Ben Blankeship appreciation thread. Thanks for not being a pansy and leading the race.

Yeah real ballsy the way he led that 2:03...

BA run by my boy Blankenship.

This is why you don't front run a 1500.

YEAH BUDDY wrote:

Yeah real ballsy the way he led that 2:03...

ha! very true.

i disagree, i think he ran really dumb. surged way too hard at 250. looked like he was just glad to settle for a team spot and cruise in with mazano. he had no idea andrews was coming. looked over and saw andrews and tried to make one more desperate attempt. he would have been on the team if he raced for second down that home stretch instead of settling for the team spot.

i rooting for him. but he didn't run smart.

Yeah, just like your hero Pre, he "went for it".

He'll get a chance to go for it again too, by himself, while the others who beat him are at worlds.

But he "went for it".........dude.

coach d wrote:

This is why you don't front run a 1500.

Centro was up front and did just fine.

I think Ben has had a great year. The sad fact of the matter is there is a reason why the first 3 finishers were NCAA champions and he wasn't - a slightly higher talent level.

The fact of the matter is he missed 2nd place by .03.

He ran a smart race. Get out and get in position. Then relax then squeeze it down. He ran 57.06 and 53.42 comign home and didn't even got top 3. So he closed in 1:50.48. His 800 pbs is only 1:48.40 .

44.98 [44.98] 1:48.30 [1:03.33] 2:45.36 [57.06] 3:38.78 [53.42]

It sucks to be him but that's what makes these all or nothing events must-watch. So much drama.

I'm not sure what i'd change if I was him. I wouldn't want to be caught in the pack. I guess he could sit in 2nd or 3rd and then try to make a big move.

He almost beat the Olympic silver medallist. To be honets, he ran a great race. 3 guys finished within .03 of each other.

Andrews still needs the WC standard.

Lots of Euro meets to get it over next 7 weeks.

If he doesn't, Ben goes to Bejing.

rojo wrote:

He almost beat the Olympic silver medallist.

What does him being an Olympic silver medalist have to do with your point?

He's a will leer wanna be complete with flopping at USAs. These guys are all alike. When it comes to real runners in real races they never show up big.

He needs to shave that crap, get a haircut and grow up. It cost him today

yu no me wrote:

rojo wrote:

He almost beat the Olympic silver medallist.

What does him being an Olympic silver medalist have to do with your point?

LOL. I beat Frank Shorter once.......4 years ago.

Pretty easy to point out what he should change, stop looking around multiple times on the home stretch. Focus on closing fast like Andrews did. He would have qualified if he hadn't gone scared. His several looks around easy could have equalled .03.

Blankenship came in with a 3:35 in Shanghai, so it IS possible that 3:38 after heats was the best he could do. If that wasn't the best he could do, he should be assigned the task of watching all known videos of Lagat. In race after race, Lagat sits in #3 or #4 spot, and when somebody comes by and makes a move, Lagat covers it. Both Ben and Leo rolled the dice by not doing that when Centro tried to get a gap.

Leo and Robby ran close enough to 3:36.20 that they\'re certainly going to get it in Europe, which means that Ben is stuck with DL races this year. Great for Robby, but I feel sorry for Ben--comes in with the #13 time in the world and doesn't make the US team.

He is 13 on the world list thus far. May be a bit lower when you add in mile conversions. Does that mean he has a chance if they fill out the field with the top 36?

Say no to pansies wrote:

Glad to see someone with some balls! Not a fast pace but at least he didn't act like a turd and hide in the pack.

Here is the Ben Blankenship! May you find your way to a sub 3:33 PR this summer!

He lead the 2nd lap in 65 seconds.

A slightly higher talent level? I'm sorry but this type of thinking is what holds people back.

How do we know this? Simply because he wasn't an NCAA champion? Way way too many variables at play. Maybe he wasn't training as hard in college.

These people that win these races try to, the believe they can, that belief shows up in their training and lifestyle. This is the main thing that changed for Blamkenship this year, he believed and ran like he belonged.

Too much talk of talent like its an invisible hand...

Fact of the matter is our sport of distance running, probably more than any other sport, is determined by training. Training in distance running is going to have a bigger impact on the end result that can be measured! Than any other sport.

I think his mistake came in the last 250 when he surged a bit too aggressively and then the last 100 he was looking around.

Agsvx8 wrote:

Yeah, just like your hero Pre, he "went for it".

He'll get a chance to go for it again too, by himself, while the others who beat him are at worlds.

But he "went for it".........dude.

Idiot, he didn't go for it, he led at a pedestrian pace- that made him a sitting duck.

If he (like Pre) tried to run the kick out of their legs by going out fast then he would have "went for it".

He ran a rookie race, he'll be back and even stronger.

Ben can a still fill out the worlds field on time, or take Andrews place if robby's SB stays the same and he doesn't get a Q. Regardless Ben ran great today and it's gonna be really exciting to see how the rest of his season plays out. I'm proud to be a fan.

Say no to pansies wrote:

Glad to see someone with some balls! Not a fast pace but at least he didn't act like a turd and hide in the pack.

Here is the Ben Blankenship! May you find your way to a sub 3:33 PR this summer!

He'll make the team in '16, his improvement will continue. So will Centro. That leaves the third spot... Leo? Robby? Haney?