The 10 Best Moments Of The Decade For U.S. Distance Running

Jenny Barringer's steeple was notable too. The steeple is another oft-overlooked event.

Brandon Moen; Treadmill WR attempt - 'nuff said

Alan Webb; '05 Worlds - looked like Usain for 100 meters

Ritz; Athens Olympics 10k final - guts.

Gabe Jennings; '08 trials 1500m - what wind? bitches...

Said Ahmed; multiple races - redefined the rules.

honorable mention;

every race ever run by Ryan Deak and Louis Luchini

also Karnazes; 50 'thons in 50 days

Kind of pansying out, but breaking it into men's and women's lists.

Men's Top 10

10. Webb's mile AR

9. Teg 4th place WC '07 (I think people forget this)

8. Hall 59:43

7. Lagat WC '07 Double

6. Webb 3:53

5. Hall 2:06

4. Ritz 12:56

3. Meb wins NYC

2. Sol 26:59

1. Meb's Silver at Athens

Women's Top 10

10. Kara's 3rds in NYC/Boston

9. Shalane's 10k AR at Stanford

8. World XC women's team runner up

7. Shalane 2nd at NYC

6. Barringer's 2009 track campaign

5. Rowbury's bronze

4. Deena wins London

3. Kara Bronze '07

2. Shalane Olympic 10k

1. Deena's Bronze at Athens

The 5 biggest jaw droppers for me were:

1. Ritz's 12:56 - Jumped in a 5k and broke the American record that stood for 13 years. Everyone wants to see Ritz run well, and this was finally the moment when Ritz began living up to his potential. How exciting was it to watch Ritz actually gain on Bekele the final couple laps? This was the beginning of the flood of sub-13 5ks by Americans.

2. Solinsky's 26:59 - Debut 10k and nobody expected him to beat Rupp, let alone set an American record with a 1:56 last lap. I'm still in awe by this performance. The only reason this isn't ranked ahead of Ritz's run for me is that it wasn't against Bekele and any famous africans (unless you count Bairu).

3. Khalid 2:05 while beating the world's best.

4. Meb's New York win - I rank this ahead of Meb's medal at the Olympics because I think, personally, that winning a marathon major is actually harder than winning the Olympics. Way more Africans to race.

5. Meb and Deena's Olympic medals - Duh. TWO American medals?!

6. Goucher first US WC 10k medal ever

7. Flanagan Oly 10k bronze - I would put this ahead of Goucher's because it's the Olympics, but Goucher's was the first ever and frankly, she medaled first.

8. Webb's win over Baala over Balla's home crowd.

9. Teg's 4th place in the 5k at WCs - within tenths of a second of a bronze medal

10. Lagat's WC double

Two honorable mentions:

Hall's 2:06

Ritz's XC bronze

In no particular order:

Deena Kastor's Olympic Bronze marathon medal

Kara Goucher's bronze at the 2007 WC

Jenny Barringer's 1500 at Pre in 2009, the college girl mixing it up with the yellow shirted NIKE ringers and shattering the 1500-m NCAA record by 7 secs. also leading the 'parade' of American distance gals under 4:00. That was one of the best kicks I have ever seen, men or women.

Shalane's bronze at the 2008 Olympics

Ritz 12:56

Solinksy 26:59

Hall 59:43 (crazy record-drop, people were talking 2:05, had the imagination going)

Webb 3:53 in high school

Meb's NYC marathon win

Meb's silver medal in 2004

men only. lagat/khannouchi not included.

