Brussels 5k is being paced for 12:45. I predict Fisher will run 12:46.79. What does everyone else think?

Yeah, I can see Fisher run it like how Jakob did when he ran 12:48. The front group in this race came through 7:44 at 3k and Jakob was 2-3 seconds back leading the chase group.

Fisher should be in the mix by at least 4k when things tend to slow down in preparation for the last K. Can’t wait to see how it unfolds!

Weather will be decent, clear skies and low to mid 70s at race time. A touch on the warm side, but not nearly as hot as other races where Grant has done well. Everything depends on the pacers. If they go through 3k in the 7:40 range, it's on.

No offense to Gebrhiwet who raced his butt off with just 3 days recovery from not making the Ethiopian team…but the field here is better and deeper. I don’t think all of Krop, Kimeli, Lobalu, Thierry, Kejelcha and Mburu will all come back in the last 800. I think Grant should be connected though he certainly doesn’t need to be challenging for the lead through 3k I agree.

Having seen the pacing announcement, I think it’s more likely than not. I’d put the over/under at 12:52.33.

Very limited thought went into the above post.

Grant Fisher, first had a high school coach then had a university coach both of which didn’t push him because they realized the longer term potential in the athlete - thank goodness for fans now.

Fisher took a very strenuous degree program (electrical engineering) at Stanford.

As a professional it took him over a year to adapt to strenuous training and his results started coming a year ago to the point where he is now.

It is silly to think shoes would have a major impact.

Fisher is one of the very rare US high school standouts that continued do do well through college and into his professional to the point of being in the conversation of winning medals and Diamond League in men’s distance events.

That… comes from smart coaching along the way for the long term, having incredible talent and tenacity, the desire to sacrifice a lot of what we take for granted, train hard day in and day out all the while being intelligent through the process of training and racing.

He has had an incredible season and it is my hope he can stretch his talents a little more this year to get the American Record in the 5,000m tomorrow in Brussels.

That progression doesn't seem unreasonable to me, even the 2019 to 2020 performance jump, though I tend to take an optimistic view of athletes. I just wish the same benefit of the doubt would be given to people like Katir and Ndikumwenyano, both of whom have had a hell of a lot of shade thrown at them on LRC for their one-year jumps in performance, particularly by Rojo, without any foundation. It's little more than xenophobia

I don’t think Ingebrigtsen intended to go through 3k a few seconds behind the leaders. He got separated because he was sitting mid-pack and couldn’t immediately respond to Cheptegei’s injection of pace, then had to do the hard work of reattaching to the lead group while they were running 61 second laps. Hardly ideal.

I know Fisher can run a great last 2k, but I’d like to see him with the leaders at 3k, not several seconds back. It will give him the best chance to not only run a fast time (assuming the pace is as prescribed), but also to win the race.

Just stating facts. But if you don't think shoes played a major role in improvement, well...not sure what to tell you. For top 100 US runners 2022 and 2021 are the fastest years EVER for 3,000 SC through 10,000. For the top 100 US men's 10,000, 2022 is 21 seconds faster than the next fastest year (2019) not counting 2021 of course. Cheat shoes have had a bigger impact on times than tracks, sports drinks, fancy t-shirts, and epo combined. 3 years ago Fisher could barely run 13:30. Now he can put two 13:16s back-to-back. But what do I know.

12:58.4, in third place

13:49:75. He will move off the rail earlier this time and sprint to the win. He will probably be on McSweyn's right shoulder for much of the race. I don't know how long Stewy will be able to hold the lead.

12:49.75.

Sub 15

Yes Fisher does get the US record.

12:47

My prediction is :

Yes, 12:49:64

12:49:64

I would argue that the Florence field, on paper, was clearly better. The top names were also a lot better.

Olympic/World medals :

Florence field = 7 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze.
Brussel field = 2 silver, 1 bronze

Number of olympic/world medalists in the field :

Florence field = 7 different medalists
Brussel field = 3 different medalists

Number of sub 13 runners in each field :

Florence = 10
Brussel = 7

Average 5k time of the top 10 guys :

Florence = 12:49
Brussel = 12:55

On paper the Florence field seems to be way better and still a bit deeper. And even though you could argue that some runners were not in top shape in Florence, it could certainly be the same in Brussel with most of them being at the end of a very long season. The Brussel field is really good and I hope most of them crush their PB, but I doubt the whole field will even have 1 global gold when all is said and done, compare that to the 7 global golds in the Florence field and you’ll see the difference of caliber.

12:51.12 4th place

9 guys sub-13