Laura MF Muir

I heart Laura Muir

More of that, please

What a ballsy race by her. That was so much more fun to watch than sit and kick bs.

She has been knocking on the door of 2:00/4:00 for a while; it is clear she is fit enough and gutsy enough to go even a few seconds under 4:00 now.

That was nice. I don't really have a problem with sit and kick on a fundamental level. If you're the best kicker, it is the best strategy.

However, it gets old when nobody at all in the field tries anything else or wants to run fast. Muir had an excellent run today, and it was satisfying to see the field getting taken to task for being arrogant and lazy.

Given that the field was willing to let as legitmate of a contender as Souleiman get away in the mens race today...I think there are some more wins to be had by following to the pacer until athletes start to remember you can't just spot people 5, 10, or 15 seconds.

It's interesting. Simpson has prospered by tucking in behind the rabbit (not quite as spectacularly as Muir at Oslo). Hassan and G Dibaba have tried front-running but more typically hang back in the pack, as did Kipyegon today. But this result, combined with Jenny smoking everyone at Pre and especially Rome, seems to be setting up for an unusually fast race at World's.

I wonder if the africans don't take the white women seriously - they let coburn get away last year and they let muir get away this year. Maybe they are so used to white people being pacers and dropping out that they don't register a threat.

Although that is a small sample, I agree

Pretty baller. Shame she didn't go sub-4:00.

grunewald ran 404 for a solid 5th - her pr is 401 but she seems to be sharpening up for USAs nicely

1 Laura MUIR GBR 4:00.39 4

2 Faith Chepngetich KIPYEGON KEN 4:00.94 2

3 Dawit SEYAUM ETH 4:02.90 1

4 Abeba AREGAWI SWE 4:03.07

5 Gabrielle GRUNEWALD USA 4:04.26

6 Laura WEIGHTMAN GBR 4:04.70

7 Renata PLIS POL 4:04.74

8 Heather KAMPF USA 4:05.12

9 Melissa DUNCAN AUS 4:05.56

10 Siham HILALI MAR 4:07.17

11 Zoe BUCKMAN AUS 4:14.81

Selma KAJAN AUS DNF

Morgan UCENY USA DNS

worth seeing again wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SnGHfVIr-Q

CLICK ON THE LINK

"COME COME COME COME COME COME COME... BRAVO!"

Gutsy race by Scotland's finest. Bravo indeed.

100% worth of a name MF lastname thread.

I think the Africans take Jenny seriously, and if that was Jenny rather than Muir up front, they wouldn't have let her have that much cushion. Muir ran almost the same time as in Rome, which was only good for 4th behind Jenny and Hassan. Maybe she's trying Jenny's tactics from last year, but she didn't run any faster than she did in Rome--and she has to if she wants a medal. The gold is between Jenny and Hassan until somebody else proves otherwise, and it's going to take 3:57 to crash that party.

Awesome.

More of that, and T&F might be more popular.

Just like me

http://youtu.be/28_WpclPgTo

She saved Bislett from being a total flop this year

ALH359 wrote:

What a ballsy race by her. That was so much more fun to watch than sit and kick bs.

Was it that ballsy?

She has a 4:00.0 PR and knew she is in 4:00 shape since she ran 4:00.6 a week ago.

She knew she couldn't kick with the East Africans in the field.

The pacer went out perfectly for a 4:00 finish.

Running her quickest possible race on the day was not some audacious ballsy move. It was the only smart strategy for her.

I am always amazed when slower kickers just sit in the pack with runners who have quicker PRs than them, as if they are somehow going to get lucky, and then inevitably they have mid-pack finishes and look shell-shocked like it was a surprise. See every international 5,000 Rupp has ever run.

I am also amazed when using an obviously appropriate strategy is seen as an incredibly clever and ballsy move.

Smart, yes. Ballsy, not so much.

My guess is the other athletes in the field aren't as fit and not willing to go out harder.

re: Gabe

agip wrote:

... she seems to be sharpening up for USAs nicely

Racing against her is already a dangerous proposition. Which part is she sharpening?

worth seeing again wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SnGHfVIr-Q

Great run. The announcer is completely clueless, however. When they go through 700m, he talks about the "two pace makers" who are doing their own thing (one of them being Muir), and complains about the fact that the others don't go with them. Next, he says, "maybe Muir might even try to finish the race". Eventually, he must sense the excitement in the stadium and realise that he's witnessing an amazing performance, and then goes overboard cheering for Muir. Meanwhile, in the men's dream mile, the same announcer cheers for "Ingebritsen", and only realises it was Hannes who came third when he sees the results afterwards.