10k results

PiperL wrote:

NCAA will prioritize NCAA and vice-versa.

And what exactly is the vice-versa of that statement?

Congratulations, Weldon!

Way to go Culpepper - nobody's mentioned Culpepper going 2 for 2 over Meb this year (USATF XC & 10K)! Impressive finishes/times as well to Browne (great track race for a so-called "road whore"), Wejo (great place & PR when people were questioning his being there), Torres (8th better than 9th @ NCAA & huge PR), etc.

Lots of great stories, but you must deal with the negatives, you big jackass! Yeah, Found lied to get in, or it's because he runs for Arturo - that makes a lot of sense. And as far as Boulder residency getting him into the meet, maybe that's not a bad call with Culpepper, Kirkpatrick and Torres all calling that area home (not to mention Browne spending a few years there as well).

Waste of talent? Yeah, he could have run faster, but he just didn't want to, or didn't try hard enough, I guess.

Enough with the negatives, let's be excited about a solid American squad & a great overall race with lots of PRs. Oh, and I picked the top 3 right on in the contest.

BDG

I have to say congratulations to WEJO again and send out props to Gonzales for his race just after 3rd in the NCAA meet and winner at the regionals in the 1500. It does seem like the Boulder guys get lots of credit, yet only one of them was top 5, which is what counts when you are no longer a collegiate runner. WEJO and Browne showed that being out of college and going to Nationals is for one thing, World Champs Team or a PB, which both earned!!

UNM Fan

"It does seem like the Boulder guys get lots of credit..."

What credit! Only 1 person on this thread has mentioned Culpepper's great win! And 3 guys in the top 9 ain't so bad. What did you expect? Culpepper, Torres, Kirkpatrick and Found in a 1 thru 4 sweep? Outside of Found, the Boulder/Boulder area runners ran great - 1st for Culpepper, and solid finishes and PRs for Torres and Kirkpatrick!

BDG

Who is gonna run world champs anyway? We seem to always have people citing all sorts of reasons not for running. I hope all three do, we should send our best. How did the race unfold anyway?

Wejo!! Congratulations!!

-The Kid.(yeah that one--wink!)

Whatever! Culpepper will win the 5k too if he runs it! Torres is great, but Pepper has the kick. Oh! Let's Run should celebrate! Why? With Meb, Alan, and Dan going to run in Paris between August 15-30, Abdi and Weldon should be going to Dominica for the Pan Ams on the August 8-10 weekend. Weldon needs to prepare for the weather with training in heat. Weldon also has the Olympic B standard now and a solid entry to the Trials. Great Job!!

UNM Fan

News release from USATF site:

"STANFORD, Calif. ? A thrilling battle over 25 laps in the men?s 10,000 meters highlighted the first day of competition Thursday at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Verizon. In a five-way battle that turned in to a two-man race at Stanford University?s Cobb Track and Angell Field, Alan Culpepper took the title on a day when the distance and throwing events took center stage.

The top three finishers in each event at the USA Outdoor Championships qualify for Team USA at the 2003 IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, August 23-31 in Paris, provided they have met IAAF standards.

Taking the track at 8:50 p.m., the men?s 10,000 quickly turned compelling when defending champion Mebrahtom Keflezighi, the American record holder, towed a group that included Culpepper ? the 1999 USA champion and 2002 5,000m champ ? 2001 USA champ Abdi Abdirahman, 2002 USA marathon champion Dan Browne, and 2001 fourth-place finisher Weldon Johnson through 8,400 meters. Running at roughly 28:00 pace, Keflezighi backed off the lead with four laps to go, and Culpepper not only took over leading duties but threw in a surge that broke the race in two, with Culpepper and Keflezighi fighting for the title and Browne, Abdirahman and Johnson vying for the third and final position for the World Championships.

