealed he had asthma as a kid but does not take asthma or thyroid medication.

Quick Take: Diego Estrada Had a Tough Day

Estrada was one of the few guys we noticed going to grab the water set up on the track in the hot conditions (temperature was in the 80s during the race) and the 2015 US leader only managed an 8th-place finish in his first chance to try and represent the US at 10,000m (the dual citizen ran for Mexico in the 2012 Olympics).

QT: Craig Lutz had an even tougher day

The University of Texas runner Lutz was lapped three times by the leaders but kept persevering. We couldn’t believe it when we looked at the results and saw he didn’t finish, he stopped one lap short. Not sure if the officials stopped him a lap early by accident, but he deserved a finish for his 9600 effort.

Results Below *Lap by Lap splits here

Interviews can be found on our YouTube page.. Discuss the meet on our world famous messageboard:

 

Place Name Affiliation Time Heat (Pl)
1 Galen Rupp Nike / Nike Or P 28:11.61 1 (1)
2 Benjamin True Saucony 28:14.26 1 (2)
3 Hassan Mead Nike / Nike OTCE 28:16.54 1 (3)
4 Shadrack Kipchirchir U.S. Army 28:19.40 1 (4)
5 Ryan Vail Brooks 28:22.21 1 (5)
6 Aron Rono U.S. Army 28:24.73 1 (6)
7 Chris Derrick Nike / Bowerman 28:31.75 1 (7)
8 Diego Estrada ASICS 28:36.06 1 (8)
9 Aaron Braun adidas 28:38.86 1 (9)
10 Brian Shrader Saucony 28:40.12 1 (10)
11 Tyler Pennel Reebok / ZAP Fit 28:46.74 1 (11)
12 Jason Witt Unattached 28:49.43 1 (12)
13 Brendan Gregg Hansons-Brooks 28:52.16 1 (13)
14 Jonathan Grey Unattached 28:56.45 1 (14)
15 Jared Ward Saucony 29:05.70 1 (15)
16 Jim Spisak Unattached 29:10.44 1 (16)
17 Robert Curtis Hansons-Brooks 29:18.86 1 (17)
18 Johnny Crain Unattached 29:27.67 1 (18)
19 Eric Fernandez Hoka / NnAz El 29:33.51 1 (19)
20 Christopher Landry Mizuno 29:40.49 1 (20)
21 Matt Mcelroy Unattached 29:50.84 1 (21)
22 Jacob Riley Hansons-Brooks 29:53.10 1 (22)
23 Erik Peterson Unattached 29:57.53 1 (23)
24 Timothy Ritchie Saucony 30:29.88 1 (24)
Craig Lutz Texas DNF 1,
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