Parker Valby would have hit Olympic Standard if she ran The 10

Yes

People are completely ignoring the fact that Valby is a low volume runner. She's not sifan hassan. I'd be shocked if she could perform at her peak a week after racing a 3k and 5k to then race a 10k against pros.

True. She would not specifically have been good in The 10, but she could run faster in the right pro race.

Since she has improved, she actually has never been in a race where she could be pulled to a faster time at any distance.

I think everyone agrees shed run at least 10 seconds faster if there was at least one woman to run faster with her. Unfortunately she's leagues better than anyone in college and she's also probably better than 90% of US female pros.

TEN pacers were awful like genuinely one of the worst performances I've ever seen. If they didn't manage to get Nikki Hiltz at the last minute it would have been the worst. The race other than Gebreselama looked bleak until the chase group managed to hold on near the end to get the standard.

I feel like Valby might have gotten carried away and tried to go with Gebreselama like Monson did and then burn out because the pace was too hot.

She will be forgotten about after FL. She would have to seriously work on her form

Will you enjoy watching this form running down the streets of LA headed toward the Olympic Stadium in 2028?

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Post of the week. She will make an Olympic team this year. She is the future 10K American record holder.

I completely agree with this. The only reason I can think of for her coaches to choose this meet was that it was her first 10K. If she blew up and it didn't go well she could have still gotten first place and saved face. I would think it would have been frustrating to be trying for such a challenging time with all of that traffic to lap. In hindsight this race seems like a poor choice.

I think the big hole for Parker Valby at this point is her lack of experience racing against the elite US women distance runners, especially if she is planning a bid for a spot in Paris. She has run fantastic, but she has not races stiff competition and those are very different kinds of races. Tactical competitive races are going to leave her vulnerable, and that is a likely scenario at the trials. It just seems like her coaches could have killed two birds with one stone here in getting her that experience and the Olympic qualifier. I feel bad for her that she came so close and didn't get it, and I don't think that it is her fault that she didn't. She was capable of 10 more seconds.

Unfortunately now it seems like the women who would have pushed her through a whole 10K race now have the standard and likely won't run another 10K before the trials. The Ten was a really good opportunity. I guess at this point NCAA's was a higher priority than Paris.

while I agree The 10 pacers weren't great they were so much better than the Bryan Clay ones. I think amongst pros Valby would have run a similar race as Nico Young - stay in the front group then go in the end, always making sure to be within striking distance of the pacing lights. and she would have held back, or at least run a smart enough race not to burn out. nobody cares who wins The Ten, it's all about hitting standards.

I think she would have fared better if she could have chosen to have pacing lights rather than those two pacers last night. Even with having to lap the whole field, as good as she is at pushing herself solo I think they could just put her in any race with pacing lights set to 30:39 and she would hit the standard.

She can’t run on that world stage if she can’t train

I agree. I'm a big fan and think Valby has a promising future if she can stay uninjured. But given that she's still an NCAA runner - which presumably means she will have to run, at the very least, races at conference, then NCAA regionals, then NCAA nationals - and then be expected to pick it up a notch and compete at US nationals and finish in the top 3, while also getting an Olympic qualifying time somewhere along the way, and then presumably expecting her to do well at the Olympics...just seems a little too much to ask for someone that has only been able to train consistently for a relatively short time.

Also, it seems slightly absurd to me that when someone breaks an NCAA record, the first reaction from some fans is "but she should have run faster". I think that kind of pressure to always achieve more, and right now, can be a big factor in athlete burnout.

Valby is a hobbyjogger. She would be a none factor as a pro.

I just don't buy it. Parker isn't that "low volume" overall when you take into account how much she cross trains. Just because she only runs on land 25-40 mpw doesn't mean she couldn't have handled it. You don't need to be Sifan Hassan. I think this is a situation where the coach got in his head thinking about it, wanted to be smart. It's an Olympic year. Not the time to be worried about being fragile. Parker isn't as fragile as everyone thinks.

People seem to forget that the only reason she continues with cross training is because it has worked. There's no evidence she would break down doing 60 mpw. Nor that she would've broken down doing a 10k 7 days after a 3k/5k double. It's all assumptions.

She needs to maybe consider a race in Europe, or anywhere with a good 10k field that will get her the standard. She has a shot at the Olympics and should go for it. NCAAs should take 2nd place now, but she could pitch in by easily winning the 5k whilst jogging.