Paul Chelimo on IAAF rule changes: "I don’t know if they’re trying to kill distance running or what."

This is the stuff I’m talking about. Geez, this dude acts like the guy personally double crossed him. He served our country full stop.

Anyway, this nixing of the 5000/10000 will make US marathoning stronger. 2:09 will be nothing. All of our talent will move straight up like Japan.

How did he screw over UNC-G? How did he enlist under “false pretenses”?

Bonus: How did he act like a “clown vs. soldier”? Was it some sort of elaborate halloween costume where he dressed up as both?

So many questions that wouldn’t need to be asked if you communicated like a rational person.

Wolf's Bane wrote:

The IAAF has really done it. They've killed distance track racing. This move will probably strengthen middle distance running as any 5000 runner with any speed will move to the 15 or steeple. The rest will go to the marathon. The 5000 and 10,000 will now only be for 15, steeple, and marathon guys who weren't fast enough; they'll be second chance events. If anything the IAAF should be adding more 5000s and 10,000s to diamond league, not taking them away. Its a no brainer for Chelimo and others to switch events.

I agree with you and it could return road racing to some the Golden Age of the 1980's. It seems there are fewer 10k's nad mostly 5K and then up to 1/2 marathon and marathon.

I kind of like track being a Middle Distance thing and any track meet can have an associated 10K road race and bring in some stars and maybe sell some tickets to the track meet.

Nobody is going near Bekele's 5 and 10k WRs anyway so they can go cry a river for Galen Rupp to aqua jog in

No need to panic ... wrote:

doot doot wrote:

How much of the marathon is exciting? ?

Blame Mo Farah for making distance boring. It was exciting before him and it’s exciting again after him.

I never raced further than two miles on a track. I have raced various distances up to Marathon on road. Road racing is less boring than racing 5000m/10000m on track.

You mentioned Mohammed Farah. Wouldn't have been interesting watching Farah years ago in his prime specialize in 3000m?

I assume if there were no 10000m, Haile Gebrselassie and Bekele Kenenisa would have been the only two, great at 3000m and Marathon.

I guess that’s one man’s opinion. You wanna know why I think the road races are “more exciting?” Prize money. Granted, meet organizers can’t shell out $250,000 to the winner of a track 10k, but they could meet somewhere in the middle and/or offer performance bonuses.

By and large, I would assume that distance running fans appreciate all or most of the distances and disciplines for what they each offer.

No, because Mo Farah should have specialized in and contested medals at 1500m but chose not to. Unless you’re talking about axing the 5k/10k in favor of the 3k at the Oly/WC level it’s wouldn’t solve the Mo Farah Era problem. And I’d rather keep these events even if it means Mo gets his stupid medals.

Racing the 5000/10,000 on the track is not boring if you are Really Racing. If you get bored in a race, you're Not Racing!!

Lickety Split wrote:

the "fake" did more in five years that you will in your life wrote:

LickyMySh!t, did you know that Paul Chelimo has represented the USA at an Olympics Games and a World Championships, as well as World XC and the Continental Cup?

He also served.

What have you done for us lately, clown?

- We can go there .... how he screwed over UNC-G, enlisted under false pretenses to gain citizenship (MAVNI Program), never served a day in the Army as a REAL soldier after boot camp, acted like a clown vs soldier w/multiple series of unsportsmanlike conduct, etc.

- He's a "fake" & I wish the worst for him ..... he would have simply got disqualified from another IAAF event like last summer in the 5K

- What have I done? Exposed the truth on the overwhelming majority of WCAP.

He was recruited to serve a purpose. He served that purpose. If you have an issue with that contact USAREC.

Alan

Most don't want to sit through a 13 or 30 minute race on the track anymore so good move IAAF. Keep the track meets for shorter distances. Roads and XC for the longer stuff. Chelimo is an idiot acting like it will ruin health and fitness for the general population. Almost implying that sprint training isn't healthy?

Chelimo makes The U.S. distance scene more exciting and competitive. I may be one of the few, but I enjoy watching Americans compete for medals and produce world class times over bowing out in the semifinals. Chelimo went to college on the U.S., lives in the U.S., and trains in the U.S. Can’t fault a guy for wanting to represent a country who has giving him opportunities he might have not gotten else where.

