it's just your guess that Ritz would win now mostly because Meb is recovering from London, so that contention doesn't mean a whole lot. Just because there is evidence to suggest Ritz will be better doesn't mean he will better. There is plenty of evidence to suggest he won't be (ie. his injury problems). The only facts here is that Meb is currently the better runner.
classic wrote:
The only facts here is that Meb is currently the better runner.
No he isn't.
wow that's a convincing argument. (sarcasm)
i love lesbians
I think he'll run better than 13:15/27:30. He ran 13:16 last year in less than ideal circumstances and his 28:08 on the road on a somewhat challenging course points to Ritz being on the right track. Beating Buster by so much and getting the course record was huge IMO. No other way around it. It was way more than Buster simply having a bad day.
I can see him getting to 13:10 and 27:25 this summer, perhaps faster.
Nahtad wrote:
...He ran 13:16 last year in less than ideal circumstances...
...I can see him getting to 13:10 and 27:25 this summer, perhaps faster.
What were the less than ideal circumstances? He had 3 great 5K opportunities, one of them with Bekele I think.
If he gets to 13:10, then his 10K time will definitely be under 27:20 for sure. But, he won't get to 13:10.
I'll have to check but I believe the 13:16 was on a windy day and the pace was slow (tactical) for a good portion of it.
classic wrote:
talent is purely subjective. if it objective, then how do you quantify it. go for it, i\'d really like to hear this.
The amount of time it takes to finish a race when you\'re a freshman? lol
dsn wrote:
and you also conveniently forgot that in the space of his 2 marathons which weren't great, Meb still ran a 1:02 half and won the USA 15k champs.
Hasn't Ritz run 1:01.33 or something?
flagpole, i hear what you are saying, but you are overlooking one important fact: durability and staying uninjured are definitely part of a distance runner's talent. Ritz unfortunately seems pretty weak in this department, and thus, may be fairly evaluated as inferior to Meb.
But Flagpole wasn\'t talking about long term durability. He said that if Ritz and Meb were to race today, Ritz would win.
Based on Ritz\'s last race and what Meb has done the last 6 months, putting money on Ritz would be a very good bet.
sdfsadfsdfsd wrote:
dsn wrote:and you also conveniently forgot that in the space of his 2 marathons which weren't great, Meb still ran a 1:02 half and won the USA 15k champs.
Hasn't Ritz run 1:01.33 or something?
This says 1:01:26 --
http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Ritzenhein_Dathan.aspAnibolicman wrote:
But Flagpole wasn't talking about long term durability. He said that if Ritz and Meb were to race today, Ritz would win.
Based on Ritz's last race and what Meb has done the last 6 months, putting money on Ritz would be a very good bet.
This is correct. I'm glad to know someone out there can actually absorb what I write.
you should compare both for what they have done in the last 6 months to be fair.
Meb: 3rd in the USATF half-mara champs in 1:02:22 and won the usatf 15k champs over Hall on a hot day in 43:40. DNF at London at mile 16 because of an achilles injury.
Ritz: 3rd at USATF xc champs, 6th at Edinburgh XC in 29:02, and then won at the Kidney 10k in low 28's.
seems about even to me if you are comparing people simply based on peformances in the last 6months.
Meb is 32 (not getting any faster) and Dathan is 24 (should be getting faster). Not much to discuss here really.
Anibolicman wrote:
But Flagpole wasn't talking about long term durability. He said that if Ritz and Meb were to race today, Ritz would win.
Based on Ritz's last race and what Meb has done the last 6 months, putting money on Ritz would be a very good bet.
I wasn't either. I was talking about how resistance to injury is intertwined with what is typically described as "talent". In other words, Ritz's "potential" hasn't gone unrealized BECAUSE of injuries. Rather his propensity to get injured IS a huge part of what his potential really is. Unfortunately, his potential is probably significantly less than what Flagpole and others have attributed to him. I don't know, I guess it all comes down to whether or not you think talent and durability are dissociable. I contend that they're not.
PS. A victory in one race wouldn't make Ritz a better runner than Meb or vice versa, as the case may be.