'A' Category:

Solinsky 10k AR

Solinsky 12:56(s)

Ritzenhein 5k AR

Webb AR

Webb HSR

Hall 2:06

Hall OT's

Hall HM AR

Meb NYC

Meb Oly Silver

'B' Category:

Ritz World HM Bronze

Webb over Baala

Tegenkamp 12:58

Tegenkamp 8:07

Wheating 3:30.9

Fernandez 4:03/8:34 double

Rupp 27:10

Rupp 13:37

Lincoln AR

'C' Category:

everything else...(too lazy)

Solinsky's 26:59, Solinsky's 12:56, and Lagat's 12:54 did not happen from 2000-2009, they happened in 2010 which means it was a different decade.

not the same decade wrote:

Solinsky's 26:59, Solinsky's 12:56, and Lagat's 12:54 did not happen from 2000-2009, they happened in 2010 which means it was a different decade.

Bzzzzzz! Wrong answer.

The first decade included the years 1 through 10

The second decade included years 11 through 20

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The 201st decade included the years 2001 through 2010

Please learn to count.

1 Ritz 12:56 breaking Kennedy's long standing record.

2. Fernandez 3:55.02 (solo) beating sub 4-miler by over 10's

3. Solinsky's 26:59, with a last 800 in 1:56

4. Lagats Worlds double

5 Shalane's 30:22 Bronze

6. Meb's and Deena's silver and bronze medals

7.Webbs 3:53 in HS and 3:46 mile AR

8. The US having 4 sub 13:00 5k men in 09/10 (another at 13:07. Really wow, before there was only one.

9. Jennies 9:12 steeple

10. The great rise of HS talent that had not been seen since the 70's

The future looks bright for American distance running.

Man, I had forgotten all about Barringer's 1500 at Pre. That was INSANE. I'm not sure it would be top 10, but it would definitely be top 15.

Webb's AR in the mile was relatively boring. The time was crazy fast, but there wasn't even a semblance of competition, it was just "oh, I'm going to break a record," and then he went out and did it at a no-name meet. His 1500, on the other hand, was really electrifying; it might get a nod for the top 10, but it wasn't as unexpected as Barringer's Pre 1500, so I'm not sure.

I think the surprise factor is relatively big in races, and to that extent, Webb's HSR was HUGE. I don't want to rank it too high, because it IS high school, but the kid almost beat LAGAT. IN HIGH SCHOOL. That just lit up the world of American distance running.

I think Ritz's 60:00 half marathon is a bit underrated; it was an incredible race, and he really went out there and put himself in contention to win the thing (possibly giving up the silver in doing so). If it had been 18 seconds faster, I think it would definitely be top 10, but as it stands, it's probably hovering around the 9-15 range of best American performances. But that race really showed, in a way that few other races (excluding Meb at his best) before had, that Americans really can mix it up with the very best in the world.

Chairman Wow wrote:

Some moments that I thought deserved inclusion

1) Khalid Khannouchi breaks his own world record to win the London Marathon, beating Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie.

2) Alan Webb's mile AR

I agree!

And, Lagat's 1500, 5000 double should be #1 and Webb sould have been mentioned twice.

Instead of bickering over the decade, we should clarify exactly what we're ranking. If we're ranking the greatest performances by American athletes, with things like world leading times, major medals, and major victories being of most importance, a handful stand out that some are denigrating. In no particular order

Lagat 15/5k Double

Khannouchi WR over Tergat and Geb

Meb Silver

Deena Bronze

Deena sub 2:20

Flanagan Bronze

Ritz Bronze

Rowbury Bronze

Webb world lead at 1500/mile

However, most of us are really wanting to rank the 'wow' moments. The moments that had the forums just buzzing. The races you stayed up until 3 AM to watch live, and didn't regret it afterward, but thought it was one of the best decisions you'd made. Those performances that cause you to reevaluate what you think is possible. The ones where you had thought "there's no way he/she can do that," "there's no way a white man do that," "there's no way a high schooler can do that," "there's no way a white boy from Wisconsin could do that," "there's no way an American do that," "there's no way anyone can do that."

And when you look at those moments, any individual athlete can probably only have one. And this isn't a knock against Lagat or Khannouchi, but they can't have them. It's a great performance, but not a shocking one, to see the second fastest 1500 meter man of all time, an Olympic Silver medalist, win a world title or two. Nor to see a world record holder in the marathon who's won a lot of big races beat a few of the best runners in the world and lower his WR by 4 seconds. I'm going to list what I think are the tops, along with some other notable performances.

