Ritz ran 1 competitive 1500/mile his entire career…

Ritz was probably good for a 3:51/3:52 full mile at his best. He never would have made a US team because he didn't have the closing speed.

Well he certainly made more money focusing on the marathon and he was pretty good at it, but I agree it's a shame he never made a sub 4 mile attempt in his prime.

Ehh…. I don’t think he could go that fast. 3:56 tops…. Kennedy had significantly better speed than ritz and 3;56 was all he ever managed.

but it’s Ashame ritz never dedicated himself more to mile racing to benefit his 5k… which he also never dedicated himself to.

For better

or worse when he ran NY in 2006 in 2:14… ritz was fully invested in the marathon, which led to very mediocre world class times and no medals, no major wins, no podiums.

his dedication to the marathon also took away him running world xc after 2005.

Ritz was very good but not great at the marathon but he was great at the half marathon and get a Bronze medal at the World Half Marathon Championships.

I am not sure if Kennedy really trained much as a pro for the 1500m either but yeah I don't see Ritz breaking 3:55 either.

Put Hall down as the other guy. Could he have been a 3:55/13:00/27:00 guy if he stuck to the track? I have no clue how he never ran faster in college than HS over 1500m..

Sub-4 would’ve really only mattered to him, and him never chasing it suggests that it wasn’t important to him.

He had a great career and having a sub-4 doesn’t affect his legacy or his resume all that much. Maybe sub-3:55 or sub-3:52 slightly changes how he’s looked at, and could place him some conversations of the Americans with the best range from 1500 to marathon, but even then how much does that really matter?

It’s also not a given he could go 3:54.xx, though I think it’s pretty obvious he could go sub-4.

I think to most people, having the ability to go sub-4 and not doing it feels insane, but I think sub-4 isn’t really meaningful to guys at that level who already have PRs more impressive.

It seems like Grant Fisher doesn’t give a ____ about his mile PR (3:59) even though he could clearly go way faster (and probably has closed 3ks faster).

And even if he didn’t have sub-4 next to his name I don’t think Grant would enter a race just to get it.

The only guys who chase sub-4 are the ones who are barely there and need almost everything to break perfectly right to go 3:59 or 3:58. If you can go faster then I don’t think you really care about sub-4 or your mile time if you’re not a 1500 guy.

Search Kennedys training log from 96 leading up to Atlanta. He did a TON of 400,200 work. And ran solid times in those workouts that showed he had excellent speed for a 5k runner who would just do 1500 for speed work. ESP for an American at that time.

ritz never did much of that, even under Salazar who made him do it some but ritz recognized how fragile he was and couldn’t handle it.

but ritz was so talented I’m sure he could had broken 4 w tempos/ fartleks.

it’s something I’d love for someone to ask him in a interview…. Why he never attempted sub 4 in high school or ever in his career and if he regrets not doing it.

Once you’ve run 12:56 sub 4 probably doesn’t seem as significant

Kennedy won the NCAA 1500 as a freshman. Yeah, he knew he had very good speed for a 5000 meter runner. They both trained to their strengths and chose races for that reason as well. The results speak for themselves and given that I doubt Ritz regrets not going after a sub 4. As it is they pushed themselves to the limit and elevated our sport here in the US.

Is it too late for Ritz to try?

He's just turned 40. Does he have the motivation to come back as a master to break records?

Only if he still feels he has something to prove, which is doubtful.

Ritz and I are the same age. I remember him amongst other big name high schoolers, and I was a nobody in high school. I ran HS bests of 800m 2:02; 1600m 4:24; 3200m 9:19, and in XC I ran 16:00 for a 5K. In College I searched for my event and started off as a 5000m and 10,000m runner then our coach threw us all in the 800m for foot speed at a meet and I ran 1:53. I eventually moved down and focused on the 1500m and ran 3:45 and 1:48 in 800m.
The speed helped me out a lot as I had zero turn over in HS. I finished up college with PRS ranging from 1:48 in the 800 to a 29:00 10,000 and defeated several big-name HS guys from time. It got to a point in which a few of the big names I would be upset if I lost to them. I raced Ritz in a 5000m once and am happy to say I was less than a straight away behind him in HS he would have lapped me twice.

Not in Zurich!

I downvotes you on accident but mostly agree. His transition to the marathon was pretty goofy, I wish he would have given the 10k a real chance and seeing him in more 3ks would have been cool too.

I'm surprised Alberto didn't throw him in one like he used to have Rupp do. Even if he wasn't chasing American records like Rupp, I'd think Ritz could pop a decent mile at BU (though as others have mentioned he'd do well to run ~3:55) and it would be a good test for closing championship 5k/10ks.

To this day, I think Ritz 8:11 two mile he ran at Prefontaine classic is his best race he ever ran.

couple months later he’d make the US marathon team for Beijing.

ritz best marathon was always off strong track seasons ( Chicago 2012)

ritz best 5k/ 10k times were always coming off marathon training.

as a ritz fan, I just wish the marathon was an endeavor I wish he’d never chased.

wish he’d stuck w 1500-10k and chased a medal at world XC. 4k and or 12k

Ritz won a bronze medal at 2010 World Half Marathon Championships. Only lost to Tadese and Bernard Kipyego. Top 5 greatest American distance runners of all time. But do go on about how he should have run 3:39 for 1500M at some point in his career.

I’m confused. You say he ran ONE 1500/mile. Did he harness quantum entanglement? Why didn’t he do one 1500/1600? Or one mile/full mile? Or how about one 1500/1600/mile/full mile