Yea he even got put into milrose somehow, and ran 4:02-4:04ish. Not sure how he got in though.
cough! *nike money* cough!
Yea he even got put into milrose somehow, and ran 4:02-4:04ish. Not sure how he got in though.
cough! *nike money* cough!
Chelenga takes out hard and evenly, not as fast as prenationals but fast, and too fast for Rupp to hang on.
But Rupp keeps within reach, and way ahead of the pack.
Fernandez is nowhere to be seen, running with his teammates, laying off somewhere way back in the middle of the top 1/2 of the pack.
Rupp catches up with Chelenga between 5 and 8k, where they get deeper and deeper into a crashing hard fought battle to the tape, neither of them giving an inch to the other. As they're flying past 8k, another figure is fast approaching on an unrelenting mission but the first two are flying! Past 9k and pushing to the finish, and it's.... the metro g'fernandez'o'meter has caught them! The hard fought battle continues... as they get to the last 400 meters and......
J.R. wrote:
Chelenga takes out hard and evenly, not as fast as prenationals but fast, and too fast for Rupp to hang on.
But Rupp keeps within reach, and way ahead of the pack.
Fernandez is nowhere to be seen, running with his teammates, laying off somewhere way back in the middle of the top 1/2 of the pack.
Rupp catches up with Chelenga between 5 and 8k, where they get deeper and deeper into a crashing hard fought battle to the tape, neither of them giving an inch to the other. As they're flying past 8k, another figure is fast approaching on an unrelenting mission but the first two are flying! Past 9k and pushing to the finish, and it's.... the metro g'fernandez'o'meter has caught them! The hard fought battle continues... as they get to the last 400 meters and......
Sounds like you've got freshman fernandez catching guys who will be running at better than 27:20 effort (for track) meaning that he'll have to be running 27:10 or better offort to reel them in, and then possibly outkick them. That does sound like quite a fantasy. If German goes with Rupp he may (a big MAY) be able to stick with him for a while. His only hope is that Rupp is having a big off day, doesn't pull too far away and then looks vulnerable later on. Rupp would have to have a bad day and Fernandez would need the race of his life.
I won't say it's impossible, but I would say highly unlikely. And I don't even know what to say about chelenga.
I remember around 97 or 98 some kenyan stomped Goucher at Pre-nats, but come NCAA's Goucher put the stomp on him. Pre-nats is early and A LOT changes by the end.
People seem to forget that Rupp is rounding into form and Stomping guys who could beat German in cross last year in high school. Rupp's fitness curve is much sharper than guys who have been training most of the summer for cross and racing throughout a cross season. He did the same thing last year and got beat by one guy who logged 1,000's of miles over the months preceding the race with that one race in mind. Meanwhile Rupp competed in the U.S. & world Track championships, took down time, then began training and got in 2 cross races prior to nats. And last year there was a large group prediction Lopez for the win after his pre-nats.
As I said, anything can happen and I have no idea how chelenga will peak or how hill respond if he has Rupp shadowing him for 6-7K. To me the most likely scenario is that German is getting very excited at this point (probably too excited) and when he gets in the big show with some veterans who will peak at the right time he'll be running his buns off for top 10, with Luke and Derrick to worry about beating. If Shadrack Kiptoo peaks properly German could get beat by 3 ducks. If you falter just a bit at NCAA's you get swallowed up. You can go from the single digit placings to the mid 30's very quickly over the last couple of kilos.
I'm a fan of all runners who are fun to watch, so I'd love to see German bring a huge race. He wouldn't completley suprise me with a 3rd place finish, but more likely I see a hard fought race for a top 10 finish if things go well.
I can't wait to see what Rupp and Chelenga do.
you people are really underestimating rupp (he's a facking olypmian!)...i'd think between his experience and his support system (alberto, etc.) he has a strategy on what on to do if chelanga opens hard...i don't know what it is, but he'll have something up his sleeve
my guess is he lets chelanga go for the first 1k or so, then spends the race closing on him, catching him at 9k and crushing him for a 15-20 second win
irrelevant, they won't be racing each other because Terre Haute is not Rupp certified
If Rupp were from an East African country, he would not be an Olympian. The fact that he made it there is nice and all and I congratulate him for doing so - a lot bette rto make it for any country than to not go at all, but I don't buy the argument that it makes him better than Chelanga somehow. Those guys who ran 11 and 12 seconds in the 100m a tthe Olympics are not somehow better ahletes for having been wupped by Usain Bolt and company - though they sure have nice stories to tell their kids.
Agreed. The "Olympian status" doesn't mean he should be favored above Chelanga, a Kenyan non-Olympian. E.g., how many Kenyans have broken 2:10:00 for the marathon in '08? Isn't it into the hundreds? And how many made their Olympic team?
Chelanga may beat Rupp, but he's going to have to bleed to do it.
It's going to be Pre vs. Nick Rose II
Stop Rupp
No, there were not hundreds of kenyans that broke 2:10. Are you serious?
seriouslyWTF wrote:
No, there were not hundreds of kenyans that broke 2:10. Are you serious?
not hundreds, but a lot
Feed Wheating chili have him hang in front of chelanga for 800....... "pahhaaaaat".
german may win
vail top 10
OK #1 team over fruity Oragon
troll alert wrote:
About Rupp never having run sub 4, I'm just wondering when the last time he even ran a mile or 1500. I remember he came close to 4 flat in high school, and I find it hard to believe he couldn't go sub 4 if he tried it.
Al Sal set up a bunch of attempts prior to the olympics. I think he went 401 at Harry Jerome in Vancouver {not sure whick race but they went for sub 4 and failed I think?]
You're right. I only counted 55 Kenyans under 2:10 so far in 2008. There may be a few more since there were some Kenyan sounding names in the list but with no country affiliation provided. By the time the year is over, we're probably looking at approx. 65 Kenyans under 2:10. Astounding.
Why are you formulating strategies for Rupp to beat Chelanga and not vice-versa? I mean, other than the obvious...
. . . other than the obvious what?
My hunch — only a hunch — is that SC will go out very, very fast. My opinion — only an opinion — is that it won't serve GR well to hang right with him from the start. I also think that the ONLY way SC can beat GR is to run the way he ran at Pre Nats.
I remember around 97 or 98 some kenyan stomped Goucher at Pre-nats, but come NCAA's Goucher put the stomp on him. Pre-nats is early and A LOT changes by the end.
That would be Julius Mwangi from Butler I believe
I need to learn some HTML. Then I would always make bold statements.
What do you think the chances are that AlSal will do something out of the ordinary bordering on breaking the rules to help Rupp win. I say about 50%.
03runner03 wrote:
I remember around 97 or 98 some kenyan stomped Goucher at Pre-nats, but come NCAA's Goucher put the stomp on him. Pre-nats is early and A LOT changes by the end.That would be Julius Mwangi from Butler I believe
yup that sounds right. I remember it as a shocker beatdown at pre-nats, and then Goucher getting pretty pissed and returning the favor when it really counted.