Official 2015 U.S. Half Marathon Champs Discussion Thread

three thoughts: 1) besides Rupp, I don't know if I'd exactly describe Derrick or any of the other 10K guys as having a "kick". 2) Diego could probably run much faster than his current 10K PR given the shape he is in right now.3) it's not like he couldn't just run a fall marathon just for the experience and not go all-out and trash himself. i believe Chicago, Twin Cities, etc. are like 4 months out from the trials. if you are prepped properly and race smart, that would be an easy turnaround for a super-fit runner.

pishposh wrote:

Estrada=wow

I think for 2016 he should go for the marathon and use the trials as his debut for the following reasons

-he is now a favorite for 2nd at the trials behind meb.

-is to late for a fall marathon buildup/debut. but he can switch emphasis and have a solid year long buildup to the trials which should give him good experience.

-the 10k team will be much harder to make. rupp will win, then you have a bunch of guys wit similar prs to Estradas like derrick etc etc who have better kicks ( estradas 1500 is 3:41)

-he seems to get better as the distance goes up

-he wants to

good points. my response

-I used "kick" in a relative sense of course.

-guys like derrick are probably in better shape than their prs indicate as well. hard to tell since nobody raced a lot last year.

-I don't think it would be of any use to try and get in a fall marathon before the trials. sure a fit athlete on a good training plan could pull it off but it does open up the possibility of over training and racing...which is not what you want to be doing going into he Olympic trials

all of this is speculation but it will definetly be an exciting 2015

Danabe wrote:

John Crain isn't even a year out of NCC and threw down a 63:21, let's not overlook that.

Crain must suck, he ran D3.

"Plus this guy was hardly a novice he ran New Haven 20k last year."

Just watched the video. Great run by Estrada, but how many times did they mention the fact that this was his first half? OH MY GOD, a whole K more than his previous longest race, geesh. Not like he jumped from 10k, or heck even 15k, up to the half. Percentage wise, he didn't even increase his distance as much as those brave women jumping from the high school ranks to the collegiate ranks!!!!

Good run by all, fun to watch. Already getting jazzed for the marathon trials next year.

Congrats to Diego. Love the honesty post race!

NAU has some great young athletes training there right now. Imagine the workouts with Shrader, Estrada, and not to mention all the other visiting athletes.

Vigil at the age of 80+ coaches world class athletes at 800m (Martinez)- 1/2 Marathon (Estrada).

WOW!