Does Alan Culpepper ever run to win?

Maybe he's just lacking in talent to have what it takes to consistently win at the highest level? Not everyone can be a Coe or a Viren just because he can run faster than almost everyone else.

Stewed,

I think your interpretation of Alan’s strategy is inaccurate. It seems to me that the way he runs is indicative of what he thinks his best strategy is. You may disagree that his is not the best strategy, but I don't think it's fair to say he does not run to win.

Unless of course you believe that racing to the best of your abilities is not the same thing as racing to win. My view is that Alan races to maximize his ability, to run the best that he possibly can. Do you contend that this is different than running to win?

this is alan culpepper we are talking about, right? i mean the same one who won what only 1 ncaa title, compared to others like goucher (how many olympics has he made?), hauser (same) etc all the guys who were destroying culp back in the day...i think he has done a remarkable stuff considering where he was then compared to his prs now 3:55-2:09...he ran the olympic race perfect, dr martin met with the olympic guys and told them that 2:15 would medal, so culp trained and ran to 2:15, in a thon you run what you can, no better no worse same story in his debut and last yr in boston

Good post Great White Hope

I just wonder one thing. Dont you think it would be wise for Alan to try to win a few big ones? Running road races wont pay the bills forever. But being a famous runner can. Hell look at Dick Beardsly. The guy basically makes his living off of one stupendous effort. Making appearances and speeches. And he lost. Never mind Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. Guys like meb and KK may have a little more trouble because they are not natural born Americans. But if Culpepper was to win boston this year. And I think this is a field he can beat. And a course he can beat them on. He'd set himself up for life.

I know that running is a hard sport. But its not like hes racing every weekend. The guy hardly races. If hes not saving himself for some great efforts then what is he doing?

I just dont know if he has the mentality to do it.

Stewed Prune wrote:

I dont know you so I guess that just makes you a C*** S****r...Meb has achieved those things...with the right mindset. Not because he is a physically superior athlete to Culpepper...So I guess the question of the day is: will Alan Culpepper try to win the Boston Marathon. I say regardless of his finish (4th, 5th etc) he will never really be in it. And not because the other runners are superior to him. But because he wont run to win.

like i said before: meb's AR and silver medal are proof positive that he's a better athlete than culpepper. culpepper can beat him, yes. but greater footspeed over a given distance is a pretty good indicator of talent. meb's 5k pr is 14sec faster than alan's, his 10k time, 20secs. it's more than just an issue of want. it's about talent. that applies to so much, to disregard talent then is one step closer to some delusional hollywood production.

what about the almighty pre, he wanted to win, he needed it. and yet he couldn't get it done. was it because viren wanted it more? hardly. simply put, the people that beat him, viren et al, were more gifted than pre. and don't give me that bullshit that pre's strategy was altered blah blah blah. he ran to win, regardless of what some cockamamie story some people come up with, and lost.

there's a difference between being indifferent to winning and running your own race. and i'm sorry, but the top kenyans are better than culpepper. and not because they want it more.

ps- try to come up with something a little more create than l'un que suce le penis. try bag of douche. it works for dane cook.

I think that Mr. Culpepper is one helluva a runner. I think that on Monday in Boston, he should throw all caution to the win and just hang on to the top Kenyans and Ethiopians with utter desparation and go for the win. Nobody is going to care if a 2;09 runner (Alan C) finishes 7th in 2:12 or 2:13. We can say, "well, it's Boston" or "it was warm" or "he got gapped by Kip-such-and-such at 22 miles" or "he was in no-man's land" or blah blah blah blah

Yes he has the right to do what he wants, but I think that we love as runners is PAIN and EFFORT and GOING FOR IT. If he was 7th in 2:13 with going through 20 miles with the lead pack, then we would understand.

GO FOR IT ALAN!!!!

I think you're mistaking Alan Culpepper with Alan Webb. In order to win these African dominated races, you must be able to fluctuate pace on a drop of a dime; bam you're gone.

Alan Culp will never be able to drop the pace at will like many Africans can....cuz he's just hoping to hang on at most of the races I've seen him run. We need a fresh crop of runners (Ritz) to root for. Stick a fork in him, he's done.

I think that the whole distance running community should have nothing but respect for Culpeper and what he's accomplished. If he wants to be smart on Monday or go out wide open, I'm behind him.

However, I really got a chuckle out of the Kip-such-and-such reference.

Damn right MAYEROFF

And to the Pre reference. Yeah he didnt win when he went for it but were still talking about him today. What was the guy's name who got the silver in that race?

And if you do know the answer to that. I'm impressed because I dont.

But I do know what he thought of his silver medal performance. He thought he had run like a coward.

Better to be a burnt out comet than to never have shown any light at all.

I would agree that winning the Boston Marathon as an American in particular would be huge. However, I think Alan's best chance of doing that is going out conservatively, not trying to keep pace with the Africans that will inevitably take it out hard.

Stewed Prune wrote:

And if you do know the answer to that. I'm impressed because I dont.

