{"id":247,"date":"2009-11-15T17:03:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-16T01:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=247"},"modified":"2009-11-15T17:03:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-16T01:03:00","slug":"will-improvements-in-middle-and-long-distance-net-more-us-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=247","title":{"rendered":"Will Improvements in Middle and Long Distance Net More US Medals?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=matt tegenkamp&#038;iid=6096891\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/4\/7\/4\/b\/Track_and_Field_6d68.JPG?resize=380%2C283\" width=\"380\" height=\"283\"  border=\"0\" alt=\"Track and Field: 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Cross country season is always a good time to take a look at distance running. Especially this fall as for the first time in many years we&#8217;re coming off a track season where we saw substantial improvement among our middle and long distance runners. <\/p>\n<p>2009 saw a resurgence in our middle distance women and our distance running men such as we&#8217;ve not seen in a very long time. Not that we haven&#8217;t seen individuals rise up on occasion. But, for me, I haven&#8217;t been as excited about distance running since Alan Webb burst on the scene as a high school senior in 2001! Webb&#8217;s breaking of Jim Ryun&#8217;s HSR in the mile with his 3:53.43 run at the Prefontaine Classic brought huge excitement and hope to US distance fortunes.<\/p>\n<p>This season saw that same excitement magnified many fold as several athletes had break out performances. From three women going sub 4:00 in the 1500 to two men running sub 13:00 in the 5000 we saw middle and long distance runners stepping up and into global contention, joining a handful of vets to give us more depth than we&#8217;ve ever had at this level. <\/p>\n<p>On the women&#8217;s side it was middle distance runners Maggie Vessey, Anna Willard, Christin Wurth Thomas, Jenny Barringer and Shannon Rowbury leading the way. On the men&#8217;s side distance runners Dathan Ritzenhein, Matt Tegenkamp, Bernard Legat, Tim Nelson, Galen Rupp, and Anthony Famiglietti at the forefront. Giving us an annual list that looks impressive:<\/p>\n<p>5000 Men<br \/>12:56.27 &#8211; Dathan Ritzenhein<br \/>12:58.56 &#8211; Matt Tegenkamp<br \/>13:03.06 &#8211; Bernard Lagat<\/p>\n<p>10000 Men<br \/>27:22.28 &#8211; Dathan Ritzenhein<br \/>27:36.99 &#8211; Tim Nelson<br \/>27:37.99 &#8211; Galen Rupp<br \/>27:39.68 &#8211; Anthony Famiglietti<\/p>\n<p>800 Women<br \/>1:57.84 &#8211; Maggie Vessey<br \/>1:58.80 &#8211; Anna Willard<br \/>1:59.35 &#8211; Christin Wurth Thomas<br \/>1:59.98 &#8211; Hazel Clark<\/p>\n<p>1500 Women<br \/>3:59.38 &#8211; Anna Willard<br \/>3:59.90 &#8211; Jenny Barringer<br \/>3:59.98 &#8211; Christin Wurth Thomas<br \/>4:00.81 &#8211; Shannon Rowbury<\/p>\n<p>With the next major another year and a half away (Daegu, 2011), do we have enough time to translate this recent improvement into positions on the medal stand? On the clock these athletes are running times that can get them on the podium. But championship running is about &#8220;racing&#8221; and I think that is where we need to take the next step &#8211; learning to run our best under championship pressure.<\/p>\n<p>After all in spite of running 136 sub 4 minute miles and 3:47.69, Steve Scott only stood on the podium once in his career &#8211; racing tactics leaving him short on several occasions. Same for Steve Holman who was consistently one of America&#8217;s and the world&#8217;s fastest milers during the 90&#8217;s never found his way to the podium. And though he broke the HSR and has dropped his best down to 3:46.91, Alan Webb is still in search of the podium. So, clearly, in distance running becoming a good tactician is as important as becoming fast!<\/p>\n<p>With no medals at stake and rhetorically nothing to lose, I would hope to see all of the above racing frequently in Europe this coming year. If they never win a single race, being in fast &#8220;Circuit&#8221; races should help to sharpen their skills and prepare them for the tough, and often uneven paces, typically set by their African counterparts in major championships &#8211; the athletes that must be beaten if we have hopes of ascending the podium.<\/p>\n<p>The European races can be tough, but it&#8217;s toughness that will be needed come Daegu and London! The one thing that I like about the current group of middle\/distance runners above is that they are a gritty bunch &#8211; seemingly unafraid to try to stay with tough paces and mix it up in traffic.  Most of their PR&#8217;s were set in tough races. And that is what gives me hope that they can indeed make a run at medals over the next couple of Majors. <\/p>\n<p>So I&#8217;ll be watching the summer racing in 2010 very closely as this should be a key season for all of the above.  Especially if we can get the same kind of improvement from them in 2010 that we saw in 2009. Similar improvement and we could see an improvement in medals from this part of our team in Daegu and London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cross country season is always a good time to take a look at distance running. Especially this fall as for the first time in many years we&#8217;re coming off a track season where we saw substantial improvement among our middle and long distance runners. 