Keflezighi and Culpepper see-sawed for the final four laps ? including on the final lap. Running the last 800m in 2:01.7, Culpepper sprinted to the win in the last 200, posting a time of 27 minutes 55.36 seconds. Keflezighi was two steps back in 27:57.59. In the meantime, the battle for third was equally compelling and varied, with Abdirahman holding onto third until the final 500 meters, when Browne passed him for good, finishing in 28:03.48. Johnson (28:06.58) snuck past Abdirahman (28:07.20) at the line for fourth."

BDG quoted a press release:

"Culpepper sprinted to the win in the last 200, posting a time of 27 minutes 55.36 seconds. Keflezighi was two steps back in 27:57.59."

If it really took Meb over two seconds to take his final two steps of the 10K, I believe he needs to work on his turnover. A stride rate of less than 60/minute is suboptimal for an elite runner.

It's really too bad McArdle couldn't have been healthy for this 10K. Don't forget that over a year ago he ran faster than almost all of those clowns did in Palo Alto tonight, including Torres, and did so without the benefit of being in a pack.

great job wejo! esp considering the flak for not "deserving" to be there, as if that matters.... PR, eh?

MCARDLE DIDN'T WANT TO GET STOMPED AND I'LL TELL IT TO HIS FACE.

Wejo - Way to go! That was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up man.

van wrote:

Way to go Wejo! hurry up and post on here to let us know how it played out for you.

First off, for everyone who said I don't deserve to be in the meet, thanks for a little extra inspiration.

And thanks to USATF and John Chaplin for believing in me and letting me in the meet.

In my petition to be in the meet, I said, I was the type of athlete who could contend for world champs and Pan am games spots. I think I proved that with the run. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with the race. Less than 10 days ago I've never been more depressed or unconfident about my running. (Last Tuesday, I drove down to lower altitude to workout and ended up eatint a burger at sonic instead and driving home w/o working out at all as I just had not motivation and was too tired.)

But I got myself out of my little funk and went to the meet planning to put myself in contention no matter what. I must admit I was a bit shocked when I talked to a coach this week about his athlete who was trying to petition to get into the 10k, and he said, "well it's not like you or ___(my athlete) are going to compete for national team spots". I was a bit shocked he said this to me on the phone, but immediatly laughed about it to my roommate and my brother. The coach then went on to talk about some of the athletes who got in with qualifiers from last year and aren't running that well this year and said something like, "you and __ (my athlete) would even beat them". I wasn't sure how I was going to run, but I didn't quit my job, move to Flagstaff, and start sleeping in a car on top of a mountain to be content to just run at nationals. I had been 4th in 2001, and wasn't going to go to nationals this year and run without trying to be competitive. (that was my plan going in, just run up front for as long as possible)

Now onto the race (from my perspective):

Basically the pace wasn't too fast at the beginning and I went right up to the front (3rd) with meb and abdi leading (one of them would lead the entire way until 3 laps to go when culpepper made his move). Gradually over the next couple miles I let a few people one by one cut in on me. I was now probably back around the middle or back half of the field and decided to move back up to the front (I think I moved back up 5th or 6th). I felt pretty good with the pace and just tried to stay around for as long as possible.

At 5k, I think it was meb, who put in a quicker lap that broke things open for good. I didn't think anyone was behind me as I made sure I went with the group and was in 4th behind meb, abdi, and alan. Not sure if Dan browne was back a bit or not, but at some point he caught back up and got in front of me on the rail.

The pace would pick up a bit for a lap or so, but then would slow down and never was super fast. When it would pick up, the line I was at the back of might sag a little bit, but I kept staying on the back. With about 2 miles to go, I just focused on staying up there for another mile or so. One of the good things about the website is I had more fans cheering for me than anyone else in the race. A few of the voices I'd focus on throughout the race. There was a volunteer in the infield with 110 to go, I'm pretty sure I picked out the voice of the Yale women's coach in the stands (I'm not even sure if it was him but I thought it was), and many others, etc. Rojo yelled at me to just stay up there 3 more laps then start racing. When I came through the next lap, he told me to hang up there again 3 laps (I wasn't impressed with his math).

Anyway, with a mile to go the pace sagged a bit, and I felt as good as I had in a while. (I must admit trying to get the fans into it by pumping my arms but it didn't seem to work and robert had no idea what I was doing).

