Let's talk about Alan Webb's incredible 80 minute triple 10 days before his 3:53. 4:06(2:14/1:52)/49/1:49

4th at dream mile in 4:04 and 3rd at Brooks. Only guys who beat him that year were Fisher, Maton, Tamagno, and Haney.

Josh McDougal

If he and his teammate were way out ahead of everyone, maybe the sporting thing would have been to let up at the line to let the teammate get a win in one event? Same amount of points for the team & gives the other guy something impressive to put on his recruiting resume (beat Alan Webb at an 800 in 1:55!), etc.

But unfortunately, this is Webb we're talking about:

> Once, after being dominated by his then-pregnant wife, Julia, in a game of Uno last summer, Webb was so upset that he threw the cards down, cursed and stormed out of the room.

If he'd learned to harness that competitive spirit a bit better, his career might have looked very different. Frankly, unless he's undergone a pretty big personal transformation, I have a lot of trouble imagining he has the requisite maturity to be a quality college coach.

(quote is from

https://www.espn.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/9173442/endurance-sports-alan-webb-far-finished

)

ScottEvil wrote:

If he and his teammate were way out ahead of everyone, maybe the sporting thing would have been to let up at the line to let the teammate get a win in one event? Same amount of points for the team & gives the other guy something impressive to put on his recruiting resume (beat Alan Webb at an 800 in 1:55!), etc.

Lol. If you're remotely competitive yourself you know that someone giving you the win means nothing.

Go back to watching Talladega Nights

lancefan wrote:

This is unbelievable. Thanks for posting.

Not as good as Webb, but one of the Texas guys (Brown and Worley) had an insane double at the state meet a few years back. Off the top of my head something like 4:06 with a 56 final lap, 1:49 negative split. Someone can go check if my memory is correct, I don't know where to find those results.

What is the best double/triple/quadruple ever in HS/college/pro?

Can't find the original post, but something along the lines of "Kenenisa Bekele - 13:09k followed by a 13:08 5k, no rest"

ozacrunning wrote:

lancefan wrote:

This is unbelievable. Thanks for posting.

Not as good as Webb, but one of the Texas guys (Brown and Worley) had an insane double at the state meet a few years back. Off the top of my head something like 4:06 with a 56 final lap, 1:49 negative split. Someone can go check if my memory is correct, I don't know where to find those results.

What is the best double/triple/quadruple ever in HS/college/pro?

Can't find the original post, but something along the lines of "Kenenisa Bekele - 13:09k followed by a 13:08 5k, no rest"

*13:09 5k

ScottEvil wrote:

If he and his teammate were way out ahead of everyone, maybe the sporting thing would have been to let up at the line to let the teammate get a win in one event? Same amount of points for the team & gives the other guy something impressive to put on his recruiting resume (beat Alan Webb at an 800 in 1:55!), etc.

His teammate (Smith) ended up running 1:48 the next year and was one of the most heavily recruited runners in the country. Smith had already anchored them to a state championship relay win (without Webb) the year before. Webb letting him win wouldn't have helped him in any way. It's not like college coaches wouldn't have realized what happened. And I'm just speculating here, but I imagine having someone so competitive on the same team to look up to helped more than it hurt.

this might be the single dumbest and most asinine thing I've read this year. Were you having an aneurysm writing this?

My coach was telling me about this once (same district) - this was a few years later

It's interesting because it shows how you can win by speed, but then it also shows how strength could beat speed (above the mile), because Ritzenhein was at the "polar opposite" and I believe they both knew of each other and this "running against the opposite" caused both to essentially turn amreican running around by pushing each other through "Unity of opposites." The podcast sort of supports that, but this just shows how dominant Webb was with speed.

Alan Webb has always been very emotionally immature. Whether this was an innate personality flaw or a fragile ego built from an immense talent at birth, he was never able to learn and grow from failure.

Nick Willis and Alan Webb are great opposing examples of how maturity and dedication is far more impactful on performance than talent. The two of them were the best HS miler recruits in the world, both had inconsistent college careers, followed by sudden big break junior year with qualifying for the Olympics. What did Webb do? Immediately jumped into a pro career and dropped out of college. Willis? Finished his degree and snagged himself an indoor mile title. In the beginning of their pro careers, Webb was objectively far better than Willis. I'd argue that Webb had way more talent too. But when both inevitably hit bumps in the road what happened? Webb continued to make impulsive decision after impulsive decision by constantly switching coaches and distances. He also had public emotional out bursts following a bad race. Willis put his head down, worked hard, and remained patiently dedicated to one single training program. It doesn't need explaining whom accomplished more in track.

Alan Webb was never going to be a great champion and the fact that it took him until his late 30s to see emotional growth past a 18yr old HS kid speaks volumes about him as a person. I really don't know if he will be a good college coach. He could be great if he found humility and taught the kids to learn from his mistakes, but that personality is far from what he was for decades.

Scott MF Raczko

Swaglord_the_real_one wrote:

Scott MF Raczko

About time this name enters the conversation!

kmaclam wrote:

Swaglord_the_real_one wrote:

Scott MF Raczko

About time this name enters the conversation!

Most UNDERRATED US Coach. He should have a pro group or college team.

Put these in the correct order/add names:

Al Sal

Jerry

Vin

Raczko

Tinman

JV Scrub_Never Was wrote:

kmaclam wrote:

About time this name enters the conversation!

Most UNDERRATED US Coach. He should have a pro group or college team.

Put these in the correct order/add names:

Al Sal

Jerry

Vin

Raczko

Tinman

Who did he coach besides Webb and the other high school stud?

My top five:

1).Salazar

1a.) Schumacher

3). Mike Smith

4). Gags

5). Rosario

I think with Tinman we'll have to evaluate in a few years. If Hunter and Parsons progress to 13:0x and fighting for top 5 or 10 at worlds, and his other guys contend for US teams, it'll validate that his methods work for the ultra elites. For now we have guys with a lot of potential training in a rather conservative manner. We have yet to see if it's possible to reach the international level doing so. So for now, Tinman isn't in the top five.

Of course, there could be a HS coach that no one has ever heard of, with no guys anywhere 10 minutes on his team. He might know more than anyone, but with no talent to work with, it won't show.

Raczko was a good match for Webb mentally. No doubt Webber needed a huge chill pill in 2008 to let his injury fully heal and then get back on the train.

He looks really slow compared to Sam Ruthe. 3:48 two years younger, stronger and faster!