60:44 Debut!!! Any love for Kirbuel Erassa today? #6 all time American 1/2 Marathon time...

I noticed his result. A very good run. Wonder what is next for him.

I hope another 1/2 marathon. The american record looks very achievable for him. Great to see the former cowboy running well!

Pistols firing!

Kipchirchir also to move to the roads next year.

He was overshadowed by two American records today. It was a great run but there were two more interesting stories from Houston.

Where’s the love for Josh Izewski. Former triathlete ran 2:12.

+1. Assuming he can stay healthy, he has a bright future on the roads.

He's a great athlete for certain, but several of his past coaches have expressed difficulty in training him e.g. he won't do the work prescribed in favor of doing what he feels is needed. It's hard to go it alone, particularly moving up in distance.

No "American enough" for the brojokes.

irunmo wrote:

For a guy who is unsponsored and constantly overlooked, it's nice to see him bag a big one today. 60:44 today in Houston for the 6th fastest half marathon all time by an American. He ran a very veteran race for it being his first ever half marathon, nearly leaning out the third place Kimitie. Excited for this dude's career on the road.

Kirubel Erassa: Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia back in 1993 .This guy has been close to top class for years and ran 749 indoors for 3K as far back as 2013 (age 20), and it was just a matter of time before he showed his true mettle. He has all the credentials to become a world-class runner.

I've been saying it for a couple of years, we're about to have a massive boost in marathon talent. In the past couple of years the number of 62 flat and now sub 61 half marathoners is huge, yet a ton of these guys haven't even run a marathon yet. Many of these guys were in the NCAA still in the past several years, continuing to run track 10,000m races the first few years after college and started getting into the road scene up to half marathon. One of them I thought would be good is Frank Lara who ran 61 half a couple years ago, recently was right around 61 flat and finally ran his marathon in 2:11, on a different day in a different race maybe he'll be sub 2:10 since the pacing was weird. They were on sub 2:08 pace through 10k and still 2:08 pace through 15k but slowed a lot as they turned into the wind and no one wanted to lead after half marathon.

Some guys who have yet to run their marathon is Kirubel Erassa now a 60:44 guy. Biya Simbassa ran 61:03 or so, he could do a big marathon. Conner Mantz could reasonably debut sub 2:10. And a handful of other 61 half marathoners who haven't run a marathon yet and a few more who have but not in the best of conditions. I think we'll see several new sub 2:10's before the 2024 olympic trials, and probably a couple 2:08's, maybe even a 2:07. And don't say it's the shoes, we weren't seeing these times in 2018/2019/2020 Olympic Trials when the shoes were already out. In those few years we got Jared Ward and Fauble running 2:09 at Boston, Rupp running a 2:06 in Czech Republic, and Korir running 2:08 in Amsterdam or wherever it was, and a bunch of 2:11 type times at Chicago. I think in these next two years we're going to see even more than those few good performances.

Fine performance from Erassa. Who knows what's to come from here? Diego Estrada ran 60:51, I think, early on but didn't develop from there. Erassa's a veteran now and should run sub 2:10.

LetsBigotry wrote:

No "American enough" for the brojokes.

Yeah did you really expect much coverage on LRC? It must have killed the Brojos/Gault enough just to recap XC last weekend.

He's Ethiopian. He's American on paper.

It's nice that he's here. American dream. Blah blah blah.

The reality is that he wasn't born here, didn't grow up here, and is about as American as my television set. When you need a translator to pronounce his name, it's tough to sell him as American talent. Would we care more if Joe Smith from Omaha ran the same time? Yes, we would.

Sorry, not sorry. Just telling it like it is.

Erassa - He ran in high school in United States so I’m guessing he moved with his family to the United States between the ages of 15 and 17. Mo Farah moved to Great Britain when he was eight years old, and he is as English as they come in culture and the way he speaks English with a pronounced South London accent, Feltham area.

The point I’m trying to make is that if a kid spent his formative years in a (new) country then he might be considered a true native of that country. If they move to the country very late then that might be a different matter. Of course all of this is debatable and subjective.

Erassa - sounds like a cool guy. Speaks almost pure “americana” (foreign accent almost undetectable).

well truth be told wrote:

He's Ethiopian. He's American on paper.

It's nice that he's here. American dream. Blah blah blah.

The reality is that he wasn't born here, didn't grow up here, and is about as American as my television set. When you need a translator to pronounce his name, it's tough to sell him as American talent. Would we care more if Joe Smith from Omaha ran the same time? Yes, we would.

Sorry, not sorry. Just telling it like it is.

In case you're wondering, yes this has racist undertones. As American as your television set... He's as American as anyone.

You wanna show him love? Go on his Instagram and tell him congrats. Not on this message board.

well truth be told wrote:Would we care more if Joe Smith from Omaha ran the same time? Yes, we would.

Speak for yourself.

Not all of us are Anglo-Saxon Americans. I relate even less to a Joe Smith.