My only complaint with my run, is coming off my injury and not having run fast this year, I had just a little bit of doubt and was somewhat content to secure a Pan Am games spot (2 guys go to Pan Ams and I was pretty sure none of the top 3 would do it with worlds just a few weeks later and Pan Ams in the dominican where it will be a sauna). So with 3 laps to go, Culpepper put down the hammer a bit, and I was a bit surprised and slow to respond. He and meb quickly separated themselves and abdi and db gave chase together with me a bit back. By 2 laps, I think I caught or almost caught back up to to the back of dan and abdi, but they then put a little distance on me. Over the final lap, I didn't have the lift I had at the first stanford race (and even thought about this with 300 to go, but I did run 45 seconds slower at the 1st race). When you're going for the win maybe there is a little more lift, but all things considered I hadn't run anything close to this pace this year so I must have been pretty tired (although Dave Monti - the New York City Marathon Elite coordinator -said I looked like I was in great pain throughout the race, although I felt decent throughout, so maybe it didn't mean anything as one friend of mine who saw me run for the 1st time earlier this year claims the worse i look to what one would expect the better i run). Coming down the final straight, I knew I had a pan am game spot, and was gaining a bit on abdi, but didn't think I was going to catch him. I thought to myself maybe he'll pack it in right before the finish and that's pretty much what happened as I passed him in the final 2 strides.

I was definitely pleased with my run. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect and wasn't sure what i'd be doing next week in terms of training but now it looks like I'll be running the 10k at the pan am games.

With the race, I think I showed I can compete with the big guns in American running. I had been 4th in 2001, but wasn't in contention at the later stages of the race. My season hadn't gone great this year, but I think now the guys realize that at the end of the season when it counts, I'll be ready to run. My coach plans on peaking me for the big races, and I'm constantly amazed at how many others don't do this. Next time, I won't be content with 4th or 5th. I've been training with one thing in mind the last 4 years, the Olympics. 3rd place or go home.

Thanks to everyone who cheered for me. It always means a lot.

And thanks to JayZ and Beyonce for the support.

you're the man wejo and i forgive you for blocking my IP

We have to second Weldon's shout out to Beyonce/JayZ, who are both semi-responsible for Weldon's run. Weldon has expressed enthusiasm for their song throughout the week, and each time we yelled "Beyonce, Baby" at him, he picked up the pace and passed someone.

Seriously, we're both very impressed with Weldon's effort tonight and ashamed of our lack of belief in him. I (Iron Mike) have been training with Weldon recently, and being ten pounds over racing weight and running 50 miles per week, didn't realize that anyone who runs 7:20 pace all day long could run 28:06. I stand corrected. Rojo and I thought Weldon was going to lose contact throughout the second half of the race, but he consistently (with the aid of Beyonce) held on. He deserves every lap dance that he won't get this weekend. Pictures to follow.

Considering that i'm now a coach, i wanted to add a few additional comments on weldon's race (beside the props to the musical inspiration) as i'm constantly surprised by the number of young and super talented runners who come up to me and tell me they visit the site.

Weldon's race just shows that workouts and previous races aren't the end all and be all. I mean he spent $600 of his own money (Isn't it great to not be sponsored even though more people were cheering for him than anyone else in the 10k) and went to canada a few weeks ago hoping to run well under 18 minutes (17:45) for 4 miles and ended up running like 18:50 and getting lapped in the process. Then he decides to not even do a workout last week. What did he do today? He runs well, prs and gets 4th at the country. And showed that he's back to the level he was at before being sidelined last year with injury.

This should help motivate him for2004 hopefully.

Similarly, My top runner at CU this spring was the one guy who had 2 or 3 just awful workouts where I had to pull him. What did he do? He ran 3:46 for 1500 - a 10 second pr.

The other thing I wanted to do was apologize to wejo as i thought he was getting dropped each and every time he feel 3 or 4 meters back on seemingly each and every lap during the final 5k.

Congrat Wejo!!! That was quite impressive!