Woody's run (12:51 5K) is getting WAY WAY to much hype and here is why......

Go back to Russia!

(Oh man, it's great to finally be able to say that again!)

He is a medal favorite.

You're right, runners never get better as their careers go on. If a runner improves, you have to assume that every runner that has run faster than them before would have beat them or has also gotten better.

I agree with what your saying in principal. I just don't see all the hype your talking about. He is getting as much hype as any other American would get if they set the American record. This combined with his leaving BTC set up a perfect storm of expectations/marketing/hype. I don't see anyone talking about him being a medal threat or anyone talking about other 5k runners running faster in a similar race. These are all givens. People are just celebrating Woody achieving something great for himself. It doesn't hurt that he seems like a very likeable guy. I think your reading way too much into peoples reactions.

I have been stating, just wait. I don't know if W K is going to be good. We have seen great indoor track performances going back to Martin McGrady, Houston McTear and Eamonn Coghlan. Let's see what happens this summer.

I will agree with you on the standpoint that we probably can stop with the separate indoor/outdoor American records. That being said, it’s worth celebrating him running a 12:51 (with an exciting kick). That deserves hype even if it makes him more of a dark horse than medal threat. That is given how many 12:45 or faster capable athletes have a more substantial international resume. 12:51 is still a great achievement, and awesome for an American.

If Woody's in a race with 400m to go, he seems to have an excellent shot of winning it, or at least coming close. It seems to me that his ceiling at any given time comes down to if he's fit enough to hang in a race until the bell. Not to knock the likes of Grant Fisher, Joe Klecker, or Moh Ahmed (for example) but to me Woody's the only North American distance runner who seems like he may have the kick to win gold if he can hang in a championship race until the bell. He just hasn't always looked as capable of being there as some others.

So the excitement is that now he's a guy with a world-class kick who has also run 12:51. Times do have new meanings it seems, so maybe 12:51-at-BU-fitness still wouldn't be enough to get him to the bell with the leaders in Budapest, but it definitely looks like he'll be hard to drop if he's fit this summer.

Oops kinda disrespected Paul Chelimo there, he's looked like he could kick to win anything at his best.

I agree that's it's overhyped in a sense that although he's posted a near top world all-time indoor mark, he's certainly no world beater. All he did really, was blow the doors off Klecker at the end of a race.

The guys who are prominent on a world level don't care at all to set PRs in January. If you told them they had the Olympics in January, things would be different. This is also probably the career peak for Woody. Good for him. He's emerged to a consistent world finalist level--which probably does not equate to anything better than an 8th place, especially considering he's peaking in January, because a few guys with more talent blew up in the final and a well beaten Woody picked up the scraps to not finish last while no one besides Americans noticed he was in the final.

Nothing is a given. Look how many WR holders or world leaders can't win. They crumble under the pressure. A 12:51 guy is in the mix. Woody is a medal threat now just like several of our other 5000m guys.

Watch those championships on YouTube/flotrack and learn some strategies. You'll be polishing that Gold before you know it.

12:51 closing like a freight train is a world-class performance regardless of where it is run. Fisher was stellar at BU last year and ended up being even better outdoors.

No guarantee that Kincaid will have the same success but it‘s too early to write him off. We shouldn’t be calling him a medal favorite at this stage either.

I thought him running sub 13 in that time trial was his peak. Seems from watching his interview and past comments from him that he is very talented but may have not been as confident training with bowerman. He used to say how he couldn’t finish workouts that Grant and Mo did but still he would have similar performances to them. Maybe didn’t have as much confidence being beat down in practice. He said after the 12:51 that he saw his teammates race before and knew he would run well since they did. If he can be more confident in what shape he’s in, I think he can continue to improve.

If someone would have said he was going to run 1251 with a 26 kick passing people before the race they would have been ridiculed on this forum.

He exceeded expectations and that's why people are talking.

A lot can happen between now and june, july, august. Maybe he gets worse but maybe he gets better?

Thats why running is exciting, there are lots of guys who could medal at world champs in 5k/10k. Who would have thought Luis would get 4th at this time last year? I would wager no one.

Enjoy when people exceed expectations. Woody has a great kick and if he's close at the end it would be fun to watch. US 5k team will be very competitive, I feel like any combination of gf, wk, ct, an, jk, pc is possible plus dark horse collegiate maybe db? But woody having the fastest last 200 certainly helps.

Tokyo was very hot and humid which I am sure was challenging for someone who lived in the dry west their whole life. Shame he didn't get a chance in the 5k final in eugene. What is the weather in budapest supposed to be like?

Its likely that the 5 and 10k final will be fast (~13, ~27) with a sub 4 last 1600 and problaby sub 225 last k for the winners. Lets see who can hang. I would hope us fans would be excited there are a few guys who have a chance.

Really, you think Mo Ahmed who got silver in the Olympics and was 0.4 seconds off of Gold behind the WR holder has less of a chance to kick for Gold than Kincaid? When has Kincaid ever had a fast finish in a global final? The idea of Woody Kincaid just doesn't match up with the reality.

Reminds me of Robby Andrews when everyone was saying that if he could just stay in it until the bell he has a shot to win. Putting yourself in the right position takes a ton of energy, its an entirely different ballgame than kicking in a time trial or a domestic competition where you can ride the rail and run down inferior athletes.

Yeah good point, you're probably right.

I'm not sure who's calling Woody a serious medal threat, but this was easily the best performance of his career, and American Records always deserve hype. Fisher is clearly better, but I'd take Woody over anyone else in the US at 5000 right now.

Regardless of the race, I wouldn't want him close to me with 400 to go under any circumstances.

Woody’s best races seem to have come with little pressure. I am sure there are exceptions but he seems destined to be this guy who is now much faster than Galen Rupp at 5000m but he will likely never have the status of a Galen Rupp in the annals of US distance running.

Woody has not raced in a world final where the weather wasn't hot and humid. Some people just don't do well in those conditions. And what makes you think he's not better than Ahmed now? I feel he's jumped another level. Robbie Andrews? Really comparing the two? What American record does he have?