LetsRun.com's Preview of The 5000s at The 2012 US Olympic Track & Field Trials
Star Studded Men's 5000 Will Be One Of The Highlights Of The Meet For The LetsRun.com Faithful
LetsRun.com
June 24, 2012
Below are two somewhat abbreviated previews of the men's and women's 5000s. We'll update the previews before the final.
Men's 5000: Which of The Big Three Gets The Win?
The men's 5000 is a race that likely has the LetsRun.com nation salivating. Unlike the women's field which lacks standouts at the world level, the men's field is full of some real studs. Take a look at the six guy under the IAAF's fairly stiff standard of 13:20.00.
Galen Rupp Nike 12:58.90
Bernard Lagat Nike 13:07.15
Lopez Lomong Nike 13:11.63
Matt Tegenkamp Nike / Oregon TC Elite 13:15.00 We've been told by David Monti that he's a scratch.
Andrew Bumbalough Nike 13:16.26
Chris Derrick Stanford University 13:19.58
Of those six, there is a clear-cut top three - Galen Rupp, Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lomong.
A few comments about all of them.
Rupp - The 26:48.00 man seems to be in the fitness of his life as he put on a clinic in the 10,000 here on Friday night after breaking 13:00 at Pre.
A big story line at recent US champs the last few years has been, "Is Rupp getting close to beating Bernard Lagat?" and each time the answer has been, "No." Most recently indoors, Lagat destroyed Rupp at 3000. Lifetime, Rupp is 0 for 12 against Lagat. Will number 13 be lucky for Galen?
Lagat - The American record holder and 2007 world 5000 champ almost never loses 5000 to Americans. In fact, we're not sure if he's ever lost a 5,000 to an American? We know one thing about Lagat - he's won the 5000 at the US champs easily each and every time he's run it - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011. Last year, Lagat ran his last 1,600 in 3:57.80 to beat Chris Solinsky and Galen Rupp.
Lomong - The US flag bearer from the 2008 Olympics just moved up to the 5,000 this year and has one truly competitive 5000 to his name and boy was it memorable. In the heat of battle, Lomong forgot that a 5,000 was 12.5 laps and not 11.5 laps but he still ran 13.11.63 which is way faster than anyone else in the field.
13:11.63 is a long way from 13:00, but the 2009 world championship finalist has more natural speed than Rupp and is way younger than Lagat. Can Lomong kick with them if it's a somewhat tactical battle?
The question isn't really who finishes top three but rather who wins it? We'll find out later this week.
One more thing, US mile record holder Alan Webb is entered in this race but the more we think about it - the answer is, "Why?" I guess the odds of getting the 'A' and top 3 in the 1,500 are slim but are they any more slim than beating Lagat, Rupp and Lomong?
LRC Predictions
1) Lagat 2) Rupp 3) Lomong
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Women's 5000:
The women's 5k features 11 women under the soft IAAF standard of 15:20.00 and five more who have run within 5 seconds of it.
To help narrow it down, we've eliminated 6 of them to help get it down to 10 people for you to consider if you are still making your selections in the Brooks Prediction contest.
The Sub 15:25 Entrants - "A" Standard is 15:20.00
Lauren Fleshman Nike / Oregon TC Elite 15:00.57 She has been hurt.
Julia Lucas Nike / Oregon TC Elite 15:08.52 The US leader for 2011.
Molly Huddle Saucony 15:10.01 The 4th American in Pre 3k (Maloy, Ulh & Felnagle beat her)
Jennifer Rhines adidas 15:10.44 She hasn't been running well. Age seemingly has caught up with Rhines who turns 38 on
July 1. She has run pretty awful in nearly ever race this year and is
skipping 10,000 for this race.
Julie Culley Asics / New York Athletic Club (NYAC) 15:13.87 She beat Jessica Tebo & Maloy at Payton Jordan, lost to Lucas.
Magdalena Lewy Boulet Saucony 15:14.25 She hasn't race since the trials. We're assuming if she was fit, she'd have done the 5k.
Jackie Areson Nike 15:14.31 She is undefeated in 5000 this year.
Amy Hastings Brooks 15:14.31 Will she even start this race?
Lisa Uhl Nike / Oregon TC Elite 15:15.22 She made the 10k team and has little motivation to go for it big time here. Has lost to Areson twice this year in 5000/
Elizabeth Maloy New Balance 15:15.34 Who says people don't improve after college? Graduated
Georgetown with pbs of 4:16/16:25. Now under the training of Miltenberg,
she's an Olympic hopeful. Top American at Pre 3000.
Angela Bizzarri Brooks 15:16.04 15:55 sb, ran 9:14 at Pre (Maloy ran 8:50)/
Brie Felnagle adidas 15:22.39 Former 1,500 runner for UNC.
Abbey D'Agostino Dartmouth 15:23.35 NCAA champ.
Alisha Williams Boulder Running Company/adidas 15:24.82 5th in 10k.
Kim Conley SRA Elite 15:24.89 Surprised she skipped the 10k for this since she'd run 32:00.
In all honesty, we think the big ones to consider are Julia Lucas, Molly Huddle, Julie Culley, Jaxkie Areson, Liz Maloy and Abbey D'Agostino. How many is that? Six.
That should help. Amy Hastings has the talent to be able to make it but we figure she's got little motivation to do so after making the 10k.
We'll do a full preview before the final.
LRC Prediction: This is a hard event to pick as there are no real standouts in terms of people who are truly competitive on the international stage?
1) Lucas 2) Areson 3) Maloy
See who the top picks are in the LRC prediction contest.
Parting Thought: The field isn't full of international standouts but it's definitely deep by US standards as there are 27 people in it - as 27 hit the Olympic Trials "A" of 15:35.
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