Chris Graff

Rodd

You are correct, I am not nor did I claim to be Seneca's peer. I simply stated that he will be judged by his peers (myself not included). Now as far as Mr. Graff he hasn't yet run a marathon and if he achieves his 2:10 I will also not be his peer. There are not many americans that will be. However, if he runs 2:15 the list of peers gets larger and if he runs 2:19 the list gets even larger and if he DNF's there will be a large list of gallowalkers that will be his peers when it comes to the marathon. WE WILL BE WATCHING.

Skeptic = Grote.

Wow, Chris Graff must be shaking in his little space boots! What is wrong with the guy saying that, more or less, he wants to be competitive on the world stage before he devotes himself to training for the marathon? I don't think his intention was to bad-mouth his fellow Americans, but to assert that he has high expectations for himself. Call him reckless if you want, but I sincerely doubt that he cares what anyone here thinks of his plans.

Without knowing for certain, I'm fairly confident that "skeptic"

Grote. As for the Chris Graff, no point in setting a "low" goal. That said, the statement about 2:15 guys was a bit impulsive but, at worst, impolitic. As are most "I'm planning on running 2:10" statements (boy, if I had a dollar for every time...)Best part about running? Such time-wasting musings by feckless third parties are settled unequivocally by an actual footrace.Full disclosure: As a far slower-than-2:15 guy, I am on an even lower rung than the guys who "could" feel slighted, but somehow I don't feel that way.

should have read: I'm fairly confident that "skeptic" is NOT Grote. Oops

Gags' didn't coach Graff when he ran for the Enclave either. As for a "disaster", I'm not sure what you are referring to. Development takes time.

This is the quote from RW by Graff. I don't see smack talking, only a guy who is training to try and run fast. Not training to run 2:15. He doesn't say anything about it being easy.

RWD: How about getting in a World Championships qualifier this spring or summer (27:49.00)?

CG: It would definitely be what we're looking for. I'm certainly hoping to run under 28 minutes, and if we run a marathon we're definitely going to shoot for 2:10, 2:09-2:10 range. If you're going to go all that way you might as well make it a good one. No sense in going out and trying to run 2:15, from our point of view, anyway.

Yes. That is the point that skeptic is making. Graff said if he's going to run a marathon, he want's to shoot for the 2:09 to 2:10 range. 2:15 to him, would be a failure. Skeptic is just "reminding" Chris of his own words. I haven't read where skeptic said Graff will be unsuccessful. I for one, expect Graff to run NO slower that 2:12 at Twin Cities.

Why are we knocking a young 28 min 10k guy for having high standards in the marathon? At least he didn't wait till he was 35 and washed up, give the guy a break...we should all set a standard a bit beyond reach, it will make you push harder.

la fleur

Wasn't there a flap last year when Rojo predicted a fast time in his next marathon, also in RW interview? Later that week, in a letter to the editor, some 2:21 marathoner took umbridge to Rojo claiming that he was going to try to run a fast time. The letter's main point is that the marathon is a whole different ball game, and 10k PRs don't mean anything. I have never run a marathon, but I have no doubt that the last six miles of a marathon have to be experiienced to be fully appreciated. That said, the guy (who wrote RW) seemed to have a chip on his shoulder that someone would publicly say that are going to try to run a time much faster than his PR.

I tend to think a little bit differently. If you are a low 28 min 10k runner, your goal should be at least 2:12. Like Skeptic, I believe if you say something publicly, you are accountable. My only problem is that Skeptic, do to some personal insecurity, seems to really want Graff to fail. Here is my take on Skeptic, from what he has disclosed. He's probably a lot like the guy who wrote RW last year; a solid marathoner, but nothing special. He feels threatened by those who are trying to run faster than him, and openly wants to see them fail. He is just waiting to get on this board next week and say, see, I told you so. What a terrible attitude. Skeptic is the type of guy who complains about the lack of top US marathoners, but the second one of our guys tries to hit the minimum world standard, he wants to see them fail.

Most of us have been around the sport (even those of us who aren't marthoners) long enough to know that the marathon can be a crap shoot. Even if you are in 2:10 shape, it doesn't mean you are going to run it. I don't know how Chris Graff's training is going, but I hope he, and all of the other first time marathoners running these next few months, spark a resurgence in American marathoning. I am hoping by year's end we have 7-8 guys with the world standard. Hopefully, by saying this, I am not demeaning all the 2:15 guys out there. Most likely they are not offended by this, as some of them will improve enough to be one of those 7-8 who have the OG time going into the OT.

I'll be watching these next few weeks too. Hopefully, as American Distance runners, and US distance running fans, we will have some efforts/times we can be take pride in. If not, at least we have some guys going for it.

well said.

"During a RW online interview earlier this year, Chris Graff stated that he wasn't going to run a marathon until he was ready to run 2:10ish. He went on to say something disparaging about a 2:15 marathon. It is now 3 days before Twin Cities. I wonder if Mr. Graff still feels the same way. I laughed when he said it and thought this joker is either setting himself up for a big fall or is upset that others (Larsen,Dowling,Verran) are receiving more credit than he sees just. Either way, JUDGEMENT DAY IS ONLY 3 DAYS AWAY. We will be watching. I haven't heard anything so outrageous since......oh yeah, Gags claimed a sub 3:31 1500 within his first year. Go Farm Team."

