TrackCoach wrote:
Nice debate.
Very few sensible people would argue that Rupp is much better than his PR...of course he is. Very few sensible people would also argue that Rupp is a 2:03 guy...of course he isn't. At least not now. The sensible debate is where he fits in between 2:04 and 2:07. I would say somewhere in the middle, 2:05 - 2:06, which means anything under 2:07 would be Ok and sub-2:05 would be outstanding. With that said, its likely Rupp will only run 2:07 on Sunday because that's how the race will likely play out. With no rabbits and finishing temps likely in the mid-70s, Chicago is probably not going to be a fast race. I see Rupp running a low 2:07 or high 2:06 and finishing 3rd or 4th. Except for the Rupp naysayers, people will be disappointed, but you could take Sunday's race and put it in Paris or Berlin and I could see Rupp running 2:05 and perhaps the race being won in 2:03.
Btw, a 10K PR does give you some sense of marathon capability. I would expect a sub-4 miler with the proper training to be capable of running a sub-14 5000, albeit, I would not assume he's capable of a 13:30 5000. The fact that Rupp has a faster 10K than some 2:02 athletes does not mean he's capable of running 2:02. However, an athlete with a 26:44 10K PR has done 20-mile training runs at 2:09 marathon pace, therefore its foolish to think Rupp on a flat course is not at least capable of 2:07. Rojo pointed out how many fast 10K athletes who never ran a fast marathon. I can easily turn that around and say look at how many men like Geb, KB, Tergat, Nicholas Kemboi and Eliud Kipchoge who have fast track PRs and ran fast marathons. I will also add that a few of those fast marathoners with modest track credentials are athletes who focused primarily on the roads. Also, there's a couple of athletes who kind of came from out of nowhere, ran some fast track times for 3-4 years and kind of disappeared and then reappeared in a marathon, but at that point they were not the same athlete. Ahmad Abdullah is one such athlete, he only had a 3 year career on the track and ran an amazing 26:38 10,000. Abdullah's marathon PR is 2:08, but that was almost a decade later and he was no where near the athlete who ran 26:38 10,000.
...I tend to think the glass is halfway between half full and half empty
Spot on and well said.