Alan Webb Tells LetsRun.Com His 2012 Olympic Dreams Are Over - He Won't Run 1,500

bladerunner wrote:

I have never understood the Alan Webb hysteria.

He made 1 olympic team and didn't get out of the 1st round.

He made the final of 2 worlds and ran poorly in both.

He has done virtually nothing since 2007.

He ran an American mile record in a very minor European meet.

So, explain to me why he gets so much hype. There are posters on this board who swear he has more talent than Lagat!! Based on what? He has never run well in big races and his best running was 5 years ago.

I don't root for or against him but the news that he is not running the 1500 is the most irrelevant fact about the trials thus far.

if you really want to know... it's because to a generation of us he (plus ritz and hall) reignited american distance running... those three shattered the mold of what high schoolers were running at the time, giving fans hope that we could have medal contenders on the world stage... add in the internet explosion and there is your hype.

oh and the webb v lagat comment: perhaps because 3:46.91 is faster than 3:47.28.

Good runner, yes. Legend, not even close. Legends are people like Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Billy Mills, Glenn Cunningham. What has he done to be considered a legend. I'm sure he is a nice guy. He needs to hook up with Jim Ryun (another legend) to get his life together.

i'll always be a fan of webb. he's so honest in his interviews. none of the typical mindless patter that is often spewed. i wish i knew the dude.

best of luck in the future.

In my opinion, this is Webb's greatest race ever. He PRed and stole the win from Baala in a great field in Europe. Lagat was in the field, but was dropped by the hard pace from Baala and others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BZvfkk7-5Y&feature=related

Here is what I think may have been his best race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5i_xNDhOaM

At that pace, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like his surge with about 40m to go.

Guys like Jim Spivey and Steve Scott ran great times well into their mid-30's. Maybe Webb is not done yet.

rlyon wrote:

Good runner, yes. Legend, not even close. Legends are people like Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Billy Mills, Glenn Cunningham. What has he done to be considered a legend. I'm sure he is a nice guy. He needs to hook up with Jim Ryun (another legend) to get his life together.

This is exactly why Alan Webb has been followed so closely.

All of the above mentioned ran decades ago.

This generation wanted someone to follow and Webb had to carry that burden almost entirely himself.

The US has been looking for the next legend-to-be for some time.

After he petition to get into the 5,000 I thought he would bring something to the race. He had nothing. Once the race started he want backwards. He was completely flat. I felt bad for him. I wanted him to do well. Ok, now I'm over it.

Gordon wrote:

if you really want to know... it's because to a generation of us he (plus ritz and hall) reignited american distance running... those three shattered the mold of what high schoolers were running at the time, giving fans hope that we could have medal contenders on the world stage... add in the internet explosion and there is your hype.

oh and the webb v lagat comment: perhaps because 3:46.91 is faster than 3:47.28.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm not discounting Webb's achievements but I'm trying to put them in perspective.

But just because Webb ran 1 time faster than Lagat doesn't make them equally talented. That's like saying Al Geiberger is a better golfer than Tiger Woods because he once shot a 59 and Woods has never broken 60.

Lagat is 10X the runner Webb is. He is a world champion at 2 distances and a 2 time medalist in the 1500. He is about to make his 4th olympic team. Oh, he is also the 2nd fastest 1500 runner in history.

I disagree with you. He is a legend. He is not a good runner.The story of the kid that broke Jim Ryun's HS mile record and appeared on David Letterman, then danced around coaches to chase back his old form, discovering it in stretches but having it always just elude him. That is a story we will remember and retell for years.What was the cause of his downfall? Was it overtraining in HS? Was it too many intervals, too many miles? Was it inconsistency in training because of his changing coaches? Was he the problem in those coaching shifts, or did each of those coaches have a misconception about his ability that just didn't function? Was it injuries that never went away? What caused those injuries, is it the result of his early overtraining, the remnants of PED use or problems in his head?These are questions we will always probe into, and doors of uncertainty that will always remain open. That is what will make Alan Webb a legend.

rlyon wrote:

Good runner, yes. Legend, not even close. Legends are people like Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Billy Mills, Glenn Cunningham. What has he done to be considered a legend. I'm sure he is a nice guy. He needs to hook up with Jim Ryun (another legend) to get his life together.