1. Webb 3:53 This one stands out as his most shocking. He's had other great performances, such as 3:30, 3:46, etc. But we saw those coming. Even 13:10 wasn't that much of a surprise. He's had other shockers certainly. 27:34, 1:43, 3:59i in high school. But 3:53 changed everything. It raised the bar, redefined the game and inspired the whole generation of high school and collegiate runners to follow. What makes Webb the most exciting is that he (along with maybe Wheating) is the one on this list most likely to shock us again. Most the others can never amaze us again to the degree they have already.

2. Ritz 12:56 Certainly everyone knew Ritz was on a roll after his 10k in Berlin. Some even thought he might be in 10k AR shape. No one saw this. The excitement watching that race as he worked his way through the pack, the buzz afterward about how he beat Teg and Lagat to the punch, all fantastic. This, too, changed the game. Honorable mention for his Bronze at the world champ half marathon. If that race hadn't been preceded by this one and the Berlin 10k, it might have been the shocker this was...especially if it had been 1 second faster.

3. Solinsky 26:59 I rank this ahead of his 5ks this summer, a few of which arguably could be better performances, simply for the shock factor. I mean, really, did anyone see this coming? Anyone at all? He was a byline in the race, an also-ran. It was Rupp's AR attempt. Rupp vs. Chelanga. Solinsky was not quite one of our top 3 5k guys, and stepping up. Most thought it would be great if he broke 28, or had a Webb-like 10k debut. This completely rewrote our thoughts of what he could do.

4. Hall 59:43 It's easy to forget how dominating, and how shocking this was, because Hall's put up so many consistent performances since that are all near that level. His 2:08 debut, 2:06, dominating at the Olympic Trials, and the Houston Half all stand as pretty damn close. But do you remember the surprise when you logged onto LR the next morning and saw that result in big letters??!?!

5. Barringer 3:59 While a few others have run that time in recent years, they gradually chipped away until they got there. None did it in as dramatic fashion as Barringer, with her wicked kick, and dropping a huge amount from her PR and the collegiate record. Beating Rowbury and others to the punch, and just like Ritz' 12:56, she ushered in a whole new era of American women running under 4.

6. Wheating 3:30.9 While we'd all slowly started to acknowledge that we can't put limits on this young man just yet, this was a huge surprise. The way he cleaned up at NCAAs was a surprise. His 3:51 or whatever it was at Pre was a surprise. But this blew that all away. Suddenly, we wondered, would Alan Webb's comeback even matter? Was this new era that Webb had ushered in ready to replace him so quickly?

7. Flanagan Bronze, 30:22 This one ranks ahead of Goucher's for several reasons. First of all, the Olympics trumps the WCs in most fan's books. Second of all, she acquitted herself well in one of the fastest races of all time (not just picking up the pieces in a rough race), and finally, she ran an American record in the process. That year, she took over 30 seconds off Deena's record. The same Deena who gets the next nod, who has a Bronze medal, a 2:19, and more American records than one knows what to do with.

8/9. Meb Silver/Deena Bronze It's hard to separate these two. They seem to go hand in hand. They were both surprises, but not the shockers that some of the above races were. But they were just as big a breakthrough. It caused us, especially Deena, to believe that American athletes could get it done again. It's easy to argue that it's easier to do this in the marathon than the 5k or 10k, since you can run so conservatively, and just beat all the people who lost the race. But those arguments, while partially true, ring hollow, and do nothing to diminish how great these races were, and how much of an impact they had on American marathoners (and the all the 10k guys who soon decided to make the jump).

10. Fernandez 8:34/4:00 This was the Alan Webb 3:53 of the new generation. This was the race where he showed us all that Nelson's record was finally, really ready to fall. This is the one where he showed us he could choose between going for a 2mile record, or a sub 4. This was the first really big performance that got us hooked on his Webb-like pattern of stunners and disappointments.

