Bumbalough

You explain your own surprise. He ain't know Derrick, Fernandez, or even Jager or Mead. He probably would have gotten fifth in that race to four younger runners.

disceroo wrote:

You explain your own surprise. He ain't know Derrick, Fernandez, or even Jager or Mead. He probably would have gotten fifth in that race to four younger runners.

?

He's beaten Mead in cross the last 2 years. He ran faster last night than golden boy Fernandez. And don't pull the injury card. Bumbalough was out a lot of the winter with an achilles injury. After slower indoor races and not looking sharp lately, it is surprising he could run a big PR and be right with the pros, closing well on some top runners.

Bodes well for the coming months.

All true, BUT, he is 21 or 22, whereas the others are 19 or 20 I think. Watching the video again, he did close pretty hard. How do you think he would have finished in Heat 2? And how do you think the others would have fared in his heat?

Pure speculation.

Was that your answer?

I was at the race, and Bumbalough looked very good. As the OP mentioned, just two seconds back from Chelanga. Chelanga is a quick guy, and Bumbalough appeared to actual close on him a little at the end. He also beat several big names, including Johnathon Riley, former NCAA 5000 meter champion, and Pifer, among others. He should do well this summer. Low 13:20s certainly. He used to seem more of a threat in the 1500, but judging by his recent marks, he's been gearing his training for the upper distances lately.

I always thought he was more of a 3k to 5k guy based off his 2 miles performances in high school and cross country successes. He has done well in the 1500, but I don't think he has enough natural leg speed to continue to compete there.

It's pure speculation because there's no way of knowing how things wouldv'e played out if people were in different heats. If Bumbalough was in Heat 2 maybe he would've stayed with the leadrs and blown by Mead at the end...or maybe he would've placed just behind Fernandez. Had the top 4 of Heat 2 been in Heat 1 mayvbe they would've tried to go with Teg, Cragg, Dobson when the pace picked back up...but no way to know cuz it didn't happen.

Would Fernandez have the AJR right now if he hadn't been recently injured? Doesn't matter, Derrick has it. Would Bumbalough have run 13:20 if he hadn't missed a lot of training this winter? Doesn't matter, he ran 13:30.

It's actually pretty amazing that a 13:30 5k by a guy with a entire year left of eligibility is not a highlight of the meet. And like previously stated, it is because freshman are running 13:28. It still does not discredit the performance, however, and with hopefully some injury free training, Bumbalough could get that down to the low 13:20's or even sub 13:20 by a year from now, which would be absolutely phenomenal, and would place him up there among collegians.

13:30 is the new 13:45 it seems.

Re: Bumbi closing on Chelanga. To Chelanga's credit, he did run a super fast 10K a week ago...had he not I bet he would've been right with, if not ahead of, Teg and Cragg. Which makes one wonder where Rupp would have ended up had he been in this race.

Pure speculation according to my Pierce & Pierce coworker Craid McDermott.

Oh! THAT's what pure speculation is--I had no idea. I thought I was asking you to tell me exactly what would have happened if heats had been swapped.

Hmm...so to avoid confusion in the future, let's see..."think" is out as it apparently denotes "know"...what is so subjective that not even a dumb tw@t like Craig McDermott could understand...fancy? I don't know, I give up.

Don't rip on my friend Craig McDermott. I'll stab you to death and play around with your blood.

Don't you have some video tapes to return?

disceroo wrote:

Don't you have some video tapes to return?

After I work out at Xclusive, buy Christmas presents for Jean my secretary who is in love with me, mock the homeless, kill a Chinese delivery boy, and make a scene in a Jewish deli.

Yeah, that Bumbalough kid ran well. Props.

But seriously, he's not as good as the superphenomfrosh, but, now that I think about it in historical context, 13:30 is pretty damn good, especially given his injury. He might just be a later bloomer. He was great in hs, but it seems like the transition was tougher on him. He started off a notch below where people thought he'd be, but he's been climbing steadily since.

It seems like he could be as good as Bobby Curtis anyways.

disceroo wrote:

He was great in hs, but it seems like the transition was tougher on him. He started off a notch below where people thought he'd be, but he's been climbing steadily since.

People have really high expectations then. 14:10, 8:01, 3:46. Only Jr to make cross country and track worlds. Made the final in the 1500 placing tenth. Pretty good frosh resume. Clearly the best guy of that '05 class.

Interesting to note he cut off basically 15 seconds a year in the 5k despite just running it once his sophmore and junior year.14:10-13:55-13:41-now 13:30, would be a great accomplishment if he can run 13:25 this year and keep the steady improvement going.

Bumbalough's progression is very illuminating. Thanks for posting that hoosier. It confirms his talent and his work ethic. True, some runners are getting there faster, but who's to say where and when they will stall, when they will become injured. Bumbalough has been injured already and has proven his ability to bounce back and maintain steady progression. The one thing that is not on his resume, though, is victory. Lost US Junior xc to Uhl, who was never that great to begin with and has disappeared since, lost to Acosta in US Junior track, has gotten second in indoor 3k, underachieved in outdoor nationals last year in the 1500...he does not seem to be a banger like some. Will that change? Who's to say. But, the main reason no one said much about his 13:30 and that he does not come up much in conversation is he is no Fernandez who will crush people by 10 seconds in throwing down a 3:55 or a Coe who will come out of nowhere to push Fernandez to a ridiculous time, or a Centro or Emmanuel who throws down on great runners, devastating with his kick. He is more of a hang on and then fade type of runner.

BUT, the 13:30 bodes well as he did not fade in that race, and he was racing some big names. Maybe the time off was what he needed. We will see. I'd like to see him race some big collegiates.

He isnt a hang on then fade type runner as we saw last night, everyone is saying that he was closing hard. Also i don't think that closing in 1:50, albeit of a slow first 700, is the hang on type.

The guy has ridiculous wheels, he just races to much and I think that this is his true ability is only coming to fruitition now that he has had some rest.

I hope you're right, and I think I was being a little harsh. I do think that he showed more the other night than he has in the past, and I agree that perhaps his true ability is only coming to fruition now. Curious, though, what race are you referencing in the 1:50 off of a slow 700? And what other races do you see evidence that he has ridiculous wheels? Not to bash him at all, but I see the ridiculous wheels type as Lee Emmanuel, Centro, that sort, whereas Bumbi strikes me more as a fusion of that and a Derrick.