Ritz: "I'm probably the best American half marathoner ever,"

2015 20k USATF championships, Ward and Chelanga destroyed him.

Is there a reason that list is missing Rupp's 60:30 from NY in 2011?

Is that course not legit or something? I always thought it was.

TaniaTIGERkitten.WOW.com wrote:

Go to 1:18 in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMyxo-JX-sg

What kind of shape was Ritz in back in 2009?

Ritz was only 4 seconds behind Kenenisa Bekele in a 5000m race!

What???

Thanks for that. Man, I miss seeing Bekele dominate the track! No matter how many championship medals Mo wins, he will never compare to Bekele. Has Mo ever decided to gap the field with 2 k to go and run as hard as he can just for the hell of it?

Dind anyone mention Galen's unexpected HM debut a few years back?

Half marathon 1:00:31 March 20, 2011 New York City Half Marathon

Given Hall's HM pr is faster and Rupp is knocking on the door, Ritz is just throwing us messageboard readers some chum but he can't really believe it himself.

grrrr44 wrote:

2015 20k USATF championships, Ward and Chelanga destroyed him.

That's he point. That wasn't a HALF MARATHON!! Ritz would have passed them EASILY with that extra .7 miles!!

He probably is.

Runrincerepeat wrote:

Some guys just are meant for non standard distances .. wasn't there a guy who couldn't win a 400 or an 800 but was unbeatable at 600m?

Zersenay Tadese comes to mind, he was the world record holder in the half marathon and was unbeatable in that event, but I don't recall him ever winning a global championship track medal a WMM or any marathon.

Look at the list of Americans who have held the world record in the half...Ritz is not on the list. Many of the guys on the list did not run the hm that many times. Another consideration - back in the 70's and 80's the top guys actually ran more than once every four or five months. Big difference if you spend a season shooting for one run rather than lacing them up every couple weeks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_marathon

The River Bank Run 25k has a history of limited US competition. Meyer (home town boy) won it for years until Lindsay destroyed him by a couple minutes and set the world record.

khow wrote:

in japan, hold on.. you're saying why can't people brag a bit anymore and at the same time saying a dude can't do it for the glory? make up your mind on what is a great character trait.

>>>>>> Bingo. It makes no sense.

That is not his only problem.

He should not brag about his spelling:

Why can't people bragg a bit anymore? He's put in the hard work over the past 15+years, and come out with some world class results. It's okay by me if he calls himself, probably the best American half marathoner.

Way cooler a guy than Rupp seems to be. Hall gets too much crap on here too.

Also, if Rupp isnt running the Half this weekend because he thinks the weather will jeopardize his image because he doesnt run a world lead time, he's doing it for the glory. To me that isnt a great character trait.

Read more:

The half-marathon event sounds like:

A mother who says to her son…"Hey rojo. Did you get all of your homework done?"...

… and then rojo tells his mother…"No. I did half (50%) of my homewurk."

Oh boy.

No, Actually ah is the best! I runned a 55:27 when nobuddi was lookin'.

On the starting line at a flat HM with perfect weather:

2007 Ryan Hall

2009 Ritz

2016 Rupp

Who wins?

hello b wrote:

On the starting line at a flat HM with perfect weather:

2007 Ryan Hall

2009 Ritz

2016 Rupp

Who wins?

Additionally...

All train exclusively for this event (say, $50 kabillion prize for the winner)

All are healthy and top shape

Doping controls test frequently during buildup

Low pollen count and unlimited hat changes allowed (had to throw that in)