WILL RUDY CHAPA'S 10,000M RECORD EVER BE BROKEN?

Probably not, but mostly because the top high schooler never run it, and certainly never focus on it. As others mentioned, the 2 mile and 5k records are as good or better already... so someone like Cheserek this year, for example, could probably go sub-29 and possibly challenge it this year if he really wanted.

One hundred years, one race

Rudy Chapa’s 10,000 record Indiana’s

outstanding performance of all time!

by Jim Brandyberry

At the end of the first 100 years of Indiana high school boys track and field, it is compelling to look back across a century of competition. Searching for the outstanding individual performance of those ten decades, one mark stands out from among the rest: The national high school 10,000 meter record of 28:32.7 by Hammond’s Rudy Chapa.

The scene was a moist but favorably cool April 24, 1976, at the Drake Relays, surrounded by college and post-collegiate runners. “Going into it, I knew it was my last shot of reaching the automatic qualifying time [28:40] for the Olympic trials. My strategy was to stay with the leaders as long as I could,” Rudy recalled in a 2002 inter-view. “I remember just feeling wonderful, under control, comfortable. Everything was perfect.”

Perfect was the result! The splits indicate something of the magnitude of his effort: 9:07 for the first two miles, three miles in 13:41 and four miles in 18:16. He established a national high school record for six miles at 27:36 en route! Those splits beg to be further analyzed: Three consecutive two mile runs in 9:07, 9:09 and 9:20 with a sprint afterwards. No rest in between! Or, look at it this way: Two 14:16 5000 meter races back to back. “That’s sick!” his teenage distance prodigy son Joaquin exclaimed recently in admiration.

Even more, it was a world junior record (for athletes under age 20 in a given year of competition) and remained so until 1991. Needless to say, it still stands as a national high school standard, breaking the former record by over 21 seconds.

Though possessing considerable natural ability, Chapa also put in the miles. “It is hard to overestimate the amount of work we did,” he reflected on his days at Hammond High School. “100 to 130 miles and more per week was common.” No wonder two other teammates also broke 9:00 for two miles with him his junior year!

When he went to the storied University of Oregon distance running program, his mileage dropped by over 50%! With such employers as Nike since college, Rudy spent years around world class distance runners. Yet, he could compare, “Only three or four people that I’ve met trained harder than we did.”

Chapa was not done, though. He went on to become an NCAA champion in the 5000 meters and broke the legendary Steve Prefontaine’s American record at 3000 meters.

Now with his own investment business in Portland, Oregon, Rudy Chapa was, over the last century of Hoosier high school track and field, Indiana’s Best.

Considering maybe 2-3 of the top 25 high school runners run this event every year, at most, this record isn't going to be broken anytime soon, unless Cheserek gets it next year, which could happen. This record would have been broken at some point if top prep talent actually ran it.

yes he ran even. I remember ~9:08 at 2mile and nothing but backs for 24 laps, on the rail.

kibitzer wrote:

A wonderful summary, DanJM--thanks!

An important point was touched on (in passing) above: the brutal hs training program that Chapa participated in (and that produced three sub-9:00y two-milers in the same season). Hammond's training was renowned for its high mileage, coupled with a high intensity in a great many of those miles. This program was practically perfect for someone (like Chapa) whose natural abilities lay in races longer than the usual high school distances.

I'm hardly conversant with the training that all of today's top high school programs do. Of the programs (in the last 20 years) that I *am* familiar with, only York's seems to approach the mileage (but not the intensity) of Hammond's. The culture has changed in the last few decades, and I have difficulty imagining that any school could institute training like that without injuring every runner.

Right. People talk about LV's 2 mile or Rupp's 5K being the equivalent of Chapa's 10K, but I really doubt either of those guys could run the 10K as well as they ran the shorter races. Chapa just ran way more miles and trained harder than they did (even York's mileage is less than Chapa did -- he was running 120 miles a week), and that put him in better position for the 10K than any high school kids are now.

Stinson wasnt even the best guy in his state as a senior.

Lutz and Dohner

I agree with you totally. I shake my head every time I read on this board that because an athlete has run a certain time he will be able to just KILL a longer distance. It's just pure rubbish. Rupp and Luke V. MIGHT have the ability to run a time faster than Chapa's time. But anyone who has ever raced at twice their normal distance knows how tough it is to maintain their pace in the last miles. They were both very talented runners. But to assume they automatically could have broken Chapa's record or that the record isn't that impressive are being naive.

