Run-Down Forums

Conway · Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2002 9:38 pm Post subject: Mid Season Report Card ...

With things getting ready to lull after this next meet (Euros and Commonwealth on tap) I thought it might be a good time to look at the season so far and sort of grade it ...

I'm gonna start with the people that are runnign the sport and give them all an incomplete ... Drug test positive rumors ... Meets with only half the events ... Several governing bodies seemingly out of control - USATF, Dopinhg Agencies, IAAF ... Almost seems like no one is really running the sport !!!

Then of course there are the athletes themselves ...

Nicole Teter ... The brightest "newcomer" on the scene and she is an American .. Just when you thought our female middle distance was getting ready to disappear !!!

Gail Devers ... Someone who apparently will never disappear ... And thank goodness ... At 35 she is having her brightest year yet ... I think she will come close to the WR which is no mean feat given it was set back in the dark ages of the Eastern Bloc !!!!

Mo Greene ... 9.89 and getting better ... After all the talk by Tim Montgomery ... Publicly calling him out ... Sayign he was through ... PRoclaiming himself the new annointed King and would be record holder ... The MAN simply keeps on running ... Yeah he's had a coauple of losses ... By .01 and in a race where he simply didn't have it .... He has been the most consistent sprinter on the watach and the track ... Running sub 10.00 at will and proving himself to be the best ever in the event ...

Women's 100 ... Has 2 women who have truly dominated and who may not meet until the end of the season DESPITE the fact there is no major World event !!! Pintusevich Block in one corner at 10.84 and consistently low 10.9x ... And Marion Jones 10.89 and consistenly 10.9x !!! Just goes to show what is wrong with this sport !!!

Men's 200 & 400 ... Events in search of someone to take over (or someones) ... The 200 has lots of potential ... It just can't seem to get to the track ... Capel went to football came back and went back ... Fredericks has been injured and is coming back ... Gatlin has run the best but had trouble getting let back in ... And Shawn Crawford flew at altitude and has yet to find his way back !!!! Boldon has run crappy due to a bad back ... And Greene says taking all that time off and now having to focus on the 100 means it may be next season before to this event he comes back ... All of which almost makes me want MJ back !!! (Times must be hard) The 400 is simple ... Tyree Washington has taken the year off to rest his back .... And everyone else just seems to lack !!!

Ahhhhh ... But THE bright spot has got to be Krummenaker ... Just when you thought it wasn't safe for an American to jump in the world distance middle distance waters along come Krummenaker ... And with 2 Golden League 800 wins and a 3:31.95 PR, he goes where only Webb had dared to dream !!! I'm not yet ready to give a medal next year at Worlds ... But if he can get consistent it might be possible ... Glory halleluya (sp?) !!!!

OK ... That's a start ... So much more to talk about ... Wink

Dan · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 7:48 am Post subject:

I wish I had something significant, or at the very least semi-intelligent, to add to that, but you seemed to have summed things up pretty well... Smile

Dan

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 8:37 am Post subject:

El G... He is more dominant in his event than anyone else in any other event this year (according to me). And no one has been able to mount any kind of a challenge. He's repeatedly destroyed Bernard Legat, and Noah Negany is no where in sight. And as much as I wish he was Krummenacker (who's focusing in the 800 anyway) isn't in his league. Of coarse neither is anyone else.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

Conway · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 8:55 am Post subject:

Was definitley the right move for him NOT to give up the 1500 and move to the 5000 !!! He is defintely the best non championships 1500 runner of all time ... He has proven to be unbeatable on the Euro circuit year in and year out ... He has abeen vulnerable in the Olympics ... And could be in the Worlds as I think he has slowed slightly (Of course he has slowed from 3:26.00 !!!) ... ElG has been as dominant as anyone (I like Gail's season too, and Marion and P-Block have both been very dominanat so far) .. And no one has been as dominant on the men's side !!! But improvement to 3:30 (3:31.00 or better) range could put Krummenaker in the medal hunt ... Wouldn't that be nice ?!?!? Laughing

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 9:09 am Post subject:

That would be nice indeed but I don't want to start talking medals unless he is still running this well relative to the rest of the world this time next year. I've had my heart broken to many times by high hopes for an American distance runner that has a couple of good races at unimportant times and then just isn't good enough when the Olympics or Worlds roll around. I sound just like an old Cubs or Red Sox fan!
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Time is the fire in which we burn

Conway · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 9:28 am Post subject:

