Galen Rupp: Waste of a career

Amen, brother!

What the hell are you talking about. He has proven he can run at least 54 seconds for a final lap. Its just a question of how much strength he has at the end to do it.

It would be a huge waste if he moved up to the marathon with the speed he has developed.

If he can't run with the Africans at 10k how on earth would he be able to run with them in a marathon?

He's looked good while doing it though.

He's 25, man. Seriously.

#16 all-time in the 10k, and he's wasting his potential there?

WTF? His 26:48 is pretty damn competitive. He has run a great half marathon but that does not mean he will run a great marathon. Look at Ritz, when he was young everybody said he was destined to be a great marathoner. He has yet to make a huge impact. Also, Alberto's coaching expertise seems to be more geared toward 5k/10k/half marathon despite his running credentials.

btw, I don't think he runs a marathon next year either. Probably in the fall of 2013 or in 2014 he finally runs one because its an off year and they can experiment. They will see how it goes and make grand plans for the future after that.

What Rupp should do right now is beside the point. For better or worst Salazar a long time ago developed a multi year training strategy for Rupp to compete on the track in 2012. To just throw that out the window now would be insane.

I agree with the OP. 26:48 and nothing to show for it. He may just as well try the Marathon - you never know. Unlike some, though, I think he can afford one more OLY attempt. Hope I'm wrong, but I predict a couple of 5-8th places in 5/10K finals.

If this happens he'd better concentrate on the 26.2. He'll only have a couple of years tops.

So you are sad he isn't going to run the marathon, I get it. But since when has modern day sport have anything to do with fans? Players in the NBA don't play defense, MLB give 50%, NFL receivers won't go over the middle... why? Years = $$$.

Why risk that now, ride the pay check as long as possible. Then cash in on the marathon later. Not a bad move.

Salazar was smart. He was the american Record holder in the 10,000 but would get skunked in a close race due to his aweful lack of speed. So he focused on the marathon at age 21.

Have you not been paying attention to what Mo Farah has been saying? Rupp was faster than Farah in their speed workouts together leading up to the WC last summer.

Salazar is methodical in his multi-year training applications, and Rupp will be strong enough to compete in the 10k this summer.

ryan foreman wrote:

What the hell are you talking about. He has proven he can run at least 54 seconds for a final lap. Its just a question of how much strength he has at the end to do it.

It would be a huge waste if he moved up to the marathon with the speed he has developed.

54 seconds at the end of a 28-high 10k is not the same as several seconds faster at the end of a 26-low 10k. Galen will never be able to close like the top Ethiopians and Kenyans. The only way he can win a major 10k is to be several seconds ahead at 400m to go, but obviously the entire field would never let him go like that.

He got 3rd in a Diamond League meet running 26:48. He had world class competition there, I consider that to be akin to the world class competition in an Olympic or World 10000m final.

If you can get top 3 at a Diamond League meet in a fast race then you definitely have hopes of getting a medal at the Olympics

3rd at Brussels was a good run, yes, but that run did not have Farah, Jeilan, Sihine, Tadese, Merga, Menjo, etc, etc. He raced a couple top guys (Bekele, who recently DNF'd the world championships, Kipchoge, who is muuuuuch better at 5000M), and then a bunch of relative unknowns, one of whom had a big breakthrough race, not unlike Galen. Say what you want, but everyone knows that getting 3rd there is absolutely nowhere near getting 3rd in an Olympic or World Championship final. Saying otherwise shows nothing but ignorance. I repeat: Galen could run 26:40 at the Olympics and he'd still be lucky to place 4th. Even if he's running that fast, there will surely be at least a couple other guys there to outsprint him.

Raptured wrote:

I repeat: Galen could run 26:40 at the Olympics and he'd still be lucky to place 4th.

I stopped taking you seriously after you said that. That is one of the dumbest things I have ever read. He'd be lucky (???) to get 4th with an unbelievable time like that? Only 12 people have ever run under 26:40 and you think he'd be LUCKY to get 4th?

Raptured wrote:

ryan foreman wrote:

What the hell are you talking about. He has proven he can run at least 54 seconds for a final lap. Its just a question of how much strength he has at the end to do it.

It would be a huge waste if he moved up to the marathon with the speed he has developed.

54 seconds at the end of a 28-high 10k is not the same as several seconds faster at the end of a 26-low 10k.

You realize the Olympic record is only 27:01, right? Who the heck has ever run several seconds faster than 54 seconds at the end of a 26-low 10k?

Fluffy wrote:

Raptured wrote:

54 seconds at the end of a 28-high 10k is not the same as several seconds faster at the end of a 26-low 10k.

You realize the Olympic record is only 27:01, right? Who the heck has ever run several seconds faster than 54 seconds at the end of a 26-low 10k?

Faster than 54 was at the end of a 26-high, not 26-low, sorry. Galen closing pretty quickly for a 28-high does not mean he can do so for 27-low Olympic speed race. He has never outkicked everyone in a good international field, so why would he be able to do it now at any overall speed for the race? If the Olympic 10k ends up being slow (say 28-high) and he closes in 54, a few other Africans will also still be feeling great and will close in 52-53. If worst comes to worst, Bekele will just post an 11 second final 100 once again, as he did while running 26-low.

Sammy Wanjiru ran 26:41 at the age of 19 and then moved up to the marathon for good.