Positive Contribution wrote:

Most don't want to sit through a 13 or 30 minute race on the track anymore so good move IAAF. Keep the track meets for shorter distances. Roads and XC for the longer stuff. Chelimo is an idiot acting like it will ruin health and fitness for the general population. Almost implying that sprint training isn't healthy?

I agree with you....he is saying that taking the 5k away from diamond league meets is like telling everyone to not be healthy. LOL paul, that is not what they are saying at all. As someone said in a previous post on another thread, nobody wants to sit through a 10k if its really only a 9.6k job with a 400m race at the end. People are actually leaving their seats during that event and use it as an excuse for bathroom break, check facebook, get snacks, etc.

PaulyD wrote:

Chelimo makes The U.S. distance scene more exciting and competitive. I may be one of the few, but I enjoy watching Americans compete for medals and produce world class times over bowing out in the semifinals. Chelimo went to college on the U.S., lives in the U.S., and trains in the U.S. Can’t fault a guy for wanting to represent a country who has giving him opportunities he might have not gotten else where.

thats great and all but what Paul Chelimo is saying is wrong

GI John wrote:

PaulyD wrote:

Chelimo makes The U.S. distance scene more exciting and competitive. I may be one of the few, but I enjoy watching Americans compete for medals and produce world class times over bowing out in the semifinals. Chelimo went to college on the U.S., lives in the U.S., and trains in the U.S. Can’t fault a guy for wanting to represent a country who has giving him opportunities he might have not gotten else where.

thats great and all but what Paul Chelimo is saying is wrong

First-

Chelimo is not fully informed with regard to "Fitness" in America due to eliminating the 5000m from the Diamond League. Track and Field has very little relevance with regard to the general population's fitness level.

Second-

Can't blame Chelimo for taking advantage of the WCAP program. It allowed him to gain citizenship into the greatest country in the world. Unfortunately, Paul Chelimo could give 2 SH#TS about serving in the U.S. Military. He came here to run and run only!

Third-

Removing the 5000m from Diamond League competition isn't a "Death" sentence for the event. Most likely similar to the 10,000m it will be run on a limited basis. It's far easier to recover from a 3000m race and come back to run another race a couple days later than that of a 5000m. it's still an Olympic/World Champ event. If anything it will bolster the 1500m competition.

Fourth...and Final-

World Cross Country Championships is the most COMPETITIVE TOUGHEST DISTANCE RUNNING RACE in the world!!!! 12,000m of sheer balls out running over hill and dale in adverse conditions.

El Keniano wrote:

They’ve really ruined it, especially for young talents like Selemon Barega , who ran that exceptional time last year. Our only hope is that they get thrown out the next election.

Not very often do I agree with your posts. This time, I agree 100% with what you wrote.

From a US perspective, of all the event distances in track and field, the 5,000 m is probably the most widely run distance. It is run in high school track and cross country. It is run in University and club events. It is run in the pro ranks. It is run in road races. The 5,000 m distance is accessible for those 30, 40, and 50 year olds getting involved in road racing for the first time or just being old running retreads who can still find enough time to train and jump into the odd road race now and again. These points are most important for track and fields fan base and financial viability. Why... because those that have run a 5k can relate to the 5k and understand the distance and what goes into completing it, racing it, or running really fast at it.

The IAAF are a bunch of nummies for doing this. If by streamlining the number of events and time duration they think they are going to attract new people, from other sports, to watch track and field - they are not thinking straight. They are turning off perhaps there largest loyal followers who, by the way, have a high level of disposable income. TV ads are expensive. Ad departments and companies taylor their message to an audience that will buy their stuff. The reality is people that run distance events and can relate to distance events have the disposable income to buy expensive stuff. Sure every one likes to see who the fastest human is but will they tune in when there isn’t an event that has intrinsic value?

Besides, the technology is available to have split screen where more than one event can be shown simultaneously. Surely, that technology can be utilized during a diamond league event?

Positive Contribution wrote:

Most don't want to sit through a 13 or 30 minute race on the track anymore so good move IAAF. Keep the track meets for shorter distances. Roads and XC for the longer stuff. Chelimo is an idiot acting like it will ruin health and fitness for the general population. Almost implying that sprint training isn't healthy?

Paul Chelimo is a great guy, and a great American. Why would you name call him? He has a right to his opinion. He is a professional runner that understands the sport better than most everyone on this board. He has a vested interest in the sport and the distances that are in question.