What I want to know is why high goals are something to be scoffed at? Would you have been happier if Gags had said: "Within my first year we will have at lest one sub 3:45 1500."? Or if Graff had said: "I'll go out and give my best effort and anything under 2:20 will be fine, because, hey, that's preety darn good on the national stage."?

What Graff DID say is that there is no reason for him to shoot for a 2:15 marathon. He feels that if he is going to run a marathon he wants to be under the A-standard, again I ask what is wrong with that?

I am excited for JUDGEMENT DAY and although I won't be watching, as the race is not televised, I will be waiting for a good result from a high number of US runners.

Gags doesnt coach the distance guys in the Farm team. Thats Vinny's thing. Gags coaches the mid-distance crew. Matt Centrowitz, now at American U in Dc I think coached Graff when he ran his 10k pr. If it aint broke, why go to Stanford and fix it?

I am sorry if I misled anyone. My ego was destroyed 20 years ago when I was still tryng to achieve. I am at the age now where when I race I try to see how much I have slowed from the previous race. I have zero future goals as far as running goes. I do not no Chris Graff and I have never met him. I just feel that people should be held accountable for their words. I hope that 25 americans run under 2:10. I think that this would be great for our sport. I just feel that Chris came across as ignorant to the event. I feel that if he would of said I hope to run sub 2:10 but I am inexperienced at the Marathon and we will have to see how my body responds in the latter stages. I would be saying, this guy has some lofty goals isn't that awesome. He instead came across as demeaning toward a 2:15 marathon (a time that only 3 americans have bested over the last 2 years). To which I say BACK IT UP CLOWN. If someone were to ask me how long it would take me to swim the english channel, I would not have a good answer as I have never attempted it before. And as far as Coach Gags. He said quote "I have been brought in here for one reason, to produce a 3:31 1500 meter runner in the next 12 months." This was said in Eugene Oregon at Nationals to a group of Collegiate Coaches in a Q&A meeting/seminar. If he had said we are hoping to produce a 3:31 it would be different. He said it was THE ONLY reason he was brought to the farm. Maybe he lied or maybe he was trying to be deceptive or maybe it was hype. I feel the same is involved with Chris, but maybe I am wrong. WE WILL BE WATCHING.

Instead Gags helped develop Nicole Teter to a 1:57 800m American Record. Keep watching my friend.

Coach Gagliano did an awesome job with Nicole Teter and is an excellent coach but he didn't achieve what he was brought in for. You are talking about apples and oranges.

1. I hire someone to paint my house. After not painting my house you tell me so what he washed your car. I hired him to paint my house. Coach Gagliano did not do what he said he was hired for.

Knower,

get off everyones nuts. I doubt, Chris Graff has ever got on this web site. I doubt he has ever seen your post. And I doubt if he ever has seen these post he cares. Cause once you get to that level that Graff is at, you could care less what others think. Your in it for you, the hardest person on Graff is Graff. He is the only one that wakes up an looks in the mirror and see Chris Graff. So, do I think he cares that, "WE ARE WATCHING" as you say. Heck no, cause you won't be half as hard on him posting, stuipd crap on the internet, as he will be on himself. I want people to talk good about other runners, not put them down, unless there just cocky S.O.B's which Graff isn't he just said he wanted to go all out if he ran the marothon.

As an elite runner, reading this thread makes me sick. No serious runner would be offended by Graff's comments. The guy has lofty goals. That's a good thing. His comments clearly show that he's putting pressure on himself to perform. If you were doing the training that he is, you would be thinking along the same lines. You people are pathetic.

Again, comments and debates about facts are useful, but please don't use you "half-truths" and your own "spin" to further your own unexplained hangup with all things Palo Alto.

Gags' was brought in to coach, plain and simple. His goals are and have been since he started "helping" post-collegians (in 1993), to get athletes to the medal stand at Nationals, Worlds and the Olympics. I can guarantee you and everyone else on this board that he did not say in an unsolicited manner, "I am going to develop a 3:31 1500m guy" or the "Only reason I was brought in is to develop a 3:31 guy"

Gags is one of a very few coaches in the country who understands how difficult it is to run 3:31 because he has already coached someone to that time. He would never trivialize or spout off about it. He doesn't brag, he doesn't make predictions on performance time and he definitely doesn't go to coaching clinics to make bold statements about how he is going to coach someone to a fast time. He thinks fast times are meaningless (i.e., he learned this working with Steve Holman and his national meet disapointments). Further he has no use for coaches who make predictions about how fast their athletes will run.

I wasn't there but if those words were said it was probably in the context of discussing what his and his athletes goals are for the 1500/mile. I imagine it was probably followed up with something like, "fast times are great, but your PR is not going to help you in the 3rd round of the Olympic 800m or the Olympic Trials 1500m Final...Only solid racing will."