Chris Solinsky's 26:59 turns 10 years old today. Share your memories here.

legally libtarded wrote:

Say what you will about Flotrack in the intervening time, but they really had their sh*t together back then. The commentary was pretty good, and as Solinsky charged through those last 2 laps (in 2 flat!) they were able to pivot the audience's expectations from just an upset to a historic, barrier breaking record. It.

What's intersting though is people's memories are wrong. Jonathan reports in our piece (and he spoke to Ryan Fenton for it) that the race was NOT on flotrack live. They race was on Stanford's website with different announcers. Flotrack tape delayed it. Apparently the Stanford announcers knew little and were bad but they were near Ryan Fenton and could hear what he was saying and were copying some of it. If anyone has a copy of the Stanford tape, please let me know as I'd love to broadcast that to see how bad it was.

Don't know if others have seen this but BTC reviewing the race recently with Solinsky himself was interesting. Especially enjoy the meal prior to the race...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH5YdzdZMMw

My memory was the shocker.

This was all about Rupp getting the record.

Solinsky drills the final 800m and goes under 27!

That was a real feel good day.

I still feel good about Rupp's 26:44 being the best in years.

tin can man wrote:

Are we all just going to pretend Solinsky was clean? He was so doped to the gills and doing stuff beyond his body's natural ability that tripping over his dog was the breaking point and ended his career.

So I bit ignorant about him as a runner, can some give me a break down of his precession up to that American record and after?

Is it still the American record?

2004 - 13:42 in 5k

2005 - 13:37 in 5k

2006 - 13:27 in 5k

2007 - 13:12 in 5k

2008 - 13:18 in 5k

2009 - 13:18 in 5k

2010 - 12:55 in 5k and 26:59 in 10k (first ever 10k - 13:34 then 13:24 for 5k splits)

suspicious to say the least

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Given the race started at almost 1 am EST . . .

Really? Shouldn't it have been EDT by that point?

tin can man wrote:

Are we all just going to pretend Solinsky was clean?

No one has ever broken 30 minutes clean.

Yeah, well you have to remember this race started at 12:50 ET? I was in college at the time, and pretty into track, but I don't think I stayed up. You woke up the next morning to the crazy news and you saw the headline and immediately went to watch the FloTrack video. So while it wasn't live, it was the first version most people saw.

I must be getting old because I recall watching it live on Flotrack about 10:00 central.

So are you saying Fenton of Flotrack was recording his audio live? So Flotrack did infact broadcast it. Why would you want to hear how bad the Stanford announcers were? What is the matter with you Rojo?

Awesome Story! A nice read while "working from home" ;)

I was lucky to be there. My heart starting fluttering a bit when I realized what was about to go down. The suspense was palpable in the stands. I can distinctively hear my screams in the background of the Flotrack video.

The only time I've felt more excitement from an announcer was Toni Reavis during the Wanjiru/Kebede battle at the 2010 Chicago Marathon .

NRR, but this was also the same day I decided to leave my ex-husband. The memories are forever entwined by sheer coincidence.

I was streaming it. It was unbelievable... Everything up to that point had been Rupp Rupp Rupp...

When Chris made the move I started going nuts and especially when Rupp went out the back and it became obvious Solinsky wasn't going to fade.

I also swear100% that I remember listening to Ryan. I mean maybe Stanford handed him the mic or you could hear in the background?? That is one of the things that made it all the more exciting just being caught up in it with him.

Probably the best race I have ever seen. I remember thinking how glad I was to have watched it unfold live. I can't imagine having missed it.

I wish I would have downloaded a copy of the original beastmode video. I still love watching the finish, can't help but get excited and think about those magical moments when it all just comes together.

tin can man wrote:

2004 - 13:42 in 5k

2005 - 13:37 in 5k

2006 - 13:27 in 5k

2007 - 13:12 in 5k

2008 - 13:18 in 5k

2009 - 13:18 in 5k

2010 - 12:55 in 5k and 26:59 in 10k (first ever 10k - 13:34 then 13:24 for 5k splits)

suspicious to say the least

I'm glad you and a couple of others are suspicious as well.

I find Tegenkamp and Solinsky to be highly suspect and that's not a popular opinion around here since Jerry's guys were always considered to be the good guys and anyone associated with Salazar were automatically condemned.

the style police wrote:

Runners should not wear socks up to their knees. It looks stupid.

Knee socks are for soccer players.

+1. He could have run 26:49 wearing normal socks.

tin can man wrote:

2004 - 13:42 in 5k

2005 - 13:37 in 5k

2006 - 13:27 in 5k

2007 - 13:12 in 5k

2008 - 13:18 in 5k

2009 - 13:18 in 5k

2010 - 12:55 in 5k and 26:59 in 10k (first ever 10k - 13:34 then 13:24 for 5k splits)

suspicious to say the least

The article addresses this. Schumacher says he could see in training that Solinsky was fitter than the official times. Sometimes weird stuff happens and you don't race to how fit you think you are in a season. It's happened to me before.

Also - let's look at who are the sub-13 American born runners. Ritz, Rupp, Kennedy, Teg. All great talents from an early age who ran fast in high school, then college, then pros. Solinsky fits right in with that group as far as early talent and high school & college accomplishments. 7:36 for 3,000 meters at age 22 is freaking rolling. He had the pedigree.

Woody is the 5k oddball. Solinsky not as much.

Solinsky was running extremely high mileage at a very young age. His improvement is incredibly suspect considering that alone.

tin can man wrote:

got it for you wrote:

The article addresses this. Schumacher says he could see in training that Solinsky was fitter than the official times. Sometimes weird stuff happens and you don't race to how fit you think you are in a season. It's happened to me before.

Also - let's look at who are the sub-13 American born runners. Ritz, Rupp, Kennedy, Teg. All great talents from an early age who ran fast in high school, then college, then pros. Solinsky fits right in with that group as far as early talent and high school & college accomplishments. 7:36 for 3,000 meters at age 22 is freaking rolling. He had the pedigree.

Woody is the 5k oddball. Solinsky not as much.

Solinsky was running extremely high mileage at a very young age. His improvement is incredibly suspect considering that alone.

Malmo was a 9:10 4:16 hs kid who already ran a lot of miles in his high school years, sometimes people just keep getting better while you'd think they'd "peak" from the amount of training.

I kept expecting to see a post to the effect of:

'He could run 26:11 if coached by the new magic coach...'

I guess he's never heard of Solinsky and so, fortunately, ignored this thread.