Solinsky starting to remind me of Pre

70s guy... wrote:

That 5k in Zurich, with Chris fighting all the way to the finish, made me think of Steve Prefontaine, who I saw run many times in the 1970-75 period. The guy has guts!

Solinsky doesn't understand why all of the guys like him.

It's because he is authentic and has integrity. He's not a shoe company's manufactured product. He's a genuine runner's runner.

Coach Owl Birdo wrote:

70s guy... wrote:

That 5k in Zurich, with Chris fighting all the way to the finish, made me think of Steve Prefontaine, who I saw run many times in the 1970-75 period. The guy has guts!

Solinsky doesn't understand why all of the guys like him.

It's because he is authentic and has integrity. He's not a shoe company's manufactured product. He's a genuine runner's runner.

What the hell is that last part, a slam on Rupp? Weak.

Rupp has integrity by the boat loads. No need to trash Rupp in order to promote Solinsky. They are both great people, Solinsky happens to be a faster runner right now.

You are pretty petty.

Exactly where was Rupp's name mentioned in this thread. Absolutely twisted mind you got there pal.

nice accounting wrote:

Coach Owl Birdo wrote:

Solinsky doesn't understand why all of the guys like him.

It's because he is authentic and has integrity. He's not a shoe company's manufactured product. He's a genuine runner's runner.

What the hell is that last part, a slam on Rupp? Weak.

Rupp has integrity by the boat loads. No need to trash Rupp in order to promote Solinsky. They are both great people, Solinsky happens to be a faster runner right now.

You are pretty petty.

David Lynch's Twin wrote:

Exactly where was Rupp's name mentioned in this thread. Absolutely twisted mind you got there pal.

nice accounting wrote:

What the hell is that last part, a slam on Rupp? Weak.

Rupp has integrity by the boat loads. No need to trash Rupp in order to promote Solinsky. They are both great people, Solinsky happens to be a faster runner right now.

You are pretty petty.

Read the name of the poster and I think you will find your answer.

[/quote]

What the hell is that last part, a slam on Rupp? Weak.

Rupp has integrity by the boat loads. No need to trash Rupp in order to promote Solinsky. They are both great people, Solinsky happens to be a faster runner right now.

[/quote]

Why get so defensive?! There was no reference to Rupp in any of his previous statement! As we've seen this year; when Solinsky races, he races all out striving to set either an American record or PB. In some cases I see it appropriate to sit on someone in order to win; such at an Olympic trials or big championship. I believe this is what you thought the other person was referring to when they said "a shoe companies runner", someone who sits and kicks for the win. Well at least you know that this is what Rupp is considered.

So many times before this year we've seen Rupp just sit on someones shoulder and wait to kick, hoping that people think he has so much more left in the tank. This may not be his main motive. For all we know, feelings like that are subconscious to him.

All he was saying was Solinsky is a true runner that loves to run for the simple fact of running. His motivation is to be the best runner that he can possibly be and achieve as much as he can. What do I think Rupp runs for? I believe he runs to please Alberto, to please Nike, to please OTC and try to prove that Oregon can buy the best athletes in the nation.

You said: "It's because he is authentic and has integrity. He's not a shoe company's manufactured product. He's a genuine runner's runner."

===========================

Is it possible that you are being petty here? Please explain to what/whom you are referring. Certainly you must have somthing in mind, or are you just speaking out of your ass?

Pumped For 5K wrote:

You said: "It's because he is authentic and has integrity. He's not a shoe company's manufactured product. He's a genuine runner's runner."

===========================

Is it possible that you are being petty here? Please explain to what/whom you are referring. Certainly you must have somthing in mind, or are you just speaking out of your ass?

He was referring to Pre, smart guy!

70s guy... wrote:

That 5k in Zurich, with Chris fighting all the way to the finish, made me think of Steve Prefontaine, who I saw run many times in the 1970-75 period. The guy has guts!

Yeah it was amazing the way he took the lead and pushed the pace the last 3 or 4 laps.

70s guy... wrote:

That 5k in Zurich, with Chris fighting all the way to the finish, made me think of Steve Prefontaine, who I saw run many times in the 1970-75 period. The guy has guts!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting observation. He's definitely "laying it on the line" each time he's stepped on the track this year which takes significant confidence and the ability to absorb/accept pain. There will be many who take exception to your statement given the "rabbited" nature of races of the modern era versus that of Pre, Moorcroft, etc. That said, Pre never ran in races this fast.....

will you 70's losers please stop bringing pre in to modern track discussions. Don't curse Sol by comparing him to a guy who ran decently fast for his time but never won any major international competitions. Can't these new guys that are doing great be in a league of their own with out having to be compared to your fossils. All you guys want to remember the 70's as some golden era of track when it didn't really happen. They were more competitive than guys in the 90's were but they really didn't dominate or even win all that much.

