Why didnt Henes, Enfield, And Kurgat run last weekend?

This is an interesting curiosity. It was quite unusual to travel all the way to the meet, then not run. Someone on another thread suggested a pacer for the standard could not be found. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Infeld definitely was in the 10. Though, I went to get something to drink, came back, and she was gone. Injury maybe?

She is listed as DNS, but I think you are right......I don't think she ran more than a few laps though......Still find it hard to believe that noone spoke to them.......Rojo?

She did indeed run. They mentioned early in the race that her bib fell off, which may explain why she wasn't in the results as a DNF. But she was there for maybe 10 laps then dropped out.

Once it was obvious the standard wasn’t possible they probably decided to save their energy. But opportunities are running out…

Can't speak to Infeld or Kurgat, but Henes' agent Ray Flynn told me Henes has to balance racing and trying to get the standard/points vs being ready to be at her best for the Trials.

Reading between the lines, my guess is that she/Mike Smith (her coach) felt the race would not be fast enough and that she'd be better served training more this week instead of taking a shot at the standard and having to recover from that.

Secret code for appearance money was short.

I was at the event and I'm pretty sure you're correct, the agreed upon pace is what led to so many pros opting out. I watched Henes and Infield warming up on the opposite side of the field so the decision to not run was made close to the start of the race. Infield ran a few laps but I didn't realize Henes wasn't in the race until they passed by for the first time.

2 years ago at The Ten there was some last second squabbling about the pace - some very confused, angry runners (they talked about it on CoffeeClub Podcast) so I guess this sort of thing is common.

odd that in a pro event where the organizers are charging money for tickets they couldn't find a pace setter that could hit the standard. After all, this is an Olympic year, they must know it's the #1 priority for runners right now and a big reason running fans want to watch.

Edna got seriously injured in late October and only began training full time in March. She's not ready to race and will not be in LA this weekend either.

A few days before the meet, Sound Running had an Instagram story saying that they still were looking for a pacer. It's strange that they had to resort to that. After all, they already have the contact information of all the very fast women in the United States and/or their coaches. So I'm not sure who they thought would take them up on their Instagram offer? Maybe they were hoping for a response from a women from a foreign country?

Jesse Williams has done a great job with the Sound running races but one thing that feels like their events are constantly lacking are pacers. I understand it's tough to find quality pacers when majority of the great runners in the country are racing in your meet but it seems like something that would be viewed as a priority and just isn't.

can I ask a simple question?

why can't a male runner pace a womens 10K. is it the optics of it? in this day and age of badass girlboss feminist warriors is the inevitable backlash of a man pacing women too much to even consider?

after all, it's an Olympic year and I can totally see why Sound Running has a difficult time finding a quality pro female runner - yet there are plenty of guys who could easily do it and help these pros hit the standard now so they can go back to focusing on trails.

I wonder if it's in the fine print of qualifying standards that it can't be mixed?

Remember when Salazar did this for Hasay and Erdmann to try and get them the standard for Worlds (2013??)...using all male pacers?

Glad we chose night of 10kpbs in London on Saturday.

I think that's a good question!

I follow marathon and am brand new to following track. I was an OTQ swimmer in the mile which lasts about as long as an elite 5K. Why do runners need pacers? I mean I see how they for sure help, but are they so critical that it makes or breaks whether someone runs the race they showed up for?
Please don't attack me in the reply. You can't really see the pace clock when you're swimming for an important time standard, but you can when you're running. So why are they so important? Drafting factor?

but you'd think in an Olympic year they'd be more flexible.

Why would any runner who's already made the Olympic standard want to help those who haven't?

Why would a runner who hasn't made the standard waste a weekend pacing when they could be training or getting the standard themselves?

Are there NCAA runners capable of pacing? absolutely, but the event fell on Conference Championship weekend so none were available.

Commented this a few times in other threads, but it is just hard to find local pacers for Women's 10K because the pace is too fast for most American women right now. Most college women can't even run a 5K at the needed pace. Anyone who is fast enough to pace through 5K at the 10K standard pace will either just run in the 10K themselves, or save their efforts for a 5K later that month. The lower tier pacers you get will only be able to take runners through ~3K which is what happened at the TEN.

With how few people actually get the 10K standard, coasting once you get your own standard is a viable strategy to make it to the Olympics, whereas in the 1500/5000, basically all the competitors at trials will have the standard.

Sound Running would have to shell out a lot of money to convince one of the people vying for the American Olympic spot to reduce their own chances of qualifying by helping other Americans run the standard. Or they would have to shell out even more money to convince an overseas athlete or 2 to fly all the way out to LA just to pace one race. Sound doesn't have the backing races like Diamond League have, so they probably can't do the international pacer route very often. (but they should)

i was thinking the same thing, that you can probably count on one hand the number of pro runners who can pace a 10K Olympic standard, and being that it's an Olympic year either none are available or even interested. bad timing all around.

maybe they could've used pace lights, but I bet that's even more expensive than pacers.

looks like The Ten was the best opportunity to hit the standard. Pacers plus pace lights. now it's gonna be tough.