I was at PRE when he went 3:53. You clearly don't realize what an icon Ryun is/was and how long his record stood. Alan has not produced on a world stage as many had hoped, but he has run well and still might just come back from this. His performances speak more to his lack of preparation going from 3:54 to 3:37 within weeks, than lack of talent or desire. Even so, if you get a chance to watch the PRE race where he broke the record, you should.

Formica Table wrote:

Here is what I think may have been his best race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5i_xNDhOaM

At that pace, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like his surge with about 40m to go.

The straight on shot as he drops the hammer is awesome. That's the face of a killer.

Ben Kipkurui

Enock Koech

Robert Rono

Cornelius Chirchir

William Chirchir

Paul Korir

Tim Too Kiptanui

Suleiman Simotwo

Shedrak Korir

Elkanah Angwenyi

Who are these people?

These are Kenyans that ran 3:31 or better from 2001-2006 who had great promise but never really delivered and you probably never heard of them.

I doubt they here highly scrutinized as they had others to talk about and there were successes as well.

Webb had equal talent but was more successful, though he had a brighter spotlight and no one to share it with.

I generally agree with you. Clearly Lagat has had the better career. It is pretty irrelevant to argue about talent when results speak for themselves, and Lagat has been producing world class results for a long time.

Talent is a hard thing to measure though... I guess it is potential and ability w/o training... cant win an argument based on that.

Another part of the Webb over Lagat preference probably comes from Webb being born and raised US and Lagat running in USA jerseys after he was already a Kenyan star.

He had no business being in that 5k.

LetsRun hates on Webb because it's easy to behind a computer screen where no one knows your identity. Especially when people want Webb to succeed, people will get a kick out of trolling those people by saying the opposite. I guarantee you none of them would actually ever say any of the stuff to Webb if they got a chance to meet him, in fact, I bet those trolls would be honored to meet him. I just think they get a kick out of making people made by hating on Webb, even if his attitude is questionable at times. The point is, I just find it hard to believe one of the best runners America ever has is getting blasted so much by the people who should be rooting for him other than the fact it's fun to annoy people on the internet.

This seems like a Webb appreciation thread. Like he is officially retired. I hope he sticks with it so we can see what he can run in the 5k (even after his prime). Hopefully he doesn't try to string out a racing season now. I think he should take some time for relaxed training and enjoy time spent with wife and new baby. A few months from now, start building up to a huge base (for him 90-100mpw) and start training for the 5k next year and beyond.

Lagat is also a drug cheat.

He tested positive for EPO w/A sample and was let off on the B sample. Subsequently it was found that a commonly-available drug would allow the metabolism of markers in samples to make a B always negative. This came out in interviews with ex-Balco people.

If you think a 38 year old can be better than he was at 30 when at the top of the world - just keep believing the fairy tale. Lagat is dirty as they come.

I was thinking of Salazar's book - 14 minutes - while watching Webb last night.

Salazar described a period beginning in 1985, and continuing through his admirable, but very difficult to assess in terms of performance level, Comrades race in 1994. Particularly disheartening was his description of his decline, to not being able to break 29 minutes, and then thirty minutes, in the 10k. Nine long years with rarely feeling good about a race, and constantly wondering how to get his old form back. Admirable? Stubborn to the point of self-destruction? Inviting depression? Yes to all.

Webb has been at this same kind of toil for five years. When the talent level goes, and injury sets in, well, it doesn't often come back. I feel for him, admiring his stubborn sense of achievement but at the same time questioning how long he is going to keep at this immensely frustrating experience.

Herb Elliott had it right. Leave on top, and move on to other endeavors in your life.