The Stanford Invitational thing is LAME, what's with the heat thing??

good point

Well, then say so. Let everyone know your race will be trying to have several even heats rather than a fast heat followed by slightly slower heats. Don't make it all a mystery.

If it means being called a whiner for wanting to see athletes seeded as fairly as possible, then I'm guilty.

Yes I did consider whether the organizers were trying to balance out the heats, so I did a statistical analysis with the best information available, and I came to the conclusion that is not the case. In other words, Section 1 is meant to be the fast section.

So, in the case of the steeple, there may be 5 or 6 guys in there that have a shot at sub 8:30, and they are all in Section 1 as they should be. Then there are another bunch of guys who have run 8:30 something or low 8:40's, and are ready for a shot. Yet another group of guys who haven't raced a steeple yet, and another group of guys who have been running anywhere from high 8:40's up to over 9 minutes, at Mt.Sac. and Stanford Invitational. And they are all in Section 1. How does that make any sense when there are 8:40 something guys, who have been running well in recent weeks, stuck in Section 2? What if there are 3 or 4 guys ready for a breakthrough in this demanding event in the 2nd Section, while 8:50 plus guys are in the fast section? Is that okay with you?

It is 100% okay with me, it's not like the 2nd section has 1 guy with the potential to run 8:35 and everyone else with only the potential to run 9:35. While the faster heat might have a few faster guys up front, it will then be fairly spread out, but not too spread out. The second heat could still easily be won in the mid-8:30, and will also be more spread out. The only race I would NOT want to be in is the women's steeple w/ 23 athletes all trying to hit the same standard, that could get ugly...

turku wrote:

Is that okay with you?

What exactly are you worried about? A fast race? You don't think being in a race with 8 sub four minute milers will get you a quick time? Unless you were planning on running 3.38 I think you will be fine (and even better off with less crowd) in the second heat.

fasil has run a 28:25 and he is in heat 2 of the 10k. So if anyone runs slower than 28:25 in the fast heat, they should be ashamed. Also if anyone runs slower than 29 minutes in ANY heat, they should be equally ashamed.

someone else wrote:

The race's documentation states the following:

"This meet is intended to provide athletes an additional opportunity to achieve qualifying performances for

the NCAA Division I Championships, the Olympic Trials, the Olympc Games and other international competitions.

We will attempt to accommodate all athletes who can achieve either the USA National Championship standards or the

NCAA Division I automatic standard while maintaining reasonable field sizes."

Did it ever occur to you that their intentions were to somewhat balance out the heats to create an optimum situation for those with the ability to achieve these standards? Or would you rather be in the middle of a massive cluster-f*** in the first heat or with comparable competition and space to run in the 2nd heat?

Why is Cabada in the 2nd 10k section????? He is an American record holder in the 25k, PR of 28:24 and has run 1:03 three times this year. He also just ran 13:44 2 weeks ago as a training run . HE SHOULD BE IN THE 1st SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

someone else wrote:

The race's documentation states the following:

"This meet is intended to provide athletes an additional opportunity to achieve qualifying performances for

the NCAA Division I Championships, the Olympic Trials, the Olympc Games and other international competitions.

We will attempt to accommodate all athletes who can achieve either the USA National Championship standards or the

NCAA Division I automatic standard while maintaining reasonable field sizes."

Did it ever occur to you that their intentions were to somewhat balance out the heats to create an optimum situation for those with the ability to achieve these standards? Or would you rather be in the middle of a massive cluster-f*** in the first heat or with comparable competition and space to run in the 2nd heat?

Why is Cabada in the 2nd 10k section????? He is an American record holder in the 25k, PR of 28:24 and has run 1:03 three times this year. He also just ran 13:44 2 weeks ago as a training run . HE SHOULD BE IN THE 1st SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd section will be under 3:40. possibly even 5 deep under.

if fasil is in the second section, then there is no way in hell that cabada should be in the first section. there's no way anyhow because he's not ready for better than 28:20ish so a 27:20 race is a stupid idea for him. if you really think he's in better shape than that, tell him to go after it in the second half like rupp did last year and run sub 28 that way. i bet he doesn't break 28:20 and i'll bet he doesn't care anyhow as 28:20 will prob get him in the trials.

Fasil and Cabada.... stop posting....

go Black cactus!

So, in the steeple, who can help out with performances made within the last year for the following Section 1 guys:

Bourgeois, DiGennaro, Genest, Greaux, Gunn, Lobos, Magidi, Maiyo, Mutai, Nicks.

I'm not looking for lifetime PB's, just runs in 2007 and early 2008. That's almost 1/2 of Section 1 that I can't find performances that would justify that seeding - although I'm sure I've missed a couple.

Steeplers should of gone to Jesse Owens this weekend. Robert Gary would certainly take care of you guys.

well, from that list i know about the collegians: gunn, maiyo, magidi, mutai are all capable of sub 8:30 at any given time. gunn is the ACC champ, maiyo has won sec title, magidi former acc champ and mutai has run close to 8:30 in the past 2 years.

Gunn ran 8:38 at ACC Championships this April. Magidi ran 8:30 last July in Belgium.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. It sounds like there will be a lot of 8:20 something runs this Sunday. I look forward to the results.

Nicks ran 8:38 last weekend.

F*** no, I want to be there to WATCH the rest of the Stanford meet...

Indy Mini wrote:

Steeplers should of gone to Jesse Owens this weekend. Robert Gary would certainly take care of you guys.

I believe Genest was injured last year, thus no results. He ran 8:30 in 2006, and ran an 8:05 3k indoors this year.

Can't find any results for Bourgeois, but I'd guess that he's fit if he's going to go to California and get himself in the first section. No point in flying across the country for a former 8:20 guy to get embarrassed running 8:50.