Zurich 5000m

I think Ritzenhein and Teg are running this too

Hope they don't go out at world record pace

If KB can beat Lagat in a kicker's race, he's got enough up his sleeve to take this one too.

Be there a startlist posted? Hope Teg can bounce back and run a PR to close the year. Maybe Ritz can hit 1310ish?

if Bekele is there, he will be tired and the pace will be slow, too slow for Ritz to go 13:10

bolt 9.58*50 = 7,98 minutes new world record. mark my words

You may be right on the slow race but I will be surprised if it is not at least a low 13 race, 13:0...

Depends on rabbits I suppose

5000m Men

Kogo, Micah KEN

Masai, Moses Ndiema KEN

Kipsiro, Moses UGA

Ritzenhein, Dathan USA

Soi, Edwin KEN

Longosiwa, Thomas KEN

Chepkok, Vincent KEN

Ebuya, Joseph KEN

Mutahi, Sammy KEN

España, Jesus ESP

Ali Abdoosh, Mohammed ETH

Bekana, Daba ETH

Komon, Leonard Patrick KEN

Kiptoo, Mark Kosgei KEN

Bekele, Kenenisa ETH

Kwalia C'Kurui, James QAT

humidxc wrote:

5000m Men

Kogo, Micah KEN

Masai, Moses Ndiema KEN

Kipsiro, Moses UGA

Ritzenhein, Dathan USA

Soi, Edwin KEN

Longosiwa, Thomas KEN

Chepkok, Vincent KEN

Ebuya, Joseph KEN

Mutahi, Sammy KEN

España, Jesus ESP

Ali Abdoosh, Mohammed ETH

Bekana, Daba ETH

Komon, Leonard Patrick KEN

Kiptoo, Mark Kosgei KEN

Bekele, Kenenisa ETH

Kwalia C'Kurui, James QAT

Have fun Ritz!

bekele can beat Ritz by 7 seconds just on the last lap.

If Ritz has a good day, he may be around 13:10 but I think more like 13:13

If Ritz is able to close in 60 that would be great for him and he will be under 13:10.

i say 13:06 for ritz about 8th place. k. bekele over kiptoo for the win.

Ritz can't close in 60 after a hard 4600, sorry.

He may have set a nice PR in the 10K but the 5K is a different animal. I say 13:14 at best,or 9th. Mark it down.

yeah, i agree. i think ritz will get pretty much owned in this race, especially if it's a fast pace. i'm not necessarily saying he will finish in last place, because there are some guys like ebuya who didnt run well at the wc and maybe espana who i bet ritz can beat. it will be interesting though, because i think this will be his first 5k race under the coaching of alberto salazar.

ritzenhein said he thought he ran the second half of the wc 10k in 13:32. his pr is 13:16. i think those guessing in the 13:10-13 range are probably right on. it's really going to depend on how the race goes out though. it'll be a quick finish though, no doubt about that, as bekele isn't so rich to pass up making an easy million.

irun wrote:

ritzenhein said he thought he ran the second half of the wc 10k in 13:32.

He didn't.

I think he went 13:45, 13:37. Good efforts but that doesn't mean he can crank a super fast 5K of under 13:10. I think Teg could run close to 13flat if he got in a fairly even paced race. I want to see that more than Ritz trying to improve his PR's

I want to see more American guys setting PRs in >races< and not "fairly even paced races". Running fast in a time trial has nothing to do with racing well - just ask Alan Webb.

When everybody goes to Stanford, set new PRs, it does nothing for their racing ability as they still get their a$$es handed to them when it counts.

Ritz needs to improve on his 400-800 meter speed and endurance, if he is to get a PR close to 13 and change....but wouldn't it be awesome if he somehow dropped a big one. That would certainly light a fire under the current 5k guys. I really wish he would run another 10k not the 5k.

Ritzenhein will run 12:59. Merry Christmas Flagpole

humidxc wrote:

Ritzenhein will run 12:59. Merry Christmas Flagpole

This would be cool and within his ability ultimately I think, but I don't see it this time. 13:10 though if the race is right for it? Perhaps. People drop big times all the time when it wasn't exactly expected (see Ryan Hall's AR in the half marathon).

Despite the merry christmas part I do believe he will be at 12:00 with 1 lap to go; assuming the race allows for such a pace. The question will be whether Dathan can hold on to at least 60 for the last lap.