2009 saw a resurgence in our middle distance women and our distance running men such as we&#8217;ve not seen in a very long time. Not that we haven&#8217;t seen individuals rise up on occasion. But, for me, I haven&#8217;t been as excited about distance running since Alan Webb burst on the scene as a high school senior in 2001! Webb&#8217;s breaking of Jim Ryun&#8217;s HSR in the mile with his 3:53.43 run at the Prefontaine Classic brought huge excitement and hope to US distance fortunes. This season saw that same excitement magnified many fold as several athletes had break out performances. From three women going sub 4:00 in the 1500 to two men running sub 13:00 in the 5000 we saw middle and long distance runners stepping up and into global contention, joining a handful of vets to give us more depth than we&#8217;ve ever had at this level. On the women&#8217;s side it was middle distance runners Maggie Vessey, Anna Willard, Christin Wurth Thomas, Jenny Barringer and Shannon Rowbury leading the way. On the men&#8217;s side distance runners Dathan Ritzenhein, Matt Tegenkamp, Bernard Legat, Tim Nelson, Galen Rupp, and Anthony Famiglietti at the forefront. Giving us an annual list that looks impressive: 5000 Men12:56.27 &#8211; Dathan Ritzenhein12:58.56 &#8211; Matt Tegenkamp13:03.06 &#8211; Bernard Lagat 10000 Men27:22.28 &#8211; Dathan Ritzenhein27:36.99 &#8211; Tim Nelson27:37.99 &#8211; Galen Rupp27:39.68 &#8211; Anthony Famiglietti 800 Women1:57.84 &#8211; Maggie Vessey1:58.80 &#8211; Anna Willard1:59.35 &#8211; Christin Wurth Thomas1:59.98 &#8211; Hazel Clark 1500 Women3:59.38 &#8211; Anna Willard3:59.90 &#8211; Jenny Barringer3:59.98 &#8211; Christin Wurth Thomas4:00.81 &#8211; Shannon Rowbury With the next major another year and a half away (Daegu, 2011), do we have enough time to translate this recent improvement into positions on the medal stand? On the clock these athletes are running times that can get them on the podium. But championship running is about &#8220;racing&#8221; and I think that is where we need to take the next step &#8211; learning to run our best under championship pressure. After all in spite of running 136 sub 4 minute miles and 3:47.69, Steve Scott only stood on the podium once in his career &#8211; racing tactics leaving him short on several occasions. Same for Steve Holman who was consistently one of America&#8217;s and the world&#8217;s fastest milers during the 90&#8217;s never found his way to the podium. And though he broke the HSR and has dropped his best down to 3:46.91, Alan Webb is still in search of the podium. So, clearly, in distance running becoming a good tactician is as important as becoming fast! With no medals at stake and rhetorically nothing to lose, I would hope to see all of the above racing frequently in Europe this coming year. If they never win a single race, being in fast &#8220;Circuit&#8221; races should help to sharpen their skills and prepare them for the tough, and often uneven paces, typically set by their African counterparts in major championships &#8211; the athletes that must be beaten if we have hopes of ascending the podium. The European races can be tough, but it&#8217;s toughness that will be needed come Daegu and London! The one thing that I like about the current group of middle\/distance runners above is that they are a gritty bunch &#8211; seemingly unafraid to try to stay with tough paces and mix it up in traffic. Most of their PR&#8217;s were set in tough races. And that is what gives me hope that they can indeed make a run at medals over the next couple of Majors. So I&#8217;ll be watching the summer racing in 2010 very closely as this should be a key season for all of the above. Especially if we can get the same kind of improvement from them in 2010 that we saw in 2009. Similar improvement and we could see an improvement in medals from this part of our team in Daegu and London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-3Z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":348,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=348","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":0},"title":"Sprinters, Now is Your Time","author":"CHill","date":"June 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time (a long time ago) when I took typing in high school, there was a practice phrase that we used that said, \u201cnow is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country\u201d. That phrase could be well suited to American sprinters\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 16:  Tyrone Edgar of Great Britain & Northern Ireland is disqualified for a false start in the men's 100 Metres Semi-Final during day two of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 16, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6018156\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=140","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":1},"title":"Early Weekend News","author":"CHill","date":"April 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Relay running takes center stage at Drake and Penn, but distance runners made some noise on Friday at a couple of meets here on the West Coast. In Oregon, Colorado steeplechaser Jenny Barringer opened up her season in the 1500 meters and won in a world leading time of 4:08.38.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1655","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":2},"title":"My Favorite All Time Female Middle Distance","author":"CHill","date":"October 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well I see my female sprinters list raised a few questions. But then the history of women's sprinting is full of superstars, which make trying to come up a with a list of 10 is difficult regardless of the criteria. I\u2019ve found the same to be true when taking a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Decker Slaney\"","block_context":{"text":"Decker Slaney","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=decker-slaney"},"img":{"alt_text":