Coach D wrote:
Tergat ran 2:05 in his second marathon and he broke the WR on his third. Khannouchi also set the WR on his third, Geb on his 5th. The marathon is not easy on the body and one does not get that many high quality attempts.
2:10 was a great time when Malmo was running. The discussion here is an indication of the extent to which the Africans have raised the bar.
No, the discussion here is an indication of the extent of what a bunch of stupid, bitter, small-minded, petty little douches most of the posters are. Also, how little they understand running or physiology, even the fundamentals.
Jesus Christ, reading this garbage is like having Comedy Central do a special on running every night on my computer.
You guys suck. You guys pile on and criticize every chance you get.
I didn't want to but I will say it. What other runners have ...
won the National 2-mile outdoors THREE YRS?
ran an 8:41 as a junior?
Ran three FL Championships? Won two of them?
ran 1:54, 4:05, 8:41, 14:10 as a junior?
Been undefeated by HS'ers for two yrs?
Ran 13:44 for a near HS-record?
Placed third in the WJCCC against overage foriegners? As a HS'er?
Ran a 13:27 as a college freshman? Has any freshman beside Nyambui or something ever run that fast as a freshman?
run 27th at the WCCC as a freshman?
As a frosh he placed 4th in XC, 4th in indoor, and 4th in outdoor 5k. Losing to the same people each time.
Run 27:38 as a third-year student? Or any year? In his debut at 10k no less?
How many runners have 8:11y, 13:16, 27:35 by age 24? Or any age?
How many place 9th in the Olympics?
I get it that there are probably 50 men in the world who could have performed at his Beijing level, most of them would be Ethiopian and Kenyan and Moroccan runners left off the team.
I get it that he has been injured often and been injured at innopportune times. I get that.
What I don't get is how someone can be nearly the fastest 2-miler all-time as a 10th, 11th and 12th grader and also in the 5k and win National Championships at ever stop along the way (HS, College and Pro) in every discipline and people don't think he will at least be at the level of those before him (mainly Salazar and Virgin)?
When someone runs 13:44 in HS and 13:27 the next year (the best in U.S. history) he has as good a chance as anyone to keep going and keep getting U.S. best marks. Will he? I have no idea, but I know based on his 12 years of running at the highest levels that he has a chance.
I tell you another thing that I said 10 yrs ago: If he got good enough to start a race at 14:08 and then drop a 4:25 mile near the end of a marathon I would no longer be a fan because I would know that he had gone to the darkside. Has he already? Don't know, but if he could run with the top people in the world right now I WOULD KNOW.
You guys crack me up who tear down people like DR who are trying their hardest and Hudson who is coaching the best he can ... if you knew either of them they aren't arrogant blowhards. If they say they were shooting for 2:06 then it is because someone asked them. I have seen Ritz run many times when he was younger and he NEVER bragged, NEVER talked trash ... he was actually very boring for a 17-year-old running 4:09 indoors.
I realize that just because Hudson and Ritz are faster than all of us they are not beyond criticism or discussion, but if all of you are soooo much better at managing and developing distance running talent ... what happened to all of you? Seriously?
Have you really been that sterling with your own potential that you can take constant pot-shots at somebody this good?
You guys come across as the typical "superfans" from Football and basketball that scream at the screen and critique games they never even played. You also seem like a bunch of know-it-all NO-TALENT ass-clowns.
Give it a rest and discuss something you know about ... because you have never run a sub-30 10k and then kept going for 20 more miles.