Rupp Fan wrote:Rupp ran 12:58.9 at Hayward Field. It's a slow track compared to all the wind-blocked stadiums in Europe. Solinski only ran 13:08 I think at PRE when he was running 12:55's the rest of the time.
the track surface isn't slow, but the buffeting wind wouda been terrible for times ( reese the LJ champ had a -2.6 ! )
12'58 with wind costing them a handful of secs gets him down to well below 12'55 in an enclosed stadium with 0 wind
then we have few other factors
- the pace slowed down a lot in 4th k as mo wanted a sprint & no one challenged him
evening-out the race musta cost another coupla secs, getting it close to 12'50 for rupp
- the race was not ambitious pace before hand - 12'55 is not ambitious ( i don't believe they based that on the wind possibilities )
a better target wouda been 12'50 pace & rupp wouda done better with quicker tempo ( remember komen ran 7'20 off 2'27/4'53 - he woudn't have cracked 7'23 if he'd got usual 2'28/4'56 ), as rupp is metronome of sustained fast pace
all this wouda got him about 12'50 ( i reckon he is worth 12'48 from last year )
- he is still training towards trials, so not 100% race sharp - he's got some weeks of fine tuning
i don't think sal's stated target of 12'45 is beyond possibility this year, but of course it woud have to be a perfect race in an enclosed stadium & pacing woud have to aim for 12'45 ( 2'33/5'06/7'39 & rupp woud have to gun the last 2k solo for 10'12 at 4k & hold on )