World XC: Cam Levins vs. Chris Derrick

Putting the silly internecine squabbling aside for a moment, both are great athletes, and I think both are gearing up for a good race at Worlds - top 15 perhaps?

canada3000 wrote:

Levins coming out party internationally is about to happen very soon. The bandwagon train is rolling and you better get on for the ride!!

as much of a Levins fan as I am, I could say the exact same thing about Chris Derrick after following the racing scene this winter.

Besides these 2, who are the major internationals (ie, athletes of Merga's calibour) that will be racing WXC?

I'd give Derrick a better chance in a race like World XC, where neither of them are likely to be among the leaders competing to win the race. I think Levins is still too strong for Derrick to beat him head to head in a race that's down to just the two of them (or the two of them plus a couple of other guys of the same caliber). However, I think Derrick is strong enough and competitive enough to get pulled along by a field of many superior runners, possibly ending up ahead of Levins in the process.

Cam MF Levins FTW!

Cam Levins reminds me of Josh McDougal, a really hard-working guy who saw some great results when he beat Rupp for the win his last NCAA XC season. Obviously Levins is more accomplished, and hopefully will have more continued professional success, but if I were to bet I'd say that Levins is already close to his peak potential.

I think Derrick, however, will surpass many people's expectations, as long as he can remain healthy. In my eyes his recent 5000 was solid but not exceptional for him. Indoors doesn't seem to be his strength, and sometime soon I think he might have a stunning break-out race. Maybe at World XC, or maybe not until May or June in a 10K.

I'm not saying he'll be beating Rupp this year, but he could definitely solidify his position as our #2 10k man.

Oh, and for World XC it'll probably be close but I'll go with Derrick, top 15. Would love to see top 10, but I'm thinking his big improvement might be a little further down the road.

This is a weak argument whether Derrick will beat Levins. This thread will change and everyone will saying how the knew Levins would crush Derrick at world's. I think the new thread should be how close to 13 flat Levins will run this year.

I think by putting this thread out there, it sends an incredibly unrealistic message to Chris Derrick that he can possibly beat Levins!

Cam Levins is simply a canadian long distance poor man version of alan webb which means we will burn out after an early peak

Levins 8th, Derick 10th.

Kenya and Eth are a little weak this year.

That's an interesting comparison. Levins certain trains hard and purportedly puts in big mileage, but strikes me as being under control and racing within himself. Whereas, McDougal seemed to push himself beyond what most runners are capable of and it caught up with him. As I write this, I see McDougal as more like Salazar.

Fastnbulbous wrote:

Cam Levins reminds me of Josh McDougal, a really hard-working guy who saw some great results when he beat Rupp for the win his last NCAA XC season. Obviously Levins is more accomplished, and hopefully will have more continued professional success, but if I were to bet I'd say that Levins is already close to his peak potential.

I think Derrick, however, will surpass many people's expectations, as long as he can remain healthy. In my eyes his recent 5000 was solid but not exceptional for him. Indoors doesn't seem to be his strength, and sometime soon I think he might have a stunning break-out race. Maybe at World XC, or maybe not until May or June in a 10K.

I'm not saying he'll be beating Rupp this year, but he could definitely solidify his position as our #2 10k man.

Levins will not beat Derrick. Sorry to all those Canadians but Derrick is better than Levins in XC. Why would you think he would beat him? He was behind three Americans in 2011 that aren't near the caliber of Derrick. The last time they raced head to head Derrick beat him. In fact Levins has never beaten Derrick in cross. Not within ten places? Give me a freaking break it will easily be the other way around if not more that Derrick beats Levins by.

canada3000 wrote:

If Derrick is even within 10 spots behind Levins at World Cross-Country I would be very surprised. Levins coming out party internationally is about to happen very soon. The bandwagon train is rolling and you better get on for the ride!!

Student wrote:

That's an interesting comparison. Levins certain trains hard and purportedly puts in big mileage, but strikes me as being under control and racing within himself. Whereas, McDougal seemed to push himself beyond what most runners are capable of and it caught up with him. As I write this, I see McDougal as more like Salazar.

I'd think Levins would be thrilled to be as successful as Salazar, who won three consecutive NYC Marathons from 80-82 and Boston in '82, and 2nd in World XC in '82 and 4th in '83. Awesome. His biggest disappointment of course was his failure in the 1984 Olympic Marathon, and general decline in his running. I read that it was due to some health issues he had. In the end I suppose whether it's health problems or limits in talent, it was a career cut short, though he had a bit of a comeback in ultra-marathoning in the 90s.

You may be right in the comparison in that with Levins' ability to log massive mileage similar to Bill Rodgers and Salazar, he should do well when he presumably moves up to the marathon.

I'm hoping that Derrick will follow Rupp's game plan and focus on his track speed for the next several years and pursue 10,000 success before considering the marathon.

Anticompliment wrote:

Cam Levins is simply a canadian long distance poor man version of alan webb which means we will burn out after an early peak

Ridiculous comparison. Webb ran a 3:53 mile in highschool. Levins hadn't broken 4 minutes for the 1500.

The real question is where will Rob Watson finish. At the bar or under the table?

Um, what?

hmmm... wrote:

Levins lost the Canadian cross country championships.

Who is more willing to get down and dirty in the snow? My money is on Levins.