It was a compliment. Don't make a bigger issue out of it. This thread is a good example of why normal runners steer clear of LR. A cool OP comment followed by juvenile ugliness. Grow up, kids.

NJ Possible wrote:

It was a compliment. Don't make a bigger issue out of it. This thread is a good example of why normal runners steer clear of LR. A cool OP comment followed by juvenile ugliness. Grow up, kids.

I know it was meant to be a compliment, Im not trying bring down the boards with bad vibes. I am just tired of reading these threads with people continually bringing specially Pre back in to the discussion. For some reason I can't figure out there is a cult of Pre in the running community in america. Just imagine if you were one of these guys trying to really put America on the map and some old guy kept comparing you to a runner who never really did anything on the international scene. How come they never compare them to some one like Rono who also had guts and a magical summer like Sol is having where he put up several fast times in over the course of a couple of months. If we keep telling young runners that they are trying to live up a guy who got 4th in his biggest race ever then we run the risk of not dreaming that it will be possible for an american to win the olympics in a distance event. Pre is not the standard Bekele is. By the way there are no "normal" runners.

Totally agree with NJ Possible. Every decent post gets ran down my senseless, immature responses.

Who are you to determine who we should compare people to? A lot of people liked Pre (and many still do)--deal with it.

The opinion that Pre 'never really did anything' internationally is irrelevant. He was admired for his attitude, his racing style, and his brashness. These are things that are sorely missed today, and seeing a glimmer of it in the latest generation is exciting. That was the OP's main point, and I agree with him (as do several others on this thread).

Sure, Solinsky may have many other talents that Pre didn't have, and that will help him excel over time. The point wasn't to take away from Solinsky's potential, but to say hey, he's got something that very few have, and that's pretty encouraging.

Of course everyone is loving on chris now, but letsrun forums have done nothing but trash the guy up untill now. People should either start giving our elite runners a chance (or a break for christ sake) or get off the web and start pounding out some miles themselves.

Pre was 21 in Munich, absolutely flooring it to try to take the lead on the last turn of the Olympic final. Being compared to a guy who did that, no matter what era he was in, when or how he died, or whether a cult sprang up around him (which happens a lot with charismatic types who die young) is a big compliment that doesn't need to be analyzed or apologised for. Tell me that if Solinsky is fighting for the lead with less than 200 to go in London (which actually isn't totally inconceivable now) you wouldn't love it. Zatopek made a pretty much identical move at the same spot in the 1952 Helsinki 5000, by the way, but it worked out a little better that time. Would it be okay to say that Solinsky was something like him, or is Zatopek just another irrelevant fossil?

shityeah wrote:

Why get so defensive?! There was no reference to Rupp in any of his previous statement!

Well, genius, even after someone pointed out to you to look at the poster's name "Coach Owl Birdo" (meaning Coach Alberto), you still can't figure it out.

shityeah wrote:As we've seen this year; when Solinsky races, he races all out striving to set either an American record or PB.

This is crap, all Solinsky does is sit and kick, on Rupp at Stanford, in all his races this year, even admitting he was scared to take the lead at Zurich. A coward who can't win at home, or even make most international track teams.

Solinsky and Pre. Nooooo way. Pre is fearless front runs everything under the sun and blow up at the Olys. Solinsky feels fear and awe. Make him a careful conservative runner. If he could do under 13 at Zurich, with fear in his heart. God knows what he could do fearless?

I shouldn't bite. Nevertheless:

Stanford 10,000: 900 meters out is a pretty long kick--it actually made him more like a frontrunner for those other three guys to shoot at through a whole two laps. And would anyone be smart to push the pace early in his first 10,000 when it was already being rabbited/led at U.S. record pace? You'd call a guy who did that stupid or self-destructive or both. And he wasn't exactly sitting on Rupp; he was in fourth behind Rupp and two Kenyans.

"Coward" is an absurdly strong term here. He meant he was scared to go too early and pay by being outsprinted by five guys. It could have gone that way; he's not going to drop Bekele and Merga like they're Rupp and Chelanga. He didn't mean he was scared of pain, or of winning, or of hard effort, or anything else that you can call him a coward for. He was "scared" of making a tactical error. It looks to him in retrospect like he might have done so, but that's because he isn't satisfied with third place. You always second-guess yourself when things don't turn out perfectly; he's thinking maybe going earlier would've been a better strategy because the one he went with didn't get him an ideal result--but do you really think he's right that he should have taken the lead with laps to go, amidst a pack of eight other guys just as fast as he is? How often does that leader win?

Just be glad that Solinsky is thinking of every possibility, being honest with himself and even with the public, and gradually putting together the pieces of what's going to be a hell of a race someday.