Nice Alan Webb Profile in Washington Post: He's Trying to Get into Trials in 5000

Photos from article here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/alan-webbs-shot-at-olympic-glory/2012/06/18/gJQAXs5FmV_gallery.html

Really nice article and who wouldn't root for this guy? I mean he is clearly a ways away from his '07 form and will probably never get back there but you gotta admire his drive and passion after so many disappointments. He might not have completely lived up to the monstrous expectations everyone had for him but he still has had a hell of a career with some pretty damn good high points. I'll always be a big fan of his and will be pulling for him at the trials, he was one of my inspirations for getting into running and I'd love to see him go out with a bang.

It's unfair. Why he didn't run for the standard last weekend?

Maybe because they granted that petition and he knew that fact before the race?

SmallTimeTC wrote:

Really nice article and who wouldn't root for this guy? I mean he is clearly a ways away from his '07 form and will probably never get back there but you gotta admire his drive and passion after so many disappointments. He might not have completely lived up to the monstrous expectations everyone had for him but he still has had a hell of a career with some pretty damn good high points. I'll always be a big fan of his and will be pulling for him at the trials, he was one of my inspirations for getting into running and I'd love to see him go out with a bang.

That 1500m in paris was one of the first races that ever had me screaming at the screen, if nothing else Alan Webb has inspired a ton of people to go further than they would have gone otherwise, and that alone is incredible.

After reading that, it is now clear to me that Webb as ZERO chance at making the Olympics this year.

The guy is an even bigger headcase than I originally thought.

In the Trials status of entries, for the 5,000, Webb's status is listed as "provisional" and his declaration as "pending."

wejo wrote:

The article captures Webb's competitive fire. He got upset this year after a piano recital with a bunch of kids.

Weldon, that's not competitive fire. That's "on tilt."

When you're on tilt it's time to step away from the table and don't come back until you're composed again.

A headcase and a great inspiration too. There have been a lot of guys running the 1500 at least partly because of Webb's example.

Jumping other B guys in the 5000 seems questionable to me.

I would be fine with a rule that says if you were on a past Olympic team, getting the B is good enough to run at the trials, which seems to be what happened with Goucher, for instance, but the rules need to be decided on up front and not just leave it up to the discretion of one unaccountable official.

Ben Wrong wrote:

It's unfair. Why he didn't run for the standard last weekend?

QFE

If you're too feeble minded to run a qualifying race, then you can't run the trials.

There should be no exceptions.

Funny, before I read the article I looked at the pic and thought he had too much upper body mass. I remember Salazar saying he wasn't going to let Webb lift a weight for six months when he first started coaching him. Sounds like it's in Webb's head too since he's waking his wife up asking " am I too big up top?". I think he knows the answer and those pecs aren't going to help him win a running race.

He's not a "headcase" - he's a high achiever under immense pressure with no margin for error. Our top runners have all done weird stuff by layman's standards- Ritz smashing his foot doing insane indoor track workouts, Hall sprinting around the city barefoot after losing a race, Solinksy flipping out about Galen, Galen doing all his weird Galen stuff... on and on. Even the runners that seem to be even keel have their dark moments.

I'm glad that Webb is honest. If you've ever truly cared about your running, you feel for athletes when they struggle. For the many of us that have been hurt and didn't know what was wrong, it's hard to read stories like this but makes you root for this guy even more. Good luck to Alan Webb!

Its a pretty objective process, you make the distance/time or you don't...

'"Julia, do I look big up top?"

Sounds like he's more concerned about fitting into his old Highschool pre-classic singlet than getting into the 5,000

+1

dean moriarty wrote:

He's not a "headcase" - he's a high achiever under immense pressure with no margin for error. Our top runners have all done weird stuff by layman's standards- Ritz smashing his foot doing insane indoor track workouts, Hall sprinting around the city barefoot after losing a race, Solinksy flipping out about Galen, Galen doing all his weird Galen stuff... on and on. Even the runners that seem to be even keel have their dark moments.

I'm glad that Webb is honest. If you've ever truly cared about your running, you feel for athletes when they struggle. For the many of us that have been hurt and didn't know what was wrong, it's hard to read stories like this but makes you root for this guy even more. Good luck to Alan Webb!

Agreed......

J.R. wrote:

There should be no exceptions.

What part of "Gouchergate" do you not understand?

We've been down this path before.

I'm all for Webb running at the trials, but I want him to use the 1500 qualifying time that he earned.

This guy's achieved more than any of us ever will. No matter what I'll always be a fan. He is the way he is. It gave him some amazing highs and some pretty low lows in his career, but it should also serve as a very big reminder as to how much our mindsets play a role in basically everything we do. You can have all the talent, but if you don't have the patience and a calm mindset then you will most likely not get the results you want. Either way I'll be rooting for him no matter what. And though it might not be fair to allow him to race in the 5K instead of the 1500, do you guys honestly think the negatives outweigh the positives on this one? It's not like allowing him in will establish a precedent of allowing any runner that swears by his ability to perform to be in the OT. Consider the circumstances, be a little open-minded..

You gotta feel bad for the guy. He works just as hard as he always has, but he'll never be close to what he once was.