Second behind Saron Berhe in the U20 1500m today! Berhe was the obvious favorite with a sub-4 SB, but I was surprised to see Forsyth finish just one second behind, far ahead of the rest of the field. Between Rachel and Allie Ostrander's recent post-recovery performances, it must be hugely inspirational to younger runners struggling with eating disorders.
This is an amazing result. Good for her. Always great to see a success story like that.
She usually seems rather stoic, but you could see after her race yesterday how emotional she was and how much this meant to her. I also think she proved she's gotten tactically much smarter than since last XC season.
She'll be an easy one to cheer for in the NCAA and beyond (especially since I'm Canadian!).
She usually seems rather stoic, but you could see after her race yesterday how emotional she was and how much this meant to her.
I also think she proved she's gotten tactically much smarter than since last XC season.
She couldn't have gotten tactically worse than last xc season when she blew up at both national xc races.
Also, she's always paced much better on the track than in xc races. I don't know what it is about xc races that makes her unable to pace anywhere close to normal.
In any case, if she can stay healthy she can be one of the top college runners. She missed a lot of time in high school because of health problems, including missing most of the indoor season this year and she still ran 2:03 in the 800 this spring. She has a lot of upside.
She usually seems rather stoic, but you could see after her race yesterday how emotional she was and how much this meant to her.
I also think she proved she's gotten tactically much smarter than since last XC season.
She couldn't have gotten tactically worse than last xc season when she blew up at both national xc races.
Also, she's always paced much better on the track than in xc races. I don't know what it is about xc races that makes her unable to pace anywhere close to normal.
she ran like that because she could and it almost always worked out for her except in the two races you mention. she actually did the same thing as a sophomore at Footlocker (pretty sure I mentioned that somewhere in this old thread) so the fact that she went ahead and did it again (against the likes of Elizabeth Leachman and Allie Zealand no less!) indicates its not a learning curve thing but just her being head strong and stubborn because she was good enough to get away with it at the high school level. she seemed to love destroying her opponents by brute force and none of her coaches were able to convince her to take a different approach. lets hope that stops in college where she wont be able to get away with that of course. hopefully her college coach gives her very specific pace times to reach over the course of her first few races and convinces her to stick to them. I agree her potential is enormous.
It turns out that the reason Rachel Forsyth started yesterday's race so ridiculously fast is because her goal wasn't to break the 16:52 course record. Her goal was to run faster than the 16:07 she had run the week before.
Forsyth does have a reputation for being overly aggressive in big meets. At least she did when she was younger. You may recall the last time she ran Footlocker she went out like a rocket and lead against the likes of Ellie Shea and Angelina Perez and Natalie Cook. Then she died after the first mile and a half and wound up finishing like 33rd or something. Hopefully her fitness now can match her enthusiasm this time around and she doesnt go in over her head again. Sure seems like it. This has been quite a year for her.
After placing fourth at the Big Ten Championships, Michigan State's Rachel Forsyth was named the Big Ten Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year, the conference
