yes he has a personal best of 26:49:02 set in hengelo 2007. he is not a joke!
yes he has a personal best of 26:49:02 set in hengelo 2007. he is not a joke!
I was in Hengelo 2008 when he ran as well. He was 4th behind Shihine, Geb and another Ethiopian.
Kenny ran and won of course the 5k, and I think he tried there his strategy for his 5k win in Beijing. He set off the pack with 5 laps to go and was gone and ran 12:58.
But my best memory of this meet is seeing Lolo Jones in person up close. She has unreal green eyes. Unbelievable that she is solo.
Solo Lolo, hey. Should have asked for her No
Sub 27 for Rupp
Why is this an "awesome" field? Maybe it is, but looking through the start list there are few who have ever broken 27 minutes. I don't see Bekele in the start list and I would be surprised if he does run.
Rupp could break the record. Its Brussels after all and presumably with pace setters. But it wouldn't surprise me after the pace setters have stepped off the runners lack a commitment for a fast time.
The Waterboy wrote:
The start lists have Kenenisa in the 10000m and Tariku in the 50000m...I thought Kenenisa was running the 5000m?
New WR if Tariku runs the 50K.
You heard it here first!
He didn't seem that sharp at world's, so I'm going to predict 27:20s. Earlier in the season, when he beat Merga, he was in shape to run sub 13 and sub 27. Now? Maybe he's recovered but after all that racing and the travel, it seems like a stretch.
Rupp should be the first non-african.
There are significant financial and personal reasons why he might "want" and should run. In the "world market" (upper elite track world) 2 years of abscence and then dropping out during a world championship, the top track circuits are not that ready to dish out top cash not even for an appeareance fee! So he is in a bad place now and needs at least some partial redemption (personal and future financial factors) If he is able to run anything under 27:30 (that is for him "close" to his "caliber" or credentials) then for sure, he still has it and can come back better than ever. But if he runs a 28 plus. Forget about it, he needs a lot of work (deep neurological-unconscious work) which is very very difficult to do at his age and stage in his career. I like Bekele, to me he is best ever, there will never be anyone like him; but I have my doubts that he can pull this one off (3 times Olympic champion) This probably for him, will be a very important race for him, it can be his vindication of his hard effort to come back after two years of physical and maybe psychological "injuries". I just want to see him run.........and finish!
Problem? wrote:
Some Names wrote:How about 13 of 18 runners are Kenyan. Their dominance is staggering. What other world-wide sport (not regional, like cross-country skiing for example) has this kind of national dominance?? Throw Ethiopia in with Kenya and you probably have 98% of the world's best distance runners in an incredibly small geographic region. Amazing, really.
How is Kenyan distance running any different than cross country skiing? There is very low participation per capita around the world in distance running.
There is a very big difference. You need this thing called snow to become involved with x-c skiing. Much of the planet experiences little to no snow. X-C running does not have such a weather related obstacle to participation. You just need some dirt or grass. Do the math from there and you can see the difference.
(and overall, there is huge participation in distance running, as you near the elite levels, the participation drops of exactly because the africans are so dominant. You may have put the cart before the horse.)
Rupp won't run under 27:20. 27:15 would be an incredible year. Its too late in the year for an American who doubled in the World Champs.
27:32. Hungover from WC.
My thoughts: He is the second fastest American of all-time in the 10,000. Going any faster would be good, because you should try to improve your PR every year without excuses. Also, if he improves that mark he strengthens his grip as one of the top Americans of all time.
Anything faster than 27:10 would be great, sub-27:00 would be the stuff of dreams and what people have been predicting for Ritz and Rupp for 8-10 years ... if they can do it they need to do it now, they don't have forever. Brussels or Stanford or Hengelo is where you would do it.
Salazar's thoughts (I just was reading this article coincidentally):
He hasn't lost a 10,000 since 1993. He has been too good, in fact, for many experts to embrace, his stunning clockings having raised suspicions that he uses some performance-enhancing drug, perhaps EPO. "The world record should be right around 27 minutes," says former U.S.-record holder Alberto Salazar. "Anything lower and something must be going on." Gebrselassie, however, has never failed a drug test.
From this article 11 yrs ago:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1020561/index.htm
For what it's worth, the world HAS HAD a 12:50/26:50 runner test positive (a high-profile Champion) and get banned and he never came back to that level. The world has also had a 3:30/12:50 runner with TWO Silver medals at Globals who tested positive and never regained that level.
latently homosexual teenager wrote:
27:32. Hungover from WC.
thats a good way of putting it
kiko wrote:
yes he has a personal best of 26:49:02 set in hengelo 2007. he is not a joke!
No, he isn't. Kipchoge has a devastating finish and he's the #4 all-time at 5ks as well as being a multiple WC medalist. If he's in anything like good form I can't see how these other guys can defeat him, unless somehow Bekele is ready to drop a sub 26:40. Given his lack of prep, even he surely can't do that.
Hands down wrote:
latently homosexual teenager wrote:27:32. Hungover from WC.
thats a good way of putting it
I'm not expecting anything magnificent here, but I wouldn't be surprised if he actually doesn't come off with an equal to better race than his 10K at worlds. Rupp can surely handle a lot of training/racing and rebound. People seem to be forgetting his strong effort in the 10K which came after a long time without a race. He got nailed in the 5K final on the last lap of a very uneven race, but I don't think that was indicative of his general fitness level.
Rupp doesn't have many down races, and certainly not back to back so I'd bet on this being a step up from worlds. Who knows what the pace goes like but if it can stay even relatively sane in terms of consistency he could have a PR shot. If it falls off hopefully he can pull of a good last lap.
Problem? wrote:
Some Names wrote:How about 13 of 18 runners are Kenyan. Their dominance is staggering. What other world-wide sport (not regional, like cross-country skiing for example) has this kind of national dominance?? Throw Ethiopia in with Kenya and you probably have 98% of the world's best distance runners in an incredibly small geographic region. Amazing, really.
How is Kenyan distance running any different than cross country skiing? There is very low participation per capita around the world in distance running.
Well, the marathon is the most participated sport in America, believe it or not. Not sure about the rest of the world.
Chris S. wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if this is a ploy.
This really never gets old.
does Galen hold any records in the U.S. at all. So much talk for a guy who has done jack sqaut.
#teamsolinsky
LetsRunna wrote:
98%?
83.7% of statistics are made up on the spot :)
So Farah has conceided his diamond to the rest? I don't see him in the 50000 field.