Alan Webb Appreciation Thread

so true. He was honestly my inspiration for many years, even as a "kid" several years my junior. obviously i never came close to the heights he accomplished, but always thought to myself, "gosh, if he can do it with all that muscle, why can't i?"

Loved his attitude of always going for it, no matter what. I'd venture to say that he'd make Pre prouder than any other american int he last twenty years. THanks for the memories Alan, we're all going to miss you, but know that your contribution to the sport's resurgence in america will never be able to be measured. no argument possible, the single greatest factor in motivating our high school kids was a fellow HS'er running out of his mind, right behind the greatest miler of all time. I honestly don't know that anyone will ever come along to inspire the average HS kid the way Webb did. Cheers buddy, hold your head high, you'll always be a champ to almost every one of us out here.

signed, a guy who's butt you kicked more than once, and never kicked yours.

I wish he would just take a little break, not retire. sometimes a fresh perspective is all you need. I was always hoping he'd make a huge comeback. I still do.

Alan Webb was unlucky in his races. He only got a few chances at the Olympics and World Championships and those were far from his best races. Nevertheless, he had an incredible career, with perhaps the most range of any runner ever. His American Record makes him one of the fastest men of all time, and it's a title he rightly deserves. Some of his races were incredible, and there were periods of time when he was all but unbeatable. I know that there were deep valleys that sometimes overshadowed his high peaks, but what a career. I wish him the best in his future endeavors. Thank you, Alan Webb.

I never thought I'd ever seen any high school boy break Jim Ryun's national high school record. Ryun's record was like Babe's 60 HRs or Wilt's 50 ppg in 1962. Then Alan Webb showed up and crushed Ryun's record. I'll never forget watching that race.

This is your wife. I love you. Thanks everyone for the continued support. You always appreciate when people know it has never been for lack of effort. I am excited knowing this is the start to a new chapter! Keep dreaming big ! I'll always be here to support you,

Julia

Everything you ever needed to know about Alan Webb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=abxUL7zz1nI#t=120

"That really is amazing at this level"

"This young man wants to restore some of America's glory"

"That's absolutely incredible. It's also probably a little bit suicidal."

"That surge from Alan Webb destroyed the field for a little while."

This isn't meant as a criticism. That's just how it happens sometimes.

Yeah, I agree. Webb has gotten a lot of flack on here, but it's only because he's arguably been America's most exciting runner the last 14 years. I can remember a ton of Webb moments that left me stunned with amazement, excitement and admiration. The guy is a super talent who runs with passion, and I'll always remember his career for the exciting times, 3:53, 3:46, 3:30, 1:43, 8:11, the USA wins, 27:34 in his debut winning against Ritz, etc. I have been rooting for him to make a comeback ever since 2007 and still believed he could. I still believe he CAN, but I understand he might need to hang 'em up, at least for a while. I really do hope he can take a year off, find some fitness, and return to the track though.

Regardless, good luck to Webb in competition and in life, and thanks for all the exciting times.

It isn't easy being a runner at that level. Its even tougher when you are so good that expectations run too high, even from yourself. It has been fun watching his career and while I'm sad to see him retire, take a break from track or whatever he decides to do, I hope he finds joy and passion in another endeavor.

Can we finally know his workouts?

It doesn't seem important to hide his 2007, Salazar, and Jerry workout times.

People (self included) are dying to know.

Still wonder how things would of worked out if he stayed at Michigan.

Scott Raczko enabling Webbs fragile mental approach were the mans downfall.

Just watched the 2005 world champs vid.

That was Alan's best shot to win a medal and he blew it with that stupid 100 meter sprint with 700 to go. Raczko is stupid for either recommending that tactic or for approving Webb's plan to do it. After reading Sub 4 which makes him look like a huge headcase I'll bet that was Alans plan. Shame on the coach for not changing it up.

I've always enjoyed following Alan though the highs and the lows. To me he was the guy next store who happened to turn himself into an incredible distance runner. There were so many variables that kept you intrigued throughout his career. Through it all though, if you watched the Flotrack videos of him after or between races, you found a guy who seemed like the Peyton Manning of running. Humble, goofy, willing to talk, even when things weren't going his way... I'll definitely miss his presence in our sport and will recall his days, among the best of them as I move ahead as a fan of TF/XC.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Still wonder how things would of worked out if he stayed at Michigan.

Scott Raczko enabling Webbs fragile mental approach were the mans downfall.

Yeah..Besides ya know..a few American records.

Though I'm many years older than Alan and have been a runner since the early '70's, he has been as big an inspiration on me as Ovett was in his day. I wish him all the very best in his future and really hope he's happy.

Alan has the greatest range of any runner in the US ever. From 46.xx in the 400 to 27:34 for 10K.

To top that off he has the BMI of a somewhat normal man!

What many people don't factor in, maybe even Alan himself?, is that the brain gets bored very easily. It needs new stimulus to keep building deeper and deeper layers of understanding of the internal and external worlds inside/around it.

He broke Jim Ryun's HS sophomore record at the age of 16 and obviously his running started getting a ton of attention with that not only from the running community, but from himself. The "7 year itch" doesn't just happen to married couples; it's consistent in all relationships and endeavors because the brain gets bored. If you go 6-8 years out from when he first started setting records, he was then 22-24 years of age. Those were his best seasons, and it's of no surprise for someone who understands the psychology behind it since he was biologically mature enough at an early enough age to peak by then.

Alan is totally the man and I could see how he would have had a lot of tough years competitively and emotionally after that 7-year-itch really started to get to him. It's now been an additional 7 years and he is for sure totally fried and needs to move on from running, in my opinion, for at least a 7 year stretch before coming back to it if he ever wants to.

He is built for triathlon; always has been. If he wants to jump into it seriously he could be one of the best ever at that too if his brain found it exciting.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Just watched the 2005 world champs vid.

That was Alan's best shot to win a medal and he blew it with that stupid 100 meter sprint with 700 to go. Raczko is stupid for either recommending that tactic or for approving Webb's plan to do it. After reading Sub 4 which makes him look like a huge headcase I'll bet that was Alans plan. Shame on the coach for not changing it up.

Umm.....2007 Osaka final.....

who will ever forget him ripping apart the field at the 04 trials, even worse than Jennings did the last time around, just made everyone look like children and then that primal scream was just awesome. it was funny, but it showed just the kind of competitor webb was (maybe still is?) and that will always stick in my head. Go Webb!!!!

bro, do you even know malmo? wrote:

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Just watched the 2005 world champs vid.

That was Alan's best shot to win a medal and he blew it with that stupid 100 meter sprint with 700 to go. Raczko is stupid for either recommending that tactic or for approving Webb's plan to do it. After reading Sub 4 which makes him look like a huge headcase I'll bet that was Alans plan. Shame on the coach for not changing it up.

Umm.....2007 Osaka final.....

He was in a great spot within that race to medal. If he didn't make that crazy move. Who knows though, probably still would have been out kicked.

my bad, 07 I think was the primal scream.....