Hey Galen Rupp fans, what were you saying at NCAA XC a few years ago?

hmmmmmmm wrote:

Musiker wrote:

No, here's the thing you don't get...

What happens, happens.

The race is run, it's over. Somebody won. Somebody ran really fast. That person probably won because they were the fastest and had the energy to make it happen when it needed to happen. If he had been less fit, he would not have been able to do that.

That's what you don't get.

this isn't true at all...

when runners are on the same level, it all comes down to how a particular race plays out, certain circumstances may benifit one runner while other circumstances play to the advantage of another

this particular race, with Rupps primary goal being the record leading to his resolve to go out front to push the pace, indisputably gave solinsky an advantage...and guess what, solinsky won (and ran the fastest american 10k time in history in the process)

however, had the race played out differently and Rupp had not gotten stuck (whether or not by his own actions) with the majority of the pacing duties, it is a definite possibility that Rupp could have been closer to or beaten Solinsky (I reiterate that this is in no way a slam on solinsky's tactics, he didn't owe rupp anything in this race)

how likely this is is a matter of pointless speculation, however for you to argue that the results of one race is an absolute indicator of what would happen in any given circumstance or on any given day is just idiotic

Halls senior year-beats dobson at ncaa, loses to him at USAs a week or 2 later

2004-lagat beats el G, both running 3:27, only to lose to him a week or 2 later at the olympics

and hundreds of other examples of how losing a race to someone doesn't mean you are automatically less fit and would lose in every situation...it just means you lost that particular race

Musiker wrote:

Maybe so, but apparently they weren't on the same level. Solinsky didn't just pass him with 100 or 200 to go, he put down a las 800 that was TEN seconds faster than Rupp's. That's a clear indicator that Solinsky was stronger and faster in the last part of the race. Rupp did not have "the majority of the pacing duties." He had about 4 laps worth out of a 25 lap race. I'm not saying the only thing that determines the winner is fitness. I'm saying in this situation, it's obvious that Rupp could not keep up with Solinsky because he didn't have the energy to do it. You could even see him try to make a move toward Solinsky on the backstretch after Solinsky took the lead, but Solinsky just kept moving away. That's just an obvious indicator that Rupp didn't have what it took to win, and that's why Solinsky won.