Dear Galen Rupp: Time to Move up to the Marathon

I agree: expectations of Rupp on LRC seem to be anything-but-medal=fail.

He beat Sihine and Paul Tanui and was only a second in arrears of Kenyan champ Peter Kirui who ran 27:32 at altitude in Nairobi. It's no leap in logic to see he is a 26:4x guy ATM.

This 7th place finish is better than any he's had yet in a global championship: he's improving by any measure one takes.

Nonetheless, it is clear that he is not going to be a medal-threat *ever* barring a Moesque eruption.

So the animosity here toward him is understandable to a certain extent...

This is why I posted the thread a few days ago saying Rupp has a better chance in the 5000M if he chose to focus on that. Of course this 10,000M will take a toll on him so he has no better chance in the 5000M now.

Bottom line is that strength and endurance need to be developed over time. Salazar has said he is deliberately training Rupp to not have any big swings in performance from year to year. The idea being that if he stays healthy the strength will be there when he is in his later 20s. AND the speed will be there too. The results of this race therefore make some sense. He is continuing to close the gap on the East Africans from where he was in 2009.

Agree 100%. As the race was ending, I was thinking he should run the marathon in London next year.

il a le sens wrote:

I agree: expectations of Rupp on LRC seem to be anything-but-medal=fail.

He beat Sihine and Paul Tanui and was only a second in arrears of Kenyan champ Peter Kirui who ran 27:32 at altitude in Nairobi. It's no leap in logic to see he is a 26:4x guy ATM.

This 7th place finish is better than any he's had yet in a global championship: he's improving by any measure one takes.

Nonetheless, it is clear that he is not going to be a medal-threat *ever* barring a Moesque eruption.

So the animosity here toward him is understandable to a certain extent...

Yes, he is improving, and yes it's great that he beat Sihine/Tanui and almost beat Kirui, but saying that it's "no leap in logic to see his a 26:4x guy" is ridiculous. He will eventually get there, but if he can even run a sub-27 in Europe in the next month or two, that should be considered a monster performance for him. I mean come on, his PR is more than 20 seconds outside of the 26:40s. That will eventually happen if he stays focused on the 10,000 and stays uninjured, but it's not happening yet.

Rupp hasn't had the chance to take a crack at a quick 10k since he dropped out of PRE. 26:4x(esp. high) actually isn't as fast as it seems; it's just that few have recorded marks down there because of the sparseness of world-class 10k's these days.

Sileshi's PR is only 26:39 but he surely could have gone sub-26:30.

Micah Kogo, Tadesse are 26:35, 26:37 guys (bronze-medal-level).

Abebe Dinkessa and Nick Kemboi ran 26:30 yet amounted to precisely nothing on the medal scene.

Boniface Kiprop (Uganda's fallen hero 4th placer) ran 26:39.

Trust me, for Rupp to bust a 26:45 isn't that far out of the question...

Consider Salazar has always had a plan to let Rupp develop slowly each year with no sudden jumps in performance and taking no big risks with injuries. The results of this race is consistent with that plan. He has again closed the gap with the leaders from where he was in 09'. And unlike his US teammates, he is healthy and is poised to build off his fitness from this year to be even better next year.

of course he will move to the marathon. not yet though. these guys don't "simply run to win". only one guy is gonna win. it's not all about winning. Rupp's not crying cause he didn't win. of course he WANTS to win. they run to earn a living, and be the best they can be. Rupp is making a VERY good living right now. I think after olympics he will certainly make his marathon debut, and get paid a ****load. he will also do very, very well. but clearly him and his coach have decided that to be his best at the marathon, he needs to get faster in the 10k-5k. so, make a ****load in 10k-5k, then make a even bigger ****load in the marathon.

Mark my words, Rupp will be on the track until 2016. Maybe he will dabble in a marathon if it fits into his training for the 10K. But more likely it will be half marathons.

Right from the start (2006 or 7) Rupp was pegged for the marathon - just something about his running style or something.... Problem is, folks assume he'll be relatively better. Time will tell, but there's really no indication he won't be trailing half or dozen or so Africans in any race that counts - just as he does in the 10K.

No chance. Al Sal didn't dedicate so much of Rupp's training to speed work over the past few years if the plan was for Rupp to switch to Marathon so soon. Of course a big factor is what does Rupp want to do. Maybe he wants to move up to marathons but I highly doubt it in the near future. I think Rupp will keep on going as he is and over the next few years you will increasingly see performance like at Birmingham where he isn't fading off the back in the last lap and he has a very competitive kick.

Dorando wrote:

Right from the start (2006 or 7) Rupp was pegged for the marathon - just something about his running style or something.... Problem is, folks assume he'll be relatively better. Time will tell, but there's really no indication he won't be trailing half or dozen or so Africans in any race that counts - just as he does in the 10K.

Have you forgotten that the marathon has gotten really competitive and really fast recently?

The 10k is being run so infrequently now that there are very few specialists. Rupp can certainly afford to stick with it through 2012.

I'd like to see him run the Olympic trials marathon as insurance against missing the team at 5 or 10.

Voici!

Wise Guy wrote:

Just so you know, Rupp would absolutely destroy Pre, Shorter and Ryun (except Ryun in the mile). And I'm guessing no one in that final was sleeping on a dirt floor in a straw hut or whatever you have in mind.

Thiis is the post of the yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Rupp has the talent to take these races out much harder and completely change the tactics. He's good enough now that the africans may not be able to let him go. If he keeps getting stronger he may be able negate cruise and kickers to some degree. Will he? Maybe not, but he who can close the fastest does not always win races that are screamers the first mile.

tsquaredcali wrote:

Yes, the best 10,000 runner in the US (Solinsky needs to do it again b4 I'm convinced) should stop running the 10 immediately because he only finished 7th in the world.

Secondly, based on his 60:30 half marathon debut, I'd say he looks very good for the marathon after 2012.

Give me a break with that 7th in the world shit. The only reason he even finished that high was because the whole field wasn't allowed to be just kenyans and ethiopians. Kenya's B Squad would run CIRCLES around Rupp. Don't be deceived by this bullshit 7th place finish. Look at how he is in relation to the competition (aka nearly a full minute behind).

26:48 followed by 6 weeks marathon training, one taper week, win NYC Marathon!

Move up now and shorten your career like Ritz did. Run for glory Galen Rupp not for money. Use Ritz as an example not to follow.

Pineapple Express wrote:

Rupp had a great race today, and was in it up until about 600 to go, but Rupp has never or will never be able to close with people like Mo, Bekele, Lagat and that ethiopian that just smoked Mo.

people said the same thing about him at the NCAA level and then after 4 years of prep he fine tuned and smoked everyone on triples.

Pineapple Express wrote:

Rupp had a great race today, and was in it up until about 600 to go, but Rupp has never or will never be able to close with people like Mo, Bekele, Lagat and that ethiopian that just smoked Mo.

Its interesting looking back on this post. Rupp finished second and third in a diamond league event this year. He also blew away the American record.