What happened to Ritz

6 years ago I thought Ritz would be where Rupp is today.

Ritz ran a really, really gutsy race in my opinion. He stayed in contention as long as he can and fought tooth and nail to stay with the main pack. Not a bad performance.

Did you see how he struggled to get the A standard?

why didn't he try to run a 27:10 by himself? sounds dumb, but he had no chance in that slow-paced race. He should have tried to solo a low 27.

Ritz gave it all he had today, showing that he's just not in the same shape to challenge on the world stage as he has been in the past. He'll be back up there and he certainly has the right training partners to get there.

No he won't be right uP there because he is taking the money to run a thon.

Probably a good amount of change though. Too bad he may never get under 27 or 60 in half

Ritz has overachieved in the lower distances that aren't his races (5K, 2mi). IMO, those have disguised his somewhat disappointing 10K/marathon performances. But hard to train a guy, when he can't train harder than a college underclassman, w/o injury. On top of it, a 12:56 is 'worthless', when he still lacks pop in the 10K.

I see it kind of like cycling, the race played out perfectly for his teammates Mo and Rupp. If Ritz took the pace and pushed it he may have finished a few spots higher but Mo and Rupp could only have done worse. I really wish he would take a break and then build on his fitness in the fall and winter instead of rushing into Chicago. I do see his point from a financial perspective, gotta cash the checks while you can.

He ran a good race...I do agree that he should have taken the pace and set himself up for a possble top 8 finish.

He deserves credit. He fell off the pace with something like five laps to go, and fought his way back to get to within 5 or 10 meters at the bell. But I think this was a hard race for everyone: 29 starters and a second lap at 72. I think Ritz needed a smaller field and a fast steady pace to hold onto and he would have done better. However, if weather permits, I think he's finally going to nail the marathon and become the third fastest marathoner in American history, behind Hall and KK.

runningchicken82 wrote:

He ran a good race...I do agree that he should have taken the pace and set himself up for a possble top 8 finish.

i hope you are right.

What happened to Ritz? Well, he beat Teg by 33 seconds and finished 15 secs behind two 26:30 guys. He could go probably run near 27:00 in the 10,000 in an evenly paced race, but he's not getting any younger. I agree he will finally drop a good marathon in Chicago unless the weather is brutal.

I would like to see Rupp run world cross and then spend the next two years getting as far below 26:30 as possible before moving up. It's funny looking back on how many people said he couldn't possibly medal.

I think he could make a lot of money running 1/2 marathons. It seems to be his best distance.

Glad most are saying he ran well, and I agree. That was a really tough race, and he said himself that he's not as good with quick bursts as his training partners. That race was a series of quick bursts. He competes best in fast, mostly evenly paced races. I thought he'd for sure pick off more guys in the last two laps like he did in his PR track races in Europe but everyone kicked hard and there wasn't anyone he could have caught.

I'm most shocked by Teg. He kinda bombed

Agreed on Teg. Totally bombed. IMO time to move to the roads, although Jerry's track record with male marathoners is very bad.

Teg is mentally done with track. I was taken back by his comments in the last few months on 'being old' and 'old man teg' type stuff.

I was surprised that Ritz couldn't hang on to the pace prior to the last lap but he stayed tough on a day he clearly didn't have it. He actually looked very tense before the race in contrast to Rupp and Farah. Had he been right, he probably should have pushed very hard the second 5k but it would only have reduced the pack considerably; he would have been destroyed in the kick. Now for the future, his speed is better now than it ever has been and I don't know if he overtrained here but we should see some great track times from him in the next two months before he runs a sub 60 half and then who knows what for the marathon.

Teg surprised me as well, because he showed a solid kick off at trials and had another period of health, I thought, prior to this, but really faded from a pace that was the same as trials.

T BONE wrote:

why didn't he try to run a 27:10 by himself? sounds dumb, but he had no chance in that slow-paced race. He should have tried to solo a low 27.

You could ask this question about nearly everyone in the race except Mo. Who knows what those dopes were thinking?

Ritz reminds me of Zersenay Tadese. In form as well as his strengths. He should focus on the half--maybe could run sub-59 in a few years if everything went right.