But I do know what he thought of his silver medal performance. He thought he had run like a coward.

Better to be a burnt out comet than to never have shown any light at all.

Mohamed Gammoudi

* 5,000m silver medal - Olympics (1972)

* 10,000m bronze medal - Olympics (1968)

* 5,000m gold medal - Olympics (1968)

* 10,000m silver medal - Olympics (1964)

i bet he thought: "another silver? oh well i guess 4 of anything is pretty good"

yeah he really never showed any light

I was more refering more to Pre than to that guy with the whole comet thing. We still talk about him (PRE) because he went for it. Not because he was the most talented guy ever to come along.

Thanks for the info though.

Stewed Prune wrote:

I was more refering more to Pre than to that guy with the whole comet thing. We still talk about him (PRE) because he went for it. Not because he was the most talented guy ever to come along.

Thanks for the info though.

yeah...i respect that...but culp has shown over 5k-thon that he can get the job done, not just run to the best of his ablity, he does run with his head more often than his balls but i have seen him put it all out there and win the 02 5k and then again in the 03 10k

The fact that this race is not an Olympic or World championship year gives Alan C every opportunity to just GO HELL BENT FOR LEATHER and challenge the leaders.

He shouldn't lose his appearance fee, as long as he finishes, so there is no reason why he shouldn't just go out and see what he is made of!!

Jason

Stewed Prune wrote:

Or does he always run with a good finishing time in mind? Thereby never really having a bad showing due to risk taking. And any victory being a product of the pace he had decided on prior to the race just happening to win it.

A good way to stay a sponsored runner for a long time. But not how to become a legend.

I don't think he shows up expecting to win. He just goes out there and tries to do what he thinks gives him the best chance to place as high as possible. For him, its running a smart race, staying on pace, and maybe if things go right he'll start to pass some runners in front of him. I doubt he has the confidence to go with the Africans when the pace explodes to a 4:20 at say mile 22, as it often happens in the big races. Alan knows what he's capable of, but he also knows his limitations.

I'd love to see him win Boston, but the only way its gonna happen is if he runs his own race and the lead pack falters.

MAYEROFF wrote:

The fact that this race is not an Olympic or World championship year gives Alan C every opportunity to just GO HELL BENT FOR LEATHER and challenge the leaders.

He shouldn't lose his appearance fee, as long as he finishes, so there is no reason why he shouldn't just go out and see what he is made of!!

Jason

This is actually not that bad of a thread- I think that 'prune' raises a valid point, without being disrespectful of AC. I have held this same conversation with a few pretty good runners (ie 13:20, 13:30, 28:1X types) who have basically raised the same question. Everyone agrees that Culpepper is an absolute class act, great guy, who is always ready to race whenever he toes the line. His credentials speak for themselves- numerous time national champion, Olympian, etc. with fantastic range from the 1500 up the marathon. However, it seems true that he just doesn't ever really go balls out with the leaders and lay it on the line. He is incredibly disciplined and consistent, but you just wonder what he could do if he were ever to race with the mentality of hanging with the leaders until he no longer could go (similar to Paula in '04). Who knows? I suppose that's just not his style, and I can't fault him for that. Shit, he's probably my favorite American distance runner- as I have said, he's a real class act. At any rate, hopefully he races well and runs tough this Monday. Good luck to him, Meb, Sell, Gilmore, and all the other US guys!

So when Deena doesn't go with the leaders, and ends up coming from behind and getting a bronze medal, that's courageous and awesome. But when Culpepper does the same thing and gets 4th in Boston, he's being a pussy?

Doesn't Catherine the Great usually let the leaders go early in the race and then come from behind and beat them?

Some people, that's just their style.

I expect Culpepper to do what he usually does. Run a smart race and a good time and hope for the best. It worked at the Olympic trials. Maybe it will work in Boston this year.

KnowItAll wrote:

So when Deena doesn't go with the leaders, and ends up coming from behind and getting a bronze medal, that's courageous and awesome. But when Culpepper does the same thing and gets 4th in Boston, he's being a pussy?

Doesn't Catherine the Great usually let the leaders go early in the race and then come from behind and beat them?

Some people, that's just their style.

I expect Culpepper to do what he usually does. Run a smart race and a good time and hope for the best. It worked at the Olympic trials. Maybe it will work in Boston this year.

Calm down, dude. No one is calling AC a 'pussy.' And, while Deena did run an awesome (ie smart and tough) race for the bronze, I wouldn't necessarily call her effort 'courageous'. Mayeroff made a good point- AC has nothing to lose in this race, so why not change it up a little and try to hang on for as long as possible? No one is knocking the guy, just suggesting that he might need to change up the tactics a bit if he hopes to challenge for the win in Boston. Obviously, though, he knows what works best for himself. It will be interesting to see how things develop, especially with regard to how Meb's and AC's raceday strategies differ...

How long did it take and how old was he before Paul Tergat won a marathon? You might say that he won some other races earlier in his career, but on the track he had a lot of second places, and there are very few runners of either the quality or the class of Paul Tergat.