ritz could break an hour for 13.1 mi?

Ritz, though talented, isn't as sturdy as Todd was. You're bones can't be feeble over longer distances.

just because ritz may have faster short PRs doesnt automatiially mean he could beat williams.

remember, todd williams was one of the most efficien us runners in history.

yeah, i loved when williams moved off the track and hit the roads. he used to beat the hell out of those posers who thought they were the shit on the road-running circuit.

ritz could break 13.1 bones

milk. it does a body good.

Doubtful, first Ritz has been given a free pass based on one evenly paced time trial. Second, Ritz has proven time and time again that he is very fragile and cannot quite figure out how to stay healthy. I hope for the sake of Ritz and those of you that "worship" him, that he can stay healthy for more than 6 months. Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, all while expecting a different result. Not to bash Hudson, but he simply does not have the depth of knowledge and experience to deal with a guy like Ritz. Additionally, coach Hudson does not command an air of authority that a more experienced coach has, at this point, Brad and Dathan are simply buddys.

michigan runner wrote:

Todd Williams ran 60:06 back in the mid 90s so i think ritz could be just under an hour.

What the hell has this guy done to warrant all this ass-kissing? For the love of God, he got lapped at the olympics, and then quit....

Well, potentially he looks to be the most talented 10k-Marathon runner in U.S. History. On paper.

8:44 and 13:44 in high school

13:26 as a sophomore in college

27:36 American Collegiate record as a junior.

Imagine what this guy's going to do with 2 years of uninterrupted training behind him. He's a phenom at the level of Lindgren, Pre, and Chapa.

That's why all the ass-kissing. But its all meaningless until you finally see what he can do healthy and fit on the track in Oslo, Zurich, Worlds, or Olympics.

Imagine, yes, that is what we have to do.

Tyrone Shoelaces wrote:

Imagine what this guy's going to do with 2 years of uninterrupted training behind him.

Todd Williams is, so far, a better runner then Ritz.

Todd Williams

8:14 two mile (~7:38)

13:19 5000

27:31 10,000

42:22 15k

60:11 hm

Yep, Williams was the shit. He started rolling when he was 22 and hit most of those marks by the time he was 24. Ritz is 22 I think.

I always wondered why Williams HS times were so moderate. He ran 14:48 I think at Footlocker when he lost to Davis. He never really broke through as a force in college until his senior year.

I respect the hell out of that guy. He kicked ass for a long time. I remember hearing rumors of an 8:40 3200

solo time trial a few weeks before his big breakthrough at US Cross Nationals. That might not sound remarkable but he had run surprisingly well at a 15k in Texas recently and appeared to be gaining momentum. So at that time of the year, late fall, people were thinking about that. Yet he had only run 48:50 for 10 miles in late August at Crim.

In his early college running I always thought of him as a tough as hell competitor and trainer that just didn't have the talent to be top national class. I don't know if he was not being serious then or what but I would have never thought the guy would develop to the level he reached.

I would love to see his training logs from 1990-93 to see how he did it.

The reason why he developed that much was because he began running much more mileage

irun wrote:

milk. it does a body good.

Now, thas funny, I don't care who ya are.

michigan runner wrote:

Todd Williams ran 60:06 back in the mid 90s so i think ritz could be just under an hour.

And I think you are wrong.

Ritz can't come within a minute of the top East Africans on the track in a 10k, what makes you think he can come within a minute of them in race TWICE as long?!?! Ain't gonna happen.

Todd Williams is faster than Ritz at every distance so far. And Todd W said the the 1/2 marathon was his "perfect" distance for him and that in that race he ran his "perfect" race. Everything came together for him that day. Ritz could NOT come within 45 seconds of guy like Tergat at the 1/2 marathon, no way. Ritz, like I said, still is not even within 1 MINUTE of Tergat at 10k!

Hey everyone, quit making outrageous predicitons for Ritz (RoJo said, a looong time ago, that Ritz would be the first non-AFrican under 27 in the 10k. Flagpole has basically guaranteed that Ritz will break 26:50 in the 10k and 12:50 for 5k. And we've also heard how Ritz will medal in the world X-C from several people. And now this: a 59:xx 1/2 marathon. HOW ABOUT WE LET RITZ ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING TRULY SIGNIFICANT BEFORE MAKING ALL THESE ASISNINE PREDICTIONS?!?!? At least Webb has a sub 3:50 mile and an AR deuce to his credit. THOSE are REAL TRULY WORLD CLASS accomplishments, not the what-if-maybe-I-believe-you'll-see-someday type of pseudo-accomplishments everyone is saying Ritz "has" or will get )

Great observation! Thanks for pointing out the part about "ASISNINE PREDICTIONS" for Mr. Ritz. I think that the "ASISNINE PREDICTIONS" which some people make here are the cause of the "Ritz Bashing". Most likely, no one here has it in for the boy, but people do have it in for the hero worshiping jock sniffers who predict that he will run sub 13 and sub 27. When Ritz falls short of their lofty expectations, the more well grounded like to point out that DR has failed to meet the expectations of the ignorant.

Tyrone Shoelaces wrote:

8:44 and 13:44 in high school

13:26 as a sophomore in college

27:36 American Collegiate record as a junior..

Just to help your case...he actually ran 1327 as a Freshman in college, just missed crushing the ajr by a day...if only his mother coulda kept him in another day.

And he ran 2738.

In the early 90's, Todd could've been a serious medal contender in the marathon. Ritz is talented and has room for progress, but in his prime Todd was an animal, and would've hammered Ritz in a long, tough road race. Remember, Todd placed 9th in world XC and 6th in world track, not to mention plenty of other good world finishes. He moved up to the marathon way too late.

Tyrone Shoelaces wrote:

Well, potentially he looks to be the most talented 10k-Marathon runner in U.S. History. On paper.

Imagine what this guy's going to do with 2 years of uninterrupted training behind him. He's a phenom at the level of Lindgren, Pre, and Chapa.

Help me out with the History. What did PRE, LINDGREN or CHAPA run in the marathon.

For that matter T WILL never ran as fast as David Morris or Jerry Lawson in the marathon. And before you guys comment about how fast Chicago is, keep in mind that T WILL ran on the same course. The point is that a great 10k to half marathon has very little to do with a great marathoner.

rid me wrote:

T WILL never ran as fast as David Morris or Jerry Lawson in the marathon.

I'm not arguing the marathon is a lot different than the 10K, but I think using T.Williams as an example isn't correct.

He didn't run THAT fast, but Williams made his marathon debut in late 1997, which was a year after he failed to make the Olympic final. Point is, Todd was a 4-time world top 10 finisher who was in obvious decline. Granted it was an easy course, but he once ran around 1-hour flat in the 13.1 before his prime. I think he runs 2:08 at worst if he moved up in the early 90's.