Tim Broe's Runner's World Chat

Never mind. Got it.

Tim Broe

By Peter Gambaccini

Tim Broe, who's won the last two USA 5000-meter titles outdoors and was 11th in Athens Olympic 5000 final, was third in the 3000 at the Reebok Grand Prix Saturday in New York in 7:41.07. He was third in the 3000 at the adidas Track Classic in Carson, California on May 22 in 7:40.28. Broe holds the American indoor 3000 record of 7:39.23 and has won the 3000 at the USA Indoor Championships twice. He is also a two-time USA 4K cross country champion. He has a 5000-meter best of 13:18.61, set in London in 2004. He was the 2000 NCAA champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase for the University of Alabama and has run 8:14.82 in that event. Broe, who turns 28 on June 20, is originally from Peoria, Illinois and now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is coached by Ron Warhurst. When he's not running, he may be going fishing.

Runner's World Daily: Your performance (in the 3000 on Saturday) must be pretty satisfactory. You hung in there, competitively.

Tim Broe: Yeah, I know. I've still got heavy legs. I've been really, really trying to focus on the end of summer. So as much as you feel like the season's here, it's still two months away. So I was happy. You always want to be able to keep up, but the legs are just (heavy). I could run 62s, 61s (for each lap) really comfortably. The whole time I was running I was like 'God, I wish this was a 5000, because I feel great'.

RWD: Is this all because you're still in a heavier mileage phase?

TB: Yeah. Actually, the two weeks between LA (Carson, CA) and here, I was 92 to 95 (per week), which is, for me, a lot. I had five or six really hard workouts. But this is it. It's summertime now. This was just getting ready for nationals.

RWD: It was 4:05.8 at the 1600 here, so it was a pretty fast pace.

TB: Usually, if I'm that, I'm running pretty comfortably. It's almost like I have one little bitty gear left, so I'm kind of redlining the whole time.

RWD: You must have heard that Adam Goucher got the "A" standard for the 5000 for the World Championships, and Jorge Torres already has his.

TB: Yeah. The Trials (USA Championships) will be a little more exciting now.

RWD: It will be about the win, less about chasing qualifying times.

TB: Which is fine by me. I hate coming in feeling like I'm the favorite. Now I feel like everybody's got just as good a chance as me.

RWD: And right after the nationals, you won't have to be chasing times. You'll be able to pick the races that will actually get you ready for the World Championships in Helsinki.

TB: Yeah. I mean, last year at this time, I was 14:00 for 5K. You know you're really fit when as soon as you get done, five minutes later, you don't feel the race. It's going to be a good summer if I stay healthy.

RWD: Have you been healthy?

TB: I got sick about four times over the winter, because of Michigan winters. But I haven't had to miss a day of training for any kind of injury.

RWD: Did you leave Michigan at all in the winter?

TB: Actually, I was all over God's creation. That's the reason I was sick, really, I was traveling so much--for training, and just goofing. Can't stay in one place for more than a week.

RWD: So this can be a summer in which you concentrate on, say, breaking 13:00.

TB: I just talked to Ron (Warhurst). The last 12 weeks, I've been in Ann Arbor. I've averaged 85 to 90 every week--just long hard workouts.

Broe is the man.

Broe is gonna roll. This guy has a real chance at low 13's. I really hope to see incredible things out of him.

Not a very elaborate interview.

Maybe not very elaborate, but it updates Broe's situation, which no one else is doing. They've had more elaborate ones with him in the past. The shortness of this one probably explains why it's paired on the site with another short one today, with Tirunesh Dibaba. You can tell from the context that the interview was done right after the race, with the meet still going on. I was near the so-called "mixed zone," and most of the athletes just walked right past the media and left after their races. The media literally had to talk to runners from the other side of a metal fence. Not the greatest of itnerview conditions.

But anyway, as someone said earlier, Broe's the man. I don't see anyone beating him in the 5000 at USA.

Johnny P wrote:

But anyway, as someone said earlier, Broe's the man. I don't see anyone beating him in the 5000 at USA.

I dunno about that. Broe now has to worry about Torres, Gouch, Hall and Dobson. All of these runners should be able to get the A standard, so everyone will be fighting hard for top 3. Of the 5, I would assume that Torres has the weakest kick, so I would expect him to take it out fast. I think Dobson wants it fast as well. It will be very interesting. Sure, I think Broe is the favorite, but anything could happen.

I know that Broe isnt the youngest but he's a big prospect for me, very laid-back approach to running in hs and college(30-60mpw), increasing the workload steady over the years, gettin closer to the best year by year.~13:05 this and sub 13 in the next 2-3 years.

wrong transcript on this question (non answer)?:

RWD: So this can be a summer in which you concentrate on, say, breaking 13:00.

TB: I just talked to Ron (Warhurst). The last 12 weeks, I've been in Ann Arbor. I've averaged 85 to 90 every week--just long hard workouts.

Nut Doctor wrote:

I dunno about that. Broe now has to worry about Torres, Gouch, Hall and Dobson. All of these runners should be able to get the A standard, so everyone will be fighting hard for top 3. Of the 5, I would assume that Torres has the weakest kick, so I would expect him to take it out fast. I think Dobson wants it fast as well. It will be very interesting. Sure, I think Broe is the favorite, but anything could happen.

Yes, and Hall was once outkicked by Ritz, who clearly has no kick. Therefore, Goucher is the only one who can outkick Broe. But Goucher's a washed-up has-been who will never break 14 minutes again, so Broe will easily win the race. QED.

Maybe a healthy Goucher is one for Broe to worry about. I realize you can never tell who's training through and how isn't, but Torres was totally ineffectual at the Reebok Grand Prix. Bolota Asmerom was way, way out of it. It might be too much to ask for Ryan Hall and Ian Dobson to come up with great efforts considering how much they've competed already. But hey, who can say? That's why they run these races.

I think Broe should win. He has the fastest pr over 5k, and 1500 other than Goucher (who hasnt ran that fast as recently as Broe). Tim always runs well when it counts, I cant think of a time when he has really raced poorly. I also think hes the toughest guy the US has got. He won nats two years ago with a cracked foot and back, correct? He never ceases to impress me, and I have no reason to think he wont win again this year. I really hope Goucher does well also though, its be nice to see him at worlds.

dc449 wrote:

I think Broe should win. He has the fastest pr over 5k, and 1500 other than Goucher (who hasnt ran that fast as recently as Broe).

OK, well doesn't Broe have a PR of 13:20.3, from a rabbited Euro-race last summer? That's not particularly impressive when compared with Goucher's recent time of 13:21.13 (ran the last 2.5 K by himself), and even when compared against the non-rabbited Hall and Dobson. Broe is far from a lock.

Broe ran 13:18 in the heats of the Olympics, I believe, a non-rabbited race, and he led much of the last 1000m

Has anyone ever watched Broe kick at a usatf Championship??? When he lays down that last 800 its over. The guy took 11th at the olympics last year. He is a stud 13:07 this year

I would imagine Broe will run 1:57 for the last 800m off an honest pace and that no one will be able to keep up just like last year. Broe might be in 13:10 shape now and if true he'd be well ahead of the others.

That's why they call it a "brief chat."

distance guy wrote:

Not a very elaborate interview.

I goofed on the times just above. In the rabbited Euro-race, Broe ran 13:18.61. In the Oly prelims, he turned in the 13:20.29. Doesn\\\'t look particularly awesome when compared with Gouch, Hall, etc.

I think the challengers should use the same tactic against Broe that was used against Willis: take it out fast!