2nd heat results anybody?
2nd heat results anybody?
Old Fart wrote:
That is more impressive than Regina's sub4:00 1500m indoor world record.
And even more so, given that he is not on drugs.
Open letter to Jorge Torres:
Stop wasting your time racing 5ks! You are a 10K/marathon guy. Move up now. You should have run tonight's race. You could have tested yourself against your former teammate. But no, you rather dream of running a 13:10 someday. That someday may never come. Get real, move up. You are a sub-28 guy the day you toe the line for 25 laps. What are you afraid of and what are you waiting for? The clock's ticking...
that is pretty harsh. true but harsh. i am sure he is surfing the letsrun forums looking for advice from knowledgeable track gurus like you
That was Lydiard speaking from the grave.
I'm not surprised Webb did this. The guy was fast in HS at 3200m, regularly runs well in XC and is just plain talented at 1500m/5000m. It's no stretch of imagination that he could extend his talent to 10k.
I believe Webb is the first guy in a long time who considers himself a "runner" and not "a 1500 runner" or "a 5000 runner", etc.
Webb is now faster than Kennedy at both 1500m and 10000m. I'm sure Kennedy could have run a faster 10k, but he never did. Given Webb's vastly superior mile speed, I think the next AR we will see is Webb taking down Kennedy's 3000m record. I will be surprised if Webb does not surpass Kennedy's 5k time this summer too.
Whether Webb will end up with the AR at 5k this summer depends a lot on Lagat. Some people think it is a given that Lagat will own the record so long as he doesn't start showing the effects of age. I'm not so sure about that. Lagat is clearly faster than Webb, but Webb has been showing great improvement at the mile and is closing the gap. Now he has shown his strength at 10k. Can Lagat run 27:34? Perhaps at 5k Webb can beat Lagat even if Lagat isn't in an age-induced decline.
I am excited to see the results the US puts up this year in the 5k and 10k. We are definitely on the way with today's performances (way to go Fam).
Webb is what American distance running needed. Kennedy showed that we could be close to the Africans but it was one man against an army in one event. I think Webb will mix it up well in the 1500-5000 (maybe even 10k) but with his extra-curricular activities like today's 10k he will shame other Americans like Ritz into stepping up their game.
Lastly, I don't expect we'll see this happen but at this point I would not be surprised to see Webb line up at the New York Marathon. The guy is not afraid to experiment and so far all of his experiments have been a great success. It would be totally foolish for him to run a marathon but a year ago most would say it would be foolish for him to run a 10k. The guy is unpredictable and I think that's great. I can't wait to see him go head to head with Mottram. Maybe the white man will own the 5k this summer??? It sounds crazy but who knows...
I was there tonight. Wow. An American classic. I was a bit surprised at how well Webb looked, how he held his pace and never panicked when Ritz tried to move a couple times. Webb clearly has the tools to make everyone forget the all of the other great American runners ever if he just stays the course. He will be the Greatest in time.
That being said, let me tell you something- when Webb layed down his accelerator with about 190m to go, Ritz went right with him and held him stride for stride until 100m to go. Only then did Webb hammer down. Ritz never showed an inch of give to Webb's superior mile speed, he never conceded that. His strength/speed has improved remarkably and if not for some weak pacing after Aish dropped out, these guys would have been under 27:30. No AR tonight under any conditions, but would have been even faster. Ritz truly showed he is a warrior.
As for Fam, I am speechless. This guy has no fear of anything, nothing. He can achieve as much as he wants. Fam is unbelievable.
Proud to be an American distance fan.
Wow! What a race that must have been. I've just read the whole of this thread even though I knew the result. Webb has certainly proved he is the real deal. Also, the up-turn in American distance running is a great boost and inspiration for the non-african nations. Us Brits ought to perhaps look less at the Kenyans adn Ehtiopians and look more at you guys. Before we start worrying about going sub-30, sub 27 etc we need to start get (back) to the 13.20/27.30/2.09 range.
Keep up the good work!
I was there, too. I haven't read thru the whole thread, but it should be noted that The Fam ran 59.8 to Webb's 61.2. The Fam post race antics were quite comical...he was a happy dude.
the race was incredible... and to all those u said that webb had a bunch left, i dont know about that. he had a strong kick, but i think he left most of it out there on the track...he looked pretty beat after the race. if there was anyone with something left it was FAM. his post race antics were both humerous to watch and incredible to witness. after running a 59 to close anything, sprinting down the track is not enjoyable...fam made it seem like a cooldown. haha...most incredible race ive ever seen
come on guys, they ran a lap short. get wise you rednecks
This shows how good TWILL was. Besides MEB noone has ran faster in 11 years and we're in the middle of the best American distance running of all time.
Anyone have splits?
Looks painful.
What happened to Gabe Jennings (DNF) and Matt Lane (29:xx)?
Two years ago, I would've predicted Fam to do this. In fact, I predicted him for some performances that didn't pan out last year, but am still not surprised he did so well. Remember that he ran some awesome road races and beat some top runners a couple years ago. A little like a poor man's Broe from 2002.
money4 wrote:
great job to webb and ritz. cannot believe fam hung in there with them. fam must of ran a lot of the race alone. looks like he was 30 seconds back at one point. so i would say he still has a lot of potential to run a really fast 10k since he was able to run off a 30 second debt.
Yep. Fam didn't hang in there with them. He darn near kicked them down, and just may beat both of them if they meet again.
Gabe was pacing. Matt Lane, I don't know. Too bad Gabe goofed around those valuable training years. He should be a big part of this right now.
Webb's performance should surprise no one, since his eye-opening two-mile and 5,000 performances from last year suggested he could run 27:20ish. The key to Ritz will be his longevity. If he can sustain a racing season, he should still be able to approach the low 27-teens, if not 27:10 this year. However, Webb will be the guy to break the AR in the 5k and GOUCHER will be the fastest in the 10k at years' end.
Skuj wrote:
Impressive 10000m results - but is it totally shocking / unexpected?
I'm more surprised that Webb actually entered this race, as a young man hoping for a 3:46 Mile in the near future! I don't see how a 10000m thrash in April helps with the 3:46 aspirations.
But maybe I'm missing something? :)
In the "old days", lots of world class milers ran the World XC Champs (12K) during the spring before track season. I think a 10K-12K race fits in very nicely during base / strength training.