My thoughts on what happened in India:
Justin ran a great race and was able to cover the moves that the top 25 guys made. Justin has made the jump and has set himself up for big things down the road.
Teddy and Josh were out near the lead for the first 3k, probably somewhere near Justin. Kevin was a little ways back, maybe within 10 to 15 seconds. After the pace started to get serious Kevin, Teddy then JOsh all started to fall back from the top 30 - 40. By 15 k their position did not change much.
I went into the race thinking,after talking to Kevin and Keith, that I was in about 1:05.30 shape on a good day in ideal conditions and fast course. We knew India would not be ideal and had to factor accordingly. There was no way that we were going to set it up for me to go with the leaders and die. The plan was to finish as high as I could.
I went into the race with the plan of running 5:10 to 5:15 for the first 16k of the race and than if there was something left, gas it and if not, hang on. On race morning it was probably 15 to 20 degrees cooler than it had been all week and cooler than we expected prior to the trip. The humidity was very high but it was not horrible conditions by any means. Keith and I switched the plan to run the first 10k in 5:10 than if things were okay than take off. I started off in about last place at the 1k running around 5 minute pace. By 5k, around 15:54, I was slowly making my way up the back of the field. I could not see any of our guys, they must have been at least 30 seconds to a minute ahead of me. By 10k I was in about 60th place or so and about 32:04. The guys were still ahead of me but I was gaining on them quickly. They were probably about 20 seconds or so ahead of me. I passed Kevin by about 12k and was running around 5:15 pace. Josh and Teddy were still up a few spots but coming back slowly. By 17 k I had passed JOsh and was working on Teddy. We were mostly by ourselves, though not a big suprise considering our time and placement. I caught and passed Teddy by around 19k and he ending up getting up on my shoulder and we entered the stadium that way. Josh ended up blowing by us with 100 meters to go, I had not seen him in about 5k and did not know he was anywhere near us.
Although the finishing times were mostly together, we did not run together. The races were quite opposite but the results were the same, so-so placing and horrible overall finishing time. I ran to my limit that day and placed about as good as I could have.
Even though the results didnt show it, our team was serious and focused. All the time leading up to the race was geared towards being rested and ready for it.
Nick Cordes