Luke Puskedra 1:01:36 Half Mararthon Debut

James Hogue wrote:

How does this compare to the top Japanese?

Pretty favorably. Not including ekiden performances:

2011 top: 1:00:58, Tsuyoshi Ugachi, age 23, in Marugame

top current collegiate: 1:01:47, Suguru Osako, age 19, at Ageo 2010

22 & under all-time best: 1:01:09, Koichiro Nagata, age 22, Kyoto 2001

Masatoshi Ibata also ran 1:00:55 at age 22 on the old aided Tokyo Half course in 1995

Hank Moody wrote:

I'd argue that Derrick does not have any more leg speed than Puskedra...

Wait, I thought that it was FOOT speed that really mattered. Then, the other day someone said it was CLAVICLE speed. Now you are saying LEG speed. I'm so confused.

Sweet Nell Fenwick wrote:

I can't think of anyone 6'4" and above running even near a world class time.

They're not very common. From way back, Jack Bacheler was world class at the time (but wouldn't be these days). He was 6'7" - the tallest elite marathoner I can recall. Peter Maher (2:11 guy) from Canada was 6'5" and John Lodwick (2:10) was 6'4". I think Robert Cheruiyot is pretty tall for a marathoner (6'3"?), which makes him one of the few super-elites over 6 feet these days. Of course, there have been a lot more small world class marathoners. Josiah Thugwane is the smallest I can think of offhand.

Another one: Hiroyuki Horibata is just a hair under 6'3" and ran 2:09:25 last spring, then finished 7th in Daegu in 2:11.

I think that Puskedra and Derrick are very similar in "sprint" speed. Fernandez is probably hands down faster than either of them, but Fernandez will never achieve what either LP or CD will in the long run. In fact, I am a bit surprised that Fernandez is even in this discussion, due to his lack of accoumplishments for the past couple years. It takes more than foot speed to excel at the next level. It takes desire and guts, something both Puskedra and Derrick possess in bucket loads.

I had forgotten that Vin Lananna was Bob Kempainen's coach. Kempainen, along with the Houser brothers at Stanford and now Puskedra at Oregon makes me wonder if Lananna isn't the top distance coach in America? I recognize that he is normally considered to be an 800/1500 guru, but can anyone argue with the success he has had with distance runners? Thoughts?

Great run for Puskedra!

Slightly inferior but Bill McChesney did hold an American road record for the 20km of 59:17.

That was in 1983 and he was an easy winner.

Meticulous Coach wrote:

I think that Puskedra and Derrick are very similar in "sprint" speed. Fernandez is probably hands down faster than either of them, but Fernandez will never achieve what either LP or CD will in the long run. In fact, I am a bit surprised that Fernandez is even in this discussion, due to his lack of accoumplishments for the past couple years. It takes more than foot speed to excel at the next level. It takes desire and guts, something both Puskedra and Derrick possess in bucket loads.

It also takes staying healthy, and that, by far, has been the limiting factor so far with German. If Fernandez can go through an extended period of injury-free running we'll see him start progressing again. Luke's PRs are modest relative to his real talent level, and in light of this 1/2 marathon I anticipate a nice breakthrough in the 10k if, if he can avoid injury that will set back his training. Derrick is probably slightly faster than Puskedra, but just marginally so.

Good post.

Ever since Derrick ran 13:55 in high school - and then was diagnosed with mono - I thought for sure he would be an all time great. Verdict is still out but his NCAA career was promising.

I know the Marathon is a huge mental game - and a good 10k doesn't always translate over. But due to Derricks aerobic capacity and stride I think he might end up being the best marathoner we've seen dawn a USA jersey. But of course me saying this is completely comical since he's not even out of college yet!

Would be cool to see Derrick and Pusekdra team up. Get those guys with Rupp and Ritz and let the future blossom.

How many Americans have debuts faster than that?

Anyone know the fastest marathon ever run by someone 6'4" or above? I'd be curious to know.

Derrick ran 13:29 5000m as an 18(?) year old freshman. That's why I give him the edge in potential for track races over Puskedra.

terry malloy wrote:

...Luke's PRs are modest relative to his real talent level...

How do people know things like this? Can you just look at the guy and know, "Oh, he should really be running 27:20 instead of the 27:50 that he is running?" How the heck do you know?

Halls American record is technically a debut but he had run 2 20k races before his half. If I were on a computer I'd look up his 20k debut and compare it to 1:01:36. I suspect luke's time is better although Hall did make everyone look silly in new haven that year.

your answer wrote:

How many Americans have debuts faster than that?

Carsten Eich is 6'4", and a former European record holder in the half marathon (60:34). That was back in 1993, and almost a world record at the time - only Moses Tanui had ever run faster, and only one day(!) prior to Eich. His marathon PB is only 2:10, but it was in a championship race, at an era when this was still considered world-class. Size is overrated.

Oh, and he famously ran his record in long tights and a t-shirt. Perhaps "adizero" kit is overrated, too:

http://www.carsten-eich.de/images/eich93.jpg

jjjjjjjjj wrote:Puskedra- Freshman year: 28:34, 13:46. 7:58. Current PRs: 28:33, 13:46, 7:57 10/19/2011 8:06PM - in reply to I've been saying..

His prs haven't improved hardly at all, however...if you take a look at how he ran his times last year, they showed he had improved.

He went 13:46 last year basically matching his freshman year pr. As a frosh he finished 6th in that race following others to that time. Last year he won that race. If the situation was similar he probably would have gone faster.

His 28:33 10k last year came at Ncaa's in a championship race. His 28:34 came in a race where he ran behind paces and finished 6 seconds off Rupp, in Oregon in April.

As for his 3k, he hasn't run one since 2010, so not really worth comparing.

Obviously it's a lot of could, wouldas....but it's still pretty clear that when he ran his prs or same times last year, they were more impressive compared to his frosh times than the time suggests.