Splits from the XC Nationals are posted

It seems like every kilometer got progressively slower.

I heard they had split clocks at all the MILE points. Aside from being a much bigger hassle for the organizers, why didn't they just have a clock at the km points? Would only need 2, and that way all the splits would be even. Oh yeah, I forgot, Americans are too dumb to think metrically.

We only had clocks at the 2K and finish. There were miles marks, but not clocks.

damn, people were hurting, after the first k they just dropped off. Look at the 12th K splits for alot of them!

JimG wrote:

I heard they had split clocks at all the MILE points. Aside from being a much bigger hassle for the organizers, why didn't they just have a clock at the km points? Would only need 2, and that way all the splits would be even. Oh yeah, I forgot, Americans are too dumb to think metrically.

That's the problem with dumbfuxs like you on this board, you believe everything you hear and spout off garbage without even knowing your @ss from a hole in the ground.

Benji, Thanks for the splits interesting to see the progression. best, Oakley

Jordan Hassay's first kilometer split was faster than Ritz's last kilometer.

Thanks Benji:

The timing would be a LOT easier to read if the watch only provided seconds. The extra (but unnecessary) information provided by the 100ths of a second just make it hard to read the table.

5 out of the top 10 runners were coaches by the same guy. hmmmm. Any guesses who?

1 Alan Culpepper Nike Lafayette CO 34 37:09

2 Adam Goucher Nike Portland OR 31 37:35

3 Dathan Ritzenhein Nike Boulder CO 24 37:47

4 Jorge Torres Reebok Boulder CO 26 38:07

5 Michael Spence New Balance Ogden UT 28 38:15

6 Zach Sabatino New York Athletic Club Morgantown WV 23 38:16

7 Fasil Bizuneh New Balance Flagstaff AZ 26 38:24

8 James Carney New Balance Marina CA 28 38:25

9 Jason Lehmkuhle Minneapolis MN 29 38:26

10 Edwardo Torres Reebok Boulder CO 26 38:31

11 Andrew Carlson Team USA Minnesota / Asics Minneapolis MN 24 38:33

12 Matthew Gabrielson Reebok Minneapolis MN 28 38:42

13 Celedonio Rodriguez Reebok Alamosa CO 26 38:44

14 Ryan Shay Saucony East Jordan MI 27 38:46

15 Jason Hartmann Nike Boulder CO 25 38:46

When the hell is Ritz going to be honest with himself. I've never seen such fade in a 12k. 31 seconds between his fastest and his slowest, with an astounding slow lap of 3:22. It shows that he still thinks in far bigger terms than he can actually deliver. It further shows that we shouldnt expect much of him in the marathon before he wises up a bit. The sage marathoners kicked ass, and the 'fast' guys looked inexperienced, arrogant and foolish.

IMPRESSIVE. Great Post. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Excellent post. You'd think Ritz would learn at some point, but apparently not...It seems like most people displayed a little too much excitement to start. I really think that if anyone one of those junior girls could've chilled and not tried to sprint down Hasay in the first 800m, they could have caught her because she died big-time. To be fair, in addition to the usual mindless idiocy, a great deal of the positive splitting was also due to the gradual attrition of the course as it just got worse and worse throughout each lap of each race. In reality, Culpepper probably would have negative split if the course wasn't three inches of mud by the fourth loop. I still don't get why Julian had that damned "lead ATV" out there. I'm sure there was some purpose, but all I saw was the course getting destroyed...Culpepper and Castor completely inspired me.

I suppose that you think Goucher was doing better. Guess what, the 3:22 was Goucher's; Ritz had 3:21. In the last kilometer Goucher was not going to catch Culp and Ritz was not going to catch Goucher, and Torres was not going to catch Ritz. The all ran the last 1000 in 3:21+/- 1 second and the gaps were 10-20 seconds. It was also a qualifying race for Worlds, so top 9 was important.

Eliot Heath ran nearly identical laps the whole way.

