TEAM USA FOR WORLD XC here

isn't going to a major marathon race representing your country as well? A lot of these races are more prestigious than the world champs marathon. Heck even Haile said so about London this year.

Everytime there is a major marathon a bunch of threads pop up on how Americans don't do well and this and that. Winning one of these is represting your country. Or maybe you don't care if all major marathons never had any Americans in it? trust me, an American winning one of these (NY or Chicago or Boston) will help the sport a lot more than winning WC mara gold or World Cross gold.

They didn't run USATF XC w/ any intention of oing to Mombasa.

your assessment certainly rings true....gouch, ritz and torres doing an alumni intrasquad meet in Central Park versus going to worlds????

go figure...remember ritz limping through the olympics...i wanted to get the experience....what happened to him?

shame on NYRC for inviting them to an 8km and USTAF/NYRC for scheduling a national race so close to worlds....

Having traveled to Africa 15+ times over many years, I agree with the overall assessment that it is probably not that much of a health risk. Especially if you have all your shots, and vaccinations, and if you got them over a year-long period to ensure that they were fully effective, and that you didn't have any negative reaction to them. I think all the top runners should have considered this, and gottne yellow fever, all the hepatitis, dengue fever, etc...shots out of the way months ago. Then the only thing you are dealing with is malaria, and while you may react to the drug unfavorably, you know it is one drug, and you can be fairly certain that once you stop taking it you will feel better.

I am not a world class athlete, and I was never in better then 35min/10k shape when I went to africa. Having said that larium or malarone never seemed to affect my running as much as the local food... But bad food can happen anywhere, and with the right management you can plan for that...

So, the top runners should have planned for Mombasa starting 6 months ago, and they should have gone with a plan to mitigate the risks. This is the World Champiopnships....

The good and bad thing about running is that there are so many events.

Runners can play out their year any way they want.

Different runners have different goals. No one can do it all and train correctly.

It's not very marketable for this reason but I love the fact that any individual runner has the freedom to follow any schedule he chooses.

Distance runners have the choice of: National Champs indoor, World Champs indoor, National Champs XC, World Champs XC, 5K, 8K, 10K and 20K National Champ road races, Marathon Trials, Outdoor National Champs, Outdoor World Champs. Somewhere in between they have to hit qualifying times for these events and, oh yeah, they have to train.

Plus on top of that there are major meets, Grand Prix series and tune up races. And travel has to be considered.

You can't do it all. The choices are up to the individual, not any league or federation.

toro wrote:

The choices are up to the individual, not any league or federation.

How do you figure? If the 9th qualifier chooses to go to Kenya? HE CAN'T. That decision was taken out of his hands by USATF.

Almost to a person the athletes in question have said in not so many words that XC is were distance runners go to see who is the best distance runner...

Why then would you miss the World XC meet.

The part that makes me mad is they arent at all honest about...there worried about the weather, or getting sick or bombed...or they are just to good to run with this years team ....whatever..

remmber when Ritz was talking about how he didnt want to be thought of as just a great american runner...i guess he forgot that...

Gouch...well hell...man goucher was a hero of mine....never thought id hear goucher say he was worried about the weather in XC meet.

People change i guess....some time the pie in e sky ...is just to high..

ill never have the chance...but i bet alot of us would gone to mombasa even if i thought i was going to get dead last...

by the way...i will be following the guys/gals that are going...i still consider what they are doing, a much bigger deal than some 5mi road race.

Carney has represented the US at the Chiba Ekiden and Under 25 NACAC championships. Just for the record.

Hate it or Love it The Kenyans will still kick Ass come track season even for those " claiming to train for other events"

Hey tell Ritz and company Not to go to Europe, OR EVEN World in Japan. coz the Kenyans will be there too, so he better remain in America so that he continure to get the cheap praises. "AMERICAS NEXT DISTANCE RUNNING" B/S.

If kenyans can travel (24 hrs on the fligth) to US during winter ( NY Marathon for example) and still win, then yu are traying to say going to a beautful weather like kenya will hinder you from doing well???????

the thing is if Ritz had accepted a spot on the team and did well he would be even more heroic then if it was just a 'normal' xc championships with no threat of disease or kidnapping. This could have been one of the highlights of his career, and hes running in some stupid road race.

BBC,

You hit the nail on its head,

We are coming, sooner or later.

pretty sure carney ran for the USA in the pan-am or under 25 world champs or something like that a few years ago. i've run with him while he was wearing USA garb and he said he'd been on one of those obscure teams....but a USA team nonetheless.

The "message therapists" are part of a very important advance team that will go to Mombasa a week in advance in order to make sure that the American delegation's cellphones, laptops, PDAs and Blackberries have coverage and high bandwidth.

DUH!!!!

ntop sure if any of you noticed @ teh USA XC chapionships....CU alumni dominated! hale to johnson adn wetmore!!!!!!!!!!!

thegambler wrote:

Carney has represented the US at the Chiba Ekiden and Under 25 NACAC championships. Just for the record.

The Chiba Ekiden is not a World Championship. and I sure as hell am not counting NACAC much less an under 25 event.

No one skips the track even though they get it handed to them on the track. The difference is all the money and bonuses are tied to the track and its how the shoe companies evaluate most of the runners.

It seems like it goes track > world xc > worlds marathon and then throw in World Road running champs some where in here. But NACAC isn't world championships. If you run that Arturo Barrios 5k does that count as a national team? Is some people's book. But the World Championships are at another level.

Sam F wrote:

i think kenya picks who runs on the team...if your picked you go

no, they have do the same thing, kenyan nationals are the world trials. Many accomplished runners dont show at nationals though, instead of running nationals and declining the team.

MAYEROFF wrote:

The "message therapists" are part of a very important advance team that will go to Mombasa a week in advance in order to make sure that the American delegation's cellphones, laptops, PDAs and Blackberries have coverage and high bandwidth.

DUH!!!!

i have been around these teams. bash the guys who didnt go and the officials all you want. The massage guys work their fingers to the bone getting people whatever they need 14 hours a day.

actually this year the nationals was the same thing as the qualifiers. but it varies from year to year. last year there were two separate races about 2-3 weeks apart. nationals was first, world cross trials was second.

wejo wrote:

I am also surprised Carney and Ed aren't going. They've never represented the US before (correct me if I'm wrong but I tried to look it up) and for most guys that is a huge deal. This isn't some BS meet international meet, this is the world champs.

I understand that Chiba and NACAC are not World Championships. I was just refuting your claim that he has never represented the US.