"He's The Best United States Distance Runner We've Ever Had."

SMUG LIFE wrote:

His talent is not above that of a Kenyan I can literally pluck off the streets.

I'd like to see that.

LV is not even on the top 20 list of best US runners of all time. I hope this kid is seriously humbled next year.

How is 6'0 135 lbs the perfect running body. That sounds a little small to me. Im not sure that is a perfect running body. More like 6'0 140-145 lbs is a good running built body.

nappy (others) - why would you want him "humbled" (bonked). I hope he makes huge improvements - as I would for any/all US distance guys. I would like to see Solinsky, Rupp, Webb, Ritz, Teg, (especially Fernandez) all run vs each other in a track 5k and all be under 12:45-50. What would be bad about that? I'm all for LV moving into the top 5-10 or even the best in US Hx. Agree he is far away at present as are others - but

okay thats all

LV will be great wrote:

14:06 indoors is the best we've ever had, by 20 seconds actually. And his indoor 2 mile was only fractions of a second off of Lindgren, this was 2 days after the 5k and he only had 2 hours of sleep that night.

a) nobody runs the indoor 5k

b) lindgren ran that almost 50 years ago

c) I'd like to see a source on the 2 hours of sleep claim.

LV will be great wrote:

14:06 indoors is the best we've ever had, by 20 seconds actually. And his indoor 2 mile was only fractions of a second off of Lindgren, this was 2 days after the 5k and he only had 2 hours of sleep that night.

David Merrick ran 13;37 for 3 miles indoors on a small crappy track in 1971. What is 13;37 comparable to for 5000m?

Chop Suey Louie wrote:

He's Lithuanian, not American.

LV is not even white. Liths are half Siberians come from north of China. Liths are Mongoloids.

He sure looks white to me...

chipipy wrote:

Don't worry, our collegiate athletics system will finish him off like all the others.

I agree. Lucky that Chris Solinsky and Ryan Hall didn't get sucked into that cesspool that is collegiate athletics.

runner98 wrote:

How is 6'0 135 lbs the perfect running body. That sounds a little small to me. Im not sure that is a perfect running body. More like 6'0 140-145 lbs is a good running built body.

If you look at the list of all time fastest marathon and 10,000 runners, I think you'd conclude differently. Perhaps, something like 5'6", 128. Wasn't Solinsky the first one to break 27:00 that weighed over 145? And over 60 people were ahead of him.

Lat/Lith/Est are Asiatics descended from Siberians. White Euros are 1/2 Asiatics from various bloodlines, mainly Siberia, Mongolia, Central Asia. The 'Asian' in Cauc-Asian means 1/2 Asiatics.

I like his hairstyle. He looks more of Viking descent but lets stop picking nits shall we?

a) That may be true, but as the record holder he is the best we've ever had at that.

b) No kidding? My point was that only Lindgren is better than him at the 2 mile.

c) It was 3 hours, my mistake, I thought it was common knowledge that the news of his friend getting cancer kept him up that night?

http://www.runblogrun.com/2011/03/2011-new-balance-indoor-champs-day-3-verzibcas-wins-2mmile-by-chris-lotsbom-note-by-larry-eder.html

I never suggested that I wouldn't like to see him improve. I definitely didn't mention anything about a hope to see him "bonk". Maybe that's what you heard, but certainly not what I said. Look, there is something enriching about getting your butt kicked for a couple of years before finally making that breakthrough. It seems he and his coaches think he's already there and shit, he just may be. But I seriously hope that regardless of his times in the near future, there's a bunch of others right ahead of him.

With every great runner, there was a time they had to chase someone/others slightly ahead of them. Great as the runner may be, the experience within itself is very humbling.

MAPIV wrote:

Quote from Lucas Verzbicas' cross country coach...

http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201105/worlds-next-top-distance-runner-american-living-illinois

I wasn't aware that his mother was a top runner.

People tend to hyperbole ALL THE TIME...

I just hope that he is not another Todd Marinovich. Something tells me he could flame out. Just seems like his parents can be controlling and protective to the extent that has he ever had to make a decision. The transition from high school and living with parents to the freedom of college is tough on many young people.

At least when it comes to cross country, Verbicas is not the even the best ever in Illinois. He would not have beaten Virgin and Detweiler, and likely not have beaten Derrick or Tom Graves either. In fact, I can envision no circumstance where Graves wouldn't have overpowered Verbicas - Tom was just a great and dominant high school runner.

Verbicas is an excellent athlete. Let's hope his superb high school performances set him for excellence at the next level.

He's heading to Oregon. I suspect he will be coached and monitored just like Jordan Hasay, and so far she has made good progress without burning out.

Mrs. Pepper wrote:

The chessworld lambasted Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen as the "Mozart of Chess", at 15 years old. What happens? Magnus drops out of the current world championship cycle as a result of setting more realistic goals.

I think you mean "lionized" and since being called that he has become the youngest player in history to have a rating of over 2800 and the youngest player in history to be ranked #1.

His objections to the championship cycle seemed based around the structure of the event itself and not about his abilities or confidence (although I have no idea how much BS there was in his statement).

So, he seems to be doing pretty well.

the memories wrote:

At least when it comes to cross country, Verbicas is not the even the best ever in Illinois. He would not have beaten Virgin and Detweiler, and likely not have beaten Derrick or Tom Graves either. In fact, I can envision no circumstance where Graves wouldn't have overpowered Verbicas - Tom was just a great and dominant high school runner.

And Tom brought education to the South. Singlehandely. Along with indoor plumbing. And an air conditioner, but he kept that to himself.

LV broke Graves' XC record ya know?

But Graves is a superintendent of schools, so yeah, he's got that going for him.

long dong silver wrote:

a) nobody runs the indoor 5k

I'm still trying to figure out this statement as I'm pretty sure I've done a few, watched a lot more in person, and recall this AR just a few months ago: