Would 81-82 Salazar take prime Rupp on the roads?

Old NE Coach wrote:

I also think that Al would beat Rupp, but don't underestimate the coaching that Salazar received. Bill Squires did a lot of Al's marathon training, and there was no one better in the world at the time. I was a contemporary of Salazar's in age, definitely not talent, and he was an absolute beast. One of the toughest racers ever. Nobody ever got an easy win against him. Rono was a dominant collegiate during Al's 4 years, but it's telling that the one year that Al won an NCAA Cross title was in the snow on a miserable day.

Didn't Rono take a wrong turn and go far off course after leading that race?

Yes of course wrote:

Salazar has way more talent and guts than Rupp.

If you look at the talent cap of where they started, Rupp is light years away from Salazar. Salazar was a nation leader, while Rupp would have only been top 100 in HS without the help of Salazar. He would be far from 3rd at Footlocker without an altitude camp and extra care. There were TWO runners better than him on that day.

Without being held back, by doing the same high mileage intensity as the two guys who beat him, Rupp would almost certainly being as dominant or more than Lukas V. , over multiple years, and with record times from Mile to 10k as good or better.

Have either actually posted here or know about LRC?

That's inspiring. When I run the 'thon I'll have to read Duel in the Sun before the race. Al Sal is amazing.

jecht wrote:

Have either actually posted here or know about LRC?

Considering Salazar lawyers requested info about posters on here from the brojos, I would guess yes.

This is a tough question! Although Galen has recorded a lot of impressive times and finishes, I feel like Salazar is still the guttier runner, capable of digging down and finding something whereas Galen might come up short. It's always hard to compare athletes from different eras, and even though the smart money might be on Rupp, my gut tells me 81-82 Salazar wouldn't even leave a body.

Al-Sal. Raced on pure hate.

Salazar on Rupp wrote:

Salazar on the 4%, improved training and all the "supplements" Rupp is on, he would've went sub 12:55, 26:30 and 2:05.

I disagree. It was largely known that Salazar did not have wheels. It takes some serious speed to run those times, and I just don't see it.

Salazar set a world record 4-miler in Palo Alto in 81, I think, and went out in 4:16.

And he ran away from Jose Gomez with a 4:26 at the 16- or 17-mile mark of NYC 81. Yeah, there's wheels, but there's also this.

If anyone can show Rupp doing anything remotely close to this, I'm open to it. While Rupp has medals and faster times *, he also tends to see the winner run away from him (Kipchoge, Kirui, Farah), more than he drops the hammer and drops some JV guy modern-day Salazar has dug up.

* Until Rupp turns a low 2:08 at NYC in American Eagles, I put Salazar's 81 run there better than Rupp's PR.

Depends on the distance. In the marathon, I think he drops Rupp. But in the shorter road races, I think Galen wins with a kick. Salazar just didn't have the leg speed. If I remember correctly, back in '82 Salazar came within 10 seconds of Rono's 10k WR on three separate occasions. And he lost all of them, finishing 2nd to a different person each time.

Rupp has more pure talent than Salazar and has run faster at every distance. I would vote Rupp. However, I do think Alberto would win in an ultra or anything longer than a marathon.

Salazar had Last Rites administered to him after 2 races, the marathon and Falmouth. I don't remember hearing about Rono going off course. My teammate ran in the race and didn't have a great day but did beat Rono. He just packed it in because of the horrible freezing weather that day.

I’ve never seen Rupp run to the pain threshold that Salazar did. Salazar wins, Rupp is soft.

Time Machine Administrator wrote:

Nobody could run away from Salazar during his prime road years, which I put at 1981 and 82.

I'm not sure we've seen the peak of Rupp's road career, but maybe we have.

Let's say pre-surgery Rupp was time-machined to NYC 1982.

Or 1982 Salazar was time-machined to Chicago in 2017.

Who you got, and why?

Salazar is overrated. When he started racing against international runners such as Lopes and De Castella, he had nothing.

Lopemede wrote:

Time Machine Administrator wrote:

Nobody could run away from Salazar during his prime road years, which I put at 1981 and 82.

I'm not sure we've seen the peak of Rupp's road career, but maybe we have.

Let's say pre-surgery Rupp was time-machined to NYC 1982.

Or 1982 Salazar was time-machined to Chicago in 2017.

Who you got, and why?

Salazar is overrated. When he started racing against international runners such as Lopes and De Castella, he had nothing.

Salazar took Nijboer (1980 Olympic medalist) in his first marathon, Lopes in 82 (yes, Lopes dropped out of his first according to plan, I believe), and he ANNOUNCED a WR effort for 81 - anyone and everyone could have shown that day. If only he'd shown for NYC 83, that would have been something.

Yes, it was a shock when ABC returned to Rotterdam 83 coverage, after not showing miles 4-23, and to see Deek and Lopes running away. Something was off, for sure.