26mi235 wrote:

Thanks Benji:

The timing would be a LOT easier to read if the watch only provided seconds. The extra (but unnecessary) information provided by the 100ths of a second just make it hard to read the table.

I agree; when I get some time I'll round the times off. Usually I get complaints when I don't include the hundreths, so I didn't bother to round off yesterday.

That sounds cute and all that, but I guarantee that those guys were not simply racing for top 9.

26mi235 wrote:

I suppose that you think Goucher was doing better. Guess what, the 3:22 was Goucher's; Ritz had 3:21. In the last kilometer Goucher was not going to catch Culp and Ritz was not going to catch Goucher, and Torres was not going to catch Ritz. The all ran the last 1000 in 3:21+/- 1 second and the gaps were 10-20 seconds. It was also a qualifying race for Worlds, so top 9 was important.

Impressive Win Culp wrote:

When the hell is Ritz going to be honest with himself. I've never seen such fade in a 12k. 31 seconds between his fastest and his slowest, with an astounding slow lap of 3:22. It shows that he still thinks in far bigger terms than he can actually deliver. It further shows that we shouldnt expect much of him in the marathon before he wises up a bit. The sage marathoners kicked ass, and the 'fast' guys looked inexperienced, arrogant and foolish.

So this race went out a little fast at the beginning. Big deal. Everyone went out a bit too fast. Ritz was just trying for the win. Not sure how that's thinking in far bigger terms than he can deliver. No one in that race is out of his league. He just didn't win on this day. Too many of you people are so quick to rip on runners when they have bad performances. I see that Webb has finally fallen back to the level of SUCKAGE. Guess I'm going to have to start defending that guy again too like I did when he was mediocre at Michigan.

Nice win for Culpepper and nice run for Goucher, but the fact of the matter is that both of those guys are on the downside of their careers (along with Meb). The future lies with Ritz and Webb and Hall and Tegenkamp. Even Abdi is getting close to the top of his hill. I really don't see a need to rip any of them.

hey FW, if Teg, Hall, Meb, and Webb all peaked for this race like Ritz did, they would all have beaten him (and please don't do one of your: "for as long I live, Webb will NEVER beat Ritz in X, Y, or Z race. " You've blown that one too many times already) .

So, what does that make Ritz? The 7th best distance runner in the US currently? Whatever happend to him being "the most talented distance runner in US history" and "by far the most taltented one running today" ??? Looks like you've finally gotten used to being wrong about Ritz..

can I get an amen? wrote:

hey FW, if Teg, Hall, Meb, and Webb all peaked for this race like Ritz did, they would all have beaten him (and please don't do one of your: "for as long I live, Webb will NEVER beat Ritz in X, Y, or Z race. " You've blown that one too many times already) .

So, what does that make Ritz? The 7th best distance runner in the US currently? Whatever happend to him being "the most talented distance runner in US history" and "by far the most taltented one running today" ??? Looks like you've finally gotten used to being wrong about Ritz..

1) I never said Ritz was "by far the most talented...". I've always said Webb and KK were equal or better at their respective distances. Tegenkamp came out of mediocrity last season to surprise many people including me. Hall ripped off an amazing half marathon -- one that I never thought he was capable of.

What I see happening right now is this -- Tegenkamp and Hall have proven with performances to be better than I thought they would be (and no one can tell me they thought Hall would run 59:43 or that Tegenkamp would run 13:04 last season, so I'm hardly alone). Ritz's rise has been slower though progressive, and this last race of his while decent was not great for him. He's in a bit of a valley right now. We've not seen the last of Ritz winning US titles or even more, so don't lose the faith brother. He's just going to have more competition than I figured he'd have, and just in case you're wondering, I think that's great. Many of you think I'm a Ritz fan for some reason. I'm not. I'm a fan of awesome performances, and especially awesome US performances. So far, in the last year Tegenkamp and Hall get the nod as the best. Culpepper did well with this victory of his, but I think his best has already happened. Still need to hope for better things to come from that under 30 group.

I would not say Ritz is the 7th best distance runner in the US. I'd call him 3rd at this year's CC Championships.