rojo wrote:
Rupp's run last night was fantastic and that's why we gave him great praise in our recap. It reminds me of Ritz's run in 2009. No one really gave him props as his 6th place finish only got him 6th and the leaders were way ahead.
1 Kenenisa Bekele 26:46.31 SB «
2 Zersenay Tadese 26:50.12 SB «
3 Moses Masai 26:57.39 SB «
4 Imane Merga 27:15.94 SB «
5 Bernard Kipyego 27:18.47 SB «
6 Dathan Ritzenhein 27:22.28 PB
For 2009, the IAAF reports that the temps were 25 celsius with 44% humidity so that's 77 degrees. In 2009, Bekele closed that race in 13:06!!!! Last night, the weather was officially reported as 26 celsius and 61% humidity so that's 78.8 degrees (So you can see why people still don't put Farah in Bekele's class).
Anyway, what did Ritz do a few weeks later in 2009? Run 12:56.
.
Yes, it's almost the exact same as Ritz getting 6th, when he was 25 seconds behind the last medal and 36 seconds (or over half a lap) behind the winner.
The only difference is that with half a lap to go, Rupp was still in a position to medal and with 1 lap to go he was right off the winner. In a perfect world Ritz could have and should have run under 27:00 for 10K, maybe even low 26:5x. But he was never at the same level as Rupp for 10K because Rupps coulda shoulda time is certainly under 26:40 and he's been dominant at 10K for about 7 years now in the us. Untouchable.
Ritz ran a heckuva race form himself in 2009. Rupp ran a heckuva race for himself yesterday. But the level of the performances do not compare.