Galen Rupp is the real winner - ran in lane 2/3 the whole time!

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

last 1k for leader was 2:22, which is 3:33 pace, which is ahead of Rupp's pr but Salazar thought he was in 3:48 mile pace last month. But even that last 1k was composed of 52 or 53 for the last 400 plus 1:30 600, which is 4:02 mile pace. If Rupp had run not on the inside but at the outer part of lane 1, which he did for apparently no reason at all in his time trials earlier this year, he would have been in position to go when the break came. And he should have gone and pushed hard from further out, maybe as far as 1k. But he simply does not put himself in position at the front when the kick is starting in any international races. I think he does have the ability right now, just not the mindset.

You've made this point about mindset a couple of times on other threads, but I just don't see it. I watched this race live, and Rupp got beat by three guys who were faster over the last three laps. That wasn't tactics, just a simple lack of closing speed.

Sure, maybe if he'd been perfectly positioned he could have held 3rd place, but Lagat et al. didn't need to be perfectly positioned because they were just better on that day. Tactics can be decisive between equal runners, but tactics are ineffective against guys who are fitter and faster, even if only marginally so.

I thought Rupp looked great against an absolutely TOP notch field. He was the 4th best 3000m runner in the world on that day.