Retardalert. wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:It is a minute faster than Parker Stinson's best time and he's one of the best HS long distance runners to come along in a while. .

Is this a joke?

Parker Stinson's best time and he's one of the best HS 'LONG' distance runners to come along in a while.

I ran against Chapa several times in HS - I know his back side well - have a picture with us at the IN State x-country meet [1975].

During the mid-70's Indiana, Michigan and California were ranked as the best states for HS runners. At the state track meet, Chapa ran a 4:06 mile, followed by 8:51 - 2 mile. [1976]

We used to run 60 to 100 miles a week. Our team ran across the state of Indiana - 155 miles in 6 days. Unless someone is running A LOT of miles, the record will stay untouched for a long time.

We would look at other state final times . . . like really - you won state with a 4:25 mile or a 9:30 2 miles? In Indiana, you would not get through Sectionals or Regionals with a times like that.

Need a Cain/Webb kind of HS talent that focuses on the 10000.

coach d. wrote:

Hulst and McChesny were not in the Drake race, dumb a$$.

break it up wrote:

Meant "McChesney" not "Solinsky". And if Verszbicas ran a 10,000 in the middle of the high school season like those guys did, at the Stanford or Oregon meet, he would have been capable of 28:20-30. Based on his two mile at Pre. Or not. It would have been pretty easy to go out paced at 14:15. I think Chapa's record had a lot to do with pride racing the other high schoolers in that race. Especially that last 3200 when you run you're first 10k. It's new mental territory.

Enough with your tough guy attitude - coach d.

coach d. wrote:

Hulst and McChesny were not in the Drake race, dumb a$$.

break it up wrote:

Meant "McChesney" not "Solinsky". And if Verszbicas ran a 10,000 in the middle of the high school season like those guys did, at the Stanford or Oregon meet, he would have been capable of 28:20-30. Based on his two mile at Pre. Or not. It would have been pretty easy to go out paced at 14:15. I think Chapa's record had a lot to do with pride racing the other high schoolers in that race. Especially that last 3200 when you run you're first 10k. It's new mental territory.

I believe that you are correct coach d. (I was an Iowa high schooler at the time) but that is no reason to call someone else a dumb a$$, you santimonious POS.

casual commentary wrote:

Gonna bank on "No."

Unless: Cheserek

So you're saying from this point on there will never be a HS runner as good as Cheserek?

Chapa was a real American. Cheserek is an African import

You have to remember that 10k was a special thing that year. Chapa, Hulst, and McChesney all did that math and figured that the 10k was the event to try and qualify for the olympic trials in. Heck a couple of them gave the marathon a go.If people ran the 10k on a regular basis it would get broken. As its most guys run 1 or 2 at most (for example did Ritz run even one) so the odds of having the great day (i.e. Rupp running a 13:37 which is pretty much the same pace as his 3200m PR) is low.

flagjr wrote:

Need a Cain/Webb kind of HS talent that focuses on the 10000.

Chapa is Mexican-American.. just like German Fernandez, Brenda Martinez, Daniel Tapia, Fernando Cabada, Leo Manzano... and the list goes on...

watchout wrote:

Probably not, but mostly because the top high schoolers never run it, and certainly never focus on it.

This is probably right. In Japan there's more focus on 10000 m even at the high school level and the records are 28:07.39 by Yuki Sato (Japanese student H.S. record) and 27:28.60 by Julius Gitahi (foreign student H.S. record). I'm sure if more people that age ran the 10 more seriously in the States you would see some approaching Sato's time sooner or later.

Link to the H.S. records:

Safe to say that it won’t be broken for at least 20 more years. You need someone in low 28s shape except if they can enter Payton Jordan.

Back in the dark ages--pre letsrun or it was just a nascent backwater--late in the last century I was on a message board like this and stated that Chapa's record was then underrated and at the time only Ryun's 3:55 was in the same ballpark. That was met with some skepticism, but also realization and acknowledgement that indeed it was a very good mark.

All the other records are gone, this one still stands. But bet in the next 5-10 years, someone is going to finally break it.