Grace Ping should've run Footlocker.

Have to be in 9th grade to run FL.

No way. Ping may have been top 5 but would not beat Lane or Moreno on that course.

dc wonk wrote:

No way. Ping may have been top 5 but would not beat Lane or Moreno on that course.

This.

She ran 16's on the roads in a perfectly flat course with elites. Lane did it at Woodrard Park solo.

Balboa is a slow course. That time is blazing.

Pre school Olympics for Gracie

Maybe 4th place?

India Johnson and Anne Forsythe ran both races. Ping beat them by 5 and 10 seconds at NXN. At FL, they ran 17:45 and 17:46 for 4th and 5th place. Third place was 17:35.

marijuana wrote:

She would've won.

Speed Ratings say otherwise. By a significant margin.

Hopefully Ping will face Lane in the near future and hopefully at FL next year;

just some facts. wrote:

India Johnson and Anne Forsythe ran both races. Ping beat them by 5 and 10 seconds at NXN. At FL, they ran 17:45 and 17:46 for 4th and 5th place. Third place was 17:35.

A lot of runners do NXN as a warm up for Footlocker, either because they have to run with a team, or else they just want a race to top off their training. Reed, with his 4:04 mile speed, was obviously taking it easy the week before, like the others.

Good warmup for FL Nationals wrote:

just some facts. wrote:

India Johnson and Anne Forsythe ran both races. Ping beat them by 5 and 10 seconds at NXN. At FL, they ran 17:45 and 17:46 for 4th and 5th place. Third place was 17:35.

A lot of runners do NXN as a warm up for Footlocker, either because they have to run with a team, or else they just want a race to top off their training. Reed, with his 4:04 mile speed, was obviously taking it easy the week before, like the others.

Clearly the case.

Why would you peak before the biggest race on the calendar? With National championships on the line, all NXN runners who also ran FL treated it that way. That's why they each ran their best performance of the year at FL, the exception being Worley who ran the exact same speed ratings at each. Brown produced the race of the year, not Clinger. Speed ratings confirm. Oakley may still have edged Lane at FL, but we'll never know.

Congrats to Brown and Lane as National Champions!

She's amazing but she's clearly training and running far too much for the tender age of 13.

Her amazing story will likely have a sad ending in a few years.

Tiger Mom wrote:

She's amazing but she's clearly training and running far too much for the tender age of 13.

Her amazing story will likely have a sad ending in a few years.

How much should 13 year olds run?

Even if she has a sad ending to her career, which all runners eventually do have...she is making the most of her talent at this point and I applaud her for her efforts.

Tiger Mom Homo wrote:

Her amazing story will likely have a sad ending in a few years.

Good warmup for FL Nationals wrote:

just some facts. wrote:

India Johnson and Anne Forsythe ran both races. Ping beat them by 5 and 10 seconds at NXN. At FL, they ran 17:45 and 17:46 for 4th and 5th place. Third place was 17:35.

A lot of runners do NXN as a warm up for Footlocker, either because they have to run with a team, or else they just want a race to top off their training. Reed, with his 4:04 mile speed, was obviously taking it easy the week before, like the others.

You're full of it. Those two girls were racing all out both races.

OMG! Three races in a month! Call CPS!!!!

Tony Tiger wrote:

She's amazing but she's clearly training and running far too much for the tender age of 13.

Her amazing story will likely have a sad ending in a few years.

The grace ping situation scares me as a parent and also a coach. I dont care if she wins national races (fl, nxn) at such a young age. I just dont want her parents or advisors or coach to push her too hard and ruin her.

Sure she is exceptional. Several other young athletes who were exceptional became ruined as athletes too early. Too much pressure, too much training,too much being a kid in an adult world.

The best thing she could do is be patient in her running, physical, and emotional development. Less now will allow for some great opportunities further down the road. I hope/wish she is undertrained now.

Don't be scared. Grace is very undertrained. She is healthy and fresh. I guarantee her workouts are way easier than anyone near her level. This fall was a very easy fall of training.

Why do many of you worry so much about a girl who loves what she does, has the best coach, and has her own big goals? No one--no one puts any pressure on Grace-- not even herself.

Twofer wrote:

OMG! Three races in a month! Call CPS!!!!

Just to be clear on this, it was four: NXR-SW, California Turkey Trot, NXN, and USATF JO. Over a total of 22 days. I'm not necessarily saying that's outrageous because I don't know all the circumstances, but it is more than three races in a month. Also, travel to Arizona, California, Oregon, and Alabama. The travel could be a bigger deal than the races.

The JO's were clearly unpressed, more of a tempo, and a good evidence that she was not overraced. I trust Tinman's involvement in this more than message board speculation.

undertaker wrote:

Twofer wrote:

OMG! Three races in a month! Call CPS!!!!

Just to be clear on this, it was four: NXR-SW, California Turkey Trot, NXN, and USATF JO. Over a total of 22 days. I'm not necessarily saying that's outrageous because I don't know all the circumstances, but it is more than three races in a month. Also, travel to Arizona, California, Oregon, and Alabama. The travel could be a bigger deal than the races.

"Why do many of you worry so much about a girl who loves what she does, has the best coach, and has her own big goals? No one--no one puts any pressure on Grace-- not even herself."

Sounds a lot like Mary Cain- loves(loved) running, had a great coach (Salazar), and had big goals.

It kind of seems Mary Cain has lost some valuable emotional confidence, passion for the sport, etc. time will tell but I hope that doesn't happen to grace ping.

Flying around the country as a 13/14 year old to compete in this sport is overdoing it. She has great potential and while she is the story of the day right now it would be great if she was the story of the day in 5-10 years.