Is it ironic that the most injured (Ritz) of the "Big Four" from HS class of 2000 is still going strong?

Ritz going strong because he loves running and the lifestyle of running.

Webb and Hall didn't love running for extended periods of their careers.

Passion and love of your profession is everything when talent is fairly equivalent.

No big 4. Only big 3.

jkG wrote:

Ritz understood the magnitude of his run, thus the double blessing to god... what a great run, don't ever remember seeing that race. What a beast. If he had the modern Salazar coaching with the emphasis on closing in sub-53" he may have upset Bekele that day.

"Modern Salazar training" got him hurt and slower.

Ritz couldn't run a sub 53 if Clyde Hart trained him exclusively for the 400.

ifif wrote:

brogan1 wrote:

2004 - Rupp, Withrow

2003 - Solinsky

2002 - ?

2001 - Webb, Ritz, Hall

2000 - Sage, Dobson, Teg, Rohatinsky

1999 - Torres brothers

Who was in 2002?

Chris Lukezic would be the big name.

Others past/present from 2002:

Bobby Lockhart

Bret Schoolmeester

Billy Nelson

Brett Gotcher

Tim Moore

Richard Smith

Joe Gray

Ritz's defining race was when he DNF the Olympic 10k in 2004. Then when Webb PUT THE HAMMER DOWN!! on him in his first or second 10k ever.

McKeever no refunds wrote:

He didn't have testosterone or religious problems

Right on

Flagpole wrote:

No big 4. Only big 3.

Agreed. Didn't think before I wrote.

KoQ wrote:

Who were the big 4?

Ritz, Web, Hall and ?

Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb, and Seton McAndrews obviously

A first on letsrun. Someone used irony correctly. There is hope for us after all.

I don't understand his quote about stress fractures:http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/is-it-a-stress-fracture

Ritzenhein has an even simpler test: If it doesn't feel better as a run progresses, it's probably a bone. "I've never had a stress fracture that got better through the run," he says. "It's generally going to get worse."

Wouldn't a muscle pull or tear also get worse during a run?

Anyways, sounds like his injuries are behind him.

Strunk wrote:

A first on letsrun. Someone used irony correctly. There is hope for us after all.

The only reason I started this thread was to show off my ability to do that.

Dartmouth's David Chalmers should be in the conversation as well if we're looking at 2002.

Who was in 2002?

Chris Lukezic would be the big name.

Others past/present from 2002:

Bobby Lockhart

Bret Schoolmeester

Billy Nelson

Brett Gotcher

Tim Moore

Richard Smith

Joe Gray[/quote]

The question stands

injuhd wrote:

I don't think it is ironic. The others actually had at least 1 significant defining race. Ritz hasn't yet so he can't retire yet. Makes sense.

I don't think the reason the others are *not* racing is because they *did* have "a defining race". They would be competing if they could, were it not for injury. And regarding Ritz, I think his American Record in the 5,000 in Zurich was a more significant achievement than Webb's 3:46 time trial or Hall's 2:04 tailwind run. I don't mean to diminish those two later races--they were tremendous runs, but Ritz's 12:56 was an epic run.

George Hirsch wrote:

injuhd wrote:

I don't think it is ironic. The others actually had at least 1 significant defining race. Ritz hasn't yet so he can't retire yet. Makes sense.

I don't think the reason the others are *not* racing is because they *did* have "a defining race". They would be competing if they could, were it not for injury. And regarding Ritz, I think his American Record in the 5,000 in Zurich was a more significant achievement than Webb's 3:46 time trial or Hall's 2:04 tailwind run. I don't mean to diminish those two later races--they were tremendous runs, but Ritz's 12:56 was an epic run.

Agreed regarding Ritz 5000 AR race. Incredibly dramatic watching the relationship between his position and the leaders/Bekele through the course of the race, looking like he was hanging on for dear life for more than half the race, then passing a few "stragglers" but not looking like any threat, completely under the radar, until the final 1000, building to that climax in the final two laps where he looks like a man posessed, coming out of nowhere, just blowing past people, shrinking that seemingly insurmountable gap between he and Bekele. He may not have won that race, but he won the respect and hearts of many.

gonchar wrote:

Ritz going strong because he loves running and the lifestyle of running.

Webb and Hall didn't love running for extended periods of their careers.

Passion and love of your profession is everything when talent is fairly equivalent.

It seems to me that all three had equal dedication to training and love for the running lifestyle. Hall and Webb are still runners, and involved with endurance sport culture. They just had an earlier end to their elite ability.

Remember that Gerry Lindgren, Frank Shorter, and Bill Rodgers are all about the same age, but their respective careers came at different points in their lives. Lindgren was a teen phenom; Shorter was at his best in early-mid twenties; Rodgers was at his peak in his late 20s and early 30s. Bodies, lives, careers play out differently and it is not necessarily a marker of lack of dedication.

injuhd wrote:

Ritz has had good performances but no WINS... Off the top of my head, I can't recall him EVER winning a significant elite race. Hall had his marathon(s).

If you're insisting that a defining race had to be a win, then Hall's marathon(s) aren't really an appropriate comparison. Of the 13 marathons he started, he only won one of them: the 2008 Olympic Trials, which (by definition) was against domestic rather than international competition, in a relatively modest time of 2:09.

I agree that was a great race (and if you're talking about wins, his 59:43 half in Houston was also a defining race, though again against relatively weak domestic competition). But it seems like an inconsistent standard if you're saying Ritz's international successes (bronze at WJXC and World Half Marathon Champs, or his 5000 AR behind Bekele) aren't significant because he didn't win.

is it a stress fracture wrote:

I don't understand his quote about stress fractures:

http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/is-it-a-stress-fracture

Ritzenhein has an even simpler test: If it doesn't feel better as a run progresses, it's probably a bone. "I've never had a stress fracture that got better through the run," he says. "It's generally going to get worse."

Wouldn't a muscle pull or tear also get worse during a run?

Anyways, sounds like his injuries are behind him.

Often muscle stuff feels better when you warm up and get loose.

As far as injuries being behind him, we have been saying that for 10 years.:). The guy has a fabulous ability to round into shape with 16 weeks or so of training but he has shown a real inability to string together say 48 weeks of solid training.