Typically I would say that too ... What has me excited about Krummenaaker so far is the "race sense" that he has exhibited ... Most championships become tactical affairs ... Fast tactical afairs ... Medals usually ocme in the 3:30.5 to 3:33 range ... So someone running 3:30 to 3:31 is in the running ... But even more importantly is the ability to run well tactically ... Frankly that is wy ElG has failed in the Olympics - he's used to pace setters working for him and running a race that is set up for a certain time ... "Racing" is different ... Krummenaker has "raced" well as well as run fast ... That's why is 800 wins have been on the high side of 1:44 low end 1:45 ... He's becoming more of a Steve Ovett type than a Sebastian Coe type ... ie a better racer ... And THAT has me excited ... It's the thing I have liked about Webb - not so much how fast he's run but how well he's raced ...

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 10:30 am Post subject:

Didn't El G loose in 96 because he got tripped rather than because he ran a poor race from a tactical sense?
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

Dan · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 10:57 am Post subject:

Morceli was still the favorite in most people's eyes in '96, and I thought the tripping incident was more ElG's fault than Morceli's. As I recall, he got up too close behind Moreceli who was in the process of moving out around a runner, clipping his heel in the process.

My impression of that race and subsequent championship races is that he wants it too badly and makes tactical mistakes as a result. In a rabbited race, his wanting it is what makes it fast. The same doesn't quite work in a WC or OG race though, as we've seen...

Dan

Conway · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 11:11 am Post subject:

Yes he was tripped ... But he was tripped becasue he was in a poor position within the race .... ElG should never have been in or near traffic ...

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 11:34 am Post subject:

Didn't Morceli have a similar problem winning at the Olympics? Morceli was favored in 92 and lost. In 1988 Peter Rono won and T&F news has him ranked #5 that year for the 1500 so he wasn't a favorite. So that means you would have to go all the way back to 1984 when Seb Coe won to find an Olympic 1500 won by the pre race favorite. In other words only one of the last four favorites going into the Olympic 1500 has won the race. Which makes Seb Coe's back to back wins even more impressive.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 11:47 am Post subject:

Conway · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 12:00 pm Post subject:

Sorry but I have ot disagree with you ... And so does Elg and I'll tell you why in a moment ...

First of all runningin traffic is not comparable to a false start or dropped baton as those two things are accidents (you don't plan on being in that position) ... You make a conscious effort to run in traffic (or not to get out of it) ...

Secondly, your average runner has no choice but to be in traffic ... THAT is true ... But an ElG, just like Morcelli doesn't have to be there and has no business being there ... ElG figured that out and employed a different strategy in Sydney ... You NEVER saw him in traffic in Sydney ... Unfortunately for him the KEnyans had spent the summer workign on theri timing with him and turned that strategy against him by making their move at the last possible moment !!! Not giving him the opportunity to respond !!!

Distance_Guru · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 12:25 pm Post subject:

Dan · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 12:57 pm Post subject:

I'm somewhat in agreement with both of you. DG in that non-laned races are very difficult to run your race without taking into account what's going on around you (lots of things out of your control that directly affect you) and Conway in that runners who clearly are the class of the field should not have a problem controlling the race safely. Too many times, they try to win in a tactically slow time -- something that I can only describe as laziness -- and get burnt in the process.

My most inflential coach once said, "the only reason to lead a race [in the first half or so] is for your ego."

Dan

Conway · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 1:24 pm Post subject:

A Porshe should never be driving in traffic with Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans ... The Porshe can cruise cruise faster than they can go in top gear ... An ElG or Morcelli or similar athletes should not be fiddling around in a final with guys they are clearly superior to ... As ElG found out in '96 that is setting yourself up for potential disaster !!!

One of my pet peaves is watching superior guys, running in a pack, waiting to unleash !!!! Typical race pattern of Steve Holman .. The only thing they are waiting for is a box, trip or some other thing that eventually prevents them from completing a satisfactory race ...

Best 1500 I have ever watched was the women's 1500 in Seoul ... Paula Ivan ran the perfect race ... She knew what she was capable of running ... And just went out and did it !!! The announcers kept referring to her as the pacesetter ... And wondered why she was sacrificing herself for the other Romanian in the race ... Until the final lap, when it became clearly evident to the announcers, the other runners, and everyone watching the race that she had clearly kicked everyone's ass and was on her way to picking up the gold !!!!!

When you are superior THAT is what you do ... You run in the pack when you have no choice ...

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