Honorable mention

Adam Goucher 6th WXC This race doesn't get the credit it deserves because people think it was in a JV race. Even the short course was damn competitive. Unfortunately, the fact that people didn't realize how good it was meant that it didn't have the impact it should. This was the apex of his comeback, one that many thought he would never pull off. But who can forget how he got dusted at Nationals in the 5k (in 2004?), and retorted about having a faster time than all those clowns by the end of the year (sounds like the same guy who wants to give everyone the finger at the end of the marathon). We wrote him and his comment off, but he turned around and ran 13:10, fastest of the year. Consider that middle finger served, American 5k runners not named Goucher.

Kara Goucher Bronze 10k I pick this above some of her other performances because of the medal. Honestly, I think her 10k in Beijing (also under Deena's old record) was better. I'm not sure her marathon placings and her half marathon win over Paula weren't better. But this has a medal, it surprised, and it set the stage for Shalane to do it better a year later.

Rupp winning everything Rupp has many great performances, but honestly few shockers. His shocker comes with how he won all his NCAA titles his senior year. He did some with a kick. He ran some from the gun. He ran short races, he ran long races. He totally dominated people who some thought he didn't have the tools to beat at the distance he beat them at. He made a fool of the NCAA, and he did it in a way we never thought he could. Then he turned around and did it to Ritz too.

These last two are not quite honorable mention, because I'm sure there other performances that have just as much merit that I'm forgetting.

Amy Yoder Begley qualifying for Beijing She did it on a comeback. She did it when many thought she couldn't. She did it with a huge PR. She did it with a huge kick. A true inspiration for many who'd toiled for years and been not quite there.

Rowbury 4:01 The fact that I can't remember the specifics show this does not quite belong on the list with the others. Rowbury's consistency has been her undoing in this evaluation. But a few years ago, she showed up on the scene, surprising many with a 4:04 win, and then followed it up shortly after with (I believe) a 4:01 that all of a sudden got us thinking. This ended the days of our best women running 4:06. Though Barringer and others beat her to the 3:59 punch, she was the harbinger of this new era. Unfortunately, she did it so consistently, that it's hard to pinpoint one breakout race. But as I recall, she had a series of 3-4 races where she showed she was for real, and took the target down to 4:00. However, I'm not sure any of her 1500 races are better than the 3k she ran this summer.

ranker op ferformances wrote:

Instead of bickering over the decade, we should clarify exactly what we're ranking. ready to replace him so quickly?

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We did it is the 10 Best Moments of the Decade for US. We are all going to have our best moments. Heck, for someone it could be a 7th grader breaking 6 minutes in a PE mile.

Besides this is LRC, we have to bicker. Get over yourself.

Hasay's U.S. Olympic Trial Finals appearance in 2008!

Just want to say that anyone including German in their top ten is severely misguided. He hasn't done anything top ten worthy yet. When all is said and done, he will have many top moments I'm sure.

Does anyone remember how much Webb dominated the 2004(?) Olympic trials 1500? That was an incredible race.

ranker op ferformances wrote:

Flanagan Bronze

Ritz Bronze

Rowbury Bronze

Which one of Ritz' bronzes are you talking about?

Also, anyone including high school distance doubles and not also including Ritz's WCXC bronze is a little crazy.

Jackie Collins wrote:

You're missing Lagat and Kastor/DeReuck World XC.

I strongly agree with you here. People forget Deena and Coleen got 2nd and 3rd at World XC 2002. They came in behind Paula Radcliff too. That was huge statement for the state of US distance running. Well, at least on the women's side since our best never really run World XC anymore. Also, Deena got 2nd at World XC in 2003 too.

Not a Rupp lover but I don't think he can be ignored...

What do we think of Rupp's senior year in college? Has anyone ever achieved what he did?