Why don't Ben True and Chris Derrick try the marathon?

And you think they'll do something internationally in the marathon? Meb is a total exception in American marathoning -- do you realize that he and Khalid Khannouchi are the only Americans to win a major since 1983? And neither of them were born in America (as Derrick and True were).

Citing Rupp and Lagat is foolish. Galen Rupp will never lose to them in a 5k or 10k? Galen Rupp is one of the top 3-4 10k guys in the world and is in the top 7 or 8 in the 5k. There's no shame in losing to him. Likewise with Lagat, who won World Indoor silver last year and was 6th, 4th and 2nd at the last three Worlds/Olympics outdoors. He's also an incredible tactical 5k runner (and BTW, True and Derrick both beat Lagat at Pre last year).

True finished the year as the 8th-fastest guy in the world in the 5k; Derrick was 18th. The eighth- and 18th-fastest marathoners were 2:04:55 and 2:06:21. Ben True is a great runner, but even he would tell you that he's not running 2:04 in the marathon.

I guess it comes down to what you value, but I doubt that True/Derrick would be as good as they are (or could be) on the track if they switched to the marathon.

Let's not also forget that Ritz finally dominated with his 6th placing in the World Champs 10k, and soon after 12:56 5k AFTER having done marathon training for over 2 years.

That kind of base training and focus on distance can really pay off, so I don't think that moving to the marathon is ending their track careers. They should give it a shot, and if it doesn't work out, they have put in some great aerobic development to continue to be track runners. If it does work out, then they are successful marathoners. Win win.

Meb and Khannouchi may be the last Americans to win a major, but Mark Plaatjes (yes, also African born) won the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart in the marathon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Plaatjes

Incidentally, all the letsrun negativity about American-born runners notwithstanding, there is no reason to think that they can't win gold in a distance event. Both in men and women, they've been knocking on the door in recent years. Jenny won gold in the 1500m at world's, won silver in a hard-fought world's in Russia, and then took the Diamond League title this year. Nick won silver at World's last year. Rupp obviously took silver in the 10 in London. Kara and Shalane both won 10k bronzes. Deena won a medal in Athens. And Tegenkamp was .04s from bronze in 2007 World's.

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

Meb and Khannouchi may be the last Americans to win a major, but Mark Plaatjes (yes, also African born) won the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart in the marathon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Plaatjes

Incidentally, all the letsrun negativity about American-born runners notwithstanding, there is no reason to think that they can't win gold in a distance event. Both in men and women, they've been knocking on the door in recent years. Jenny won gold in the 1500m at world's, won silver in a hard-fought world's in Russia, and then took the Diamond League title this year. Nick won silver at World's last year. Rupp obviously took silver in the 10 in London. Kara and Shalane both won 10k bronzes. Deena won a medal in Athens. And Tegenkamp was .04s from bronze in 2007 World's.

*cough* Manzano *cough* Centro

;) agreed with your general sentiment.

There is no reason for these guys to move up yet. True is right on the edge of running sub-13 and Derrick should be pretty close to that in 2015, too. Do that and they are bound to have some major success over 10,000m next season and in 2016. Let them see how far they can push their talent before making the jump to the marathon. You can be sure after 2016 they'll test the distance, but until then, they have plenty of opportunity to improve even more on the track.

I agree - no reason for either of these guys to move up until they've absolutely tapped-out their speed on the track. Really, the only reason to move to marathon is $$, and unless you're at least as successful as Meb in the marathon, there's not much to get.

I'd much rather see them stick to shorter distances. US has had much better results against the Africans on the track than they ever have in the marathon.

True and Derrick have a very solid shot at the Brazil team in the 5k and/or 10k. Lagat will be 41 by the time the US trials come around. He will still be in the hunt for the US team, but will be very beatable. Lomong might have a shot at the 5k team but might focus on 1500. Mead was brilliant at Payton Jordan, but not so great the rest of the season. Bumbi, Hill, and Heath all seem to be a few steps away from True and Derrick. So, why move up to the marathon with all the uncertainties when you have a very real shot at a spot on the 2016 team?

Oddly, this dynamic is probably why US marathoners are stuck at 2:10. Too many good runners are staying back on the track hoping for an Olympic spot. Very few are going into the marathon right out of college. Some are waiting too long to move up (Teg). USATF should put up some crazy deep and big money for the US marathon championships in the non-WC/Olympic years to get more runners to come off the track in the off year and take a shot at the marathon.

Sciatica Road wrote:

mg328 wrote:

For some reason the marathon is thought of as an inferior event.

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No, I don't think this statement is true. In America, the marathon is highly esteemed amongst all running events. It's just that it is seen as 'the end road', because it takes so much out of a person to get it right. Once one fully commits to it, they very well may be sacrificing PR's in the shorter distances. Thus, if one does have exceptional track capability, they may wish to try and extract their maximum potential out of those distances before moving to the 'point-of-no-return' marathon.

The marathon is not highly esteemed among competitive runners. Sorry, it just isn't. It has favor with the regular runner community because it is seen as a life-notch for everyone, so the participation levels are through the roof and it is then relatable amongst runners.

But ask any college 5k-10k guy, and maybe 5% of them will view the marathon favorably.

The way the marathoners think of ultras is the way that track runners think o marathoners. With that said, a person like me, past prime as a runner, will run marathons versus track races.

In America the track is for the pros and the roads are for the hobby joggers and sub elite guys who don't make a living running but still train for PRs and small winnings at regional 13.1s and 26.2s.

True can't run a good 10km so don't expect a good Marathon. I will submit that he ran a decent 15km but I wouldn't anticipate big things from him in the marathon. He is built like Teg. 6'2" 160ish pounds.....not going to be a good marathoner. Sweet spot for him is the 5km. Like it was for Teg.

Derrick will be a great marathoner if he can find a coach who knows how to approach the distance.

Derrick's stated goal is to become America's best cross-country runner. He even tweeted last spring, "only 9 months to go until cross country." So, his focus is on racing 12k distances at winter cross in Feb. then World XC champs in China in March.

After that, the track 10k. Not for nothing he ran it at Sacto this summer when he didn't have to. He said he's a "grinder" so 12k xc and 10k track are his sweet spots for now.

Plus, he just turned 24 and has only been putting in 100 mile weeks for the last couple years.

The above statement that "the 10k is a dead event" is exactly why Rupp, Derrick, True, Mead and occasionally Vail will continue to race this event at international competitions. They actually have a great chance to get medals with so many top Africans skipping over the 10k for the roads.

Rupp, Derrick, True for the 10k team at next year's Worlds then again at Rio. After that, Rupp likely to move on to the roads . . . unless he's continuing to improve at 5k and 10k and Alberto holds him back a little longer.

Derrick could be a great marathoner. He has the tools. True, he's a mid-D demon and is better off staying there and developing a world class finish.

True is very different from Kempainen. I ran with Bob and he couldn't run a sub 60 400m if his life depended on it. But... he could run 64s all day long.

True has a ton of leg speed and is probably closer to Rupp in profile.