Distance running is a very healthy pursuit. Yes it is a more healthy running pursuit then sprinting and it provides a greater range of participation years. I am in my mid-50’s and can’t sprint worth crap - my body can’t take it but I can still run distance and therefore can relate better to distance events. I love to watch sprint events as well. I buy lots of running shoes and running gear. I even bought an Audi coincidently after watching a diamond league event in NYC that was sponsored by Audi. Maybe it was subliminal

maybe not, maybe I would have bought the car anyhow. I will say this, if the distance events are cut, I will be less inclined to watch. If people don’t watch, adverizers will take notice real fast.

I’ll repeat myself in saying the IAAF are a bunch of nummies. They need to think, a lot harder, about the fan base that butters their bread and buys the sponsors products and services.

- Righteous!

zcxvcvxz wrote:

Once again, the IAAF inflicts serious harm to the sport of distance running. First, they kill World XC and make it an occasional meet just because the Europeans stopped trying. Second, they kill the 10000m. Third, they kill the 5000m.

That Brussels 5000m was the best race of the year. If you seriously think that the fans were loving the sprints with no names winning far from the records, think again. Sebastian Coe is to blame here, with some to the European countries that essentially abandoned serious participation in the sport out of a totally misplaced belief in physical inferiority.

The people behind ingraining the idea of physical inferiority are probably a bit surprised things went in this direction. They worked hard for decades in many sports to facilitate cheating in the third world, not only in running. They helped dopers get away with murder and that no doubt contributed to this. But not as much as TV bucks.

Sure, we have idiots whining about other sporting events that take hours, but most runners can't grasp that non-runners when watching a televised race that lasts longer than 3 or 4 minutes become bored. I've seen this, and heard the comments. So have many of you.

People are acting like it's the end of the 5k and 10k. Those races will end up being run, they just won't be televised for the most part. Ever. The folks behind a lot of social programming in the world for instance would rather have swimming banned completely, while providing endless coverage of the 100m and 200m dashes. I'm only being slightly facetious.

Of course, the naive unquestioning dopes who sat there wide-eyed while worshipping dope filled frauds like Bekele and doped E. Africans the past 30 years (basically 99% of all world rankers and 100% of all record setters) are also to blame. Simply because their stupidity or in some cases cowardice allowed things to go so far.

I think it would be great if the truth behind all of the doping, the cover ups, the IAAF helping cover things up, the money behind the scenes from people who barely know the sport but want to attack the West on all fronts, everything, all of it were to finally be made public. Even if it killed the sport entirely for a few years. Because that's how bad things are.

1. XC is a joke any more. High schools have tougher courses.

2. It's not just the 5 and 10K records which are now impossible, it's the marathon, too. The next time it goes, it will go at Dubai, to an unknown, in even more cheaterish Nike shoes. Then what? Who cares?

3. Cyclocross, XC mountain bikes, downhill mountain bike races, those who simply ride crazy stuff and post videos, WAY more fun to watch. (And they do stuff in XC mountain biking to mix it up that makes sense!) You can see ALL this online, free, without jumping through hoops. Funny, that.

* Heck, can you ride a bike still? Look at gravel racing. It's not quite ruined yet!

4. Road races in the US cost TOO MUCH MONEY. Drove me away, I haven't paid to run a race in 10 years. I wasn't the only one, so the slow people who were left found it was funner to have people throw paint at them or whatever. What happened? Duh.

5. Every American thought they should also never race, that's what everyone does! And with that, they don't exist! Do you think Bill Rodgers would have been Bill Rodgers if he raced twice a year?

6. T&F announcing in the US. Sux. You, me, everyone else can do a better job.

Positive Contribution wrote:

Most don't want to sit through a 13 or 30 minute race on the track anymore so good move IAAF. Keep the track meets for shorter distances. Roads and XC for the longer stuff. Chelimo is an idiot acting like it will ruin health and fitness for the general population. Almost implying that sprint training isn't healthy?

So people will not sit through 13 mins on track but will sit through 2 hours on road!

ALL of the marathon is exciting, especially depending on the particular course and conditions! It’s great right down to the wire even if someone has a good lead, because they can always crack.

Not so with the monotony of the 10,000 on the track, or now even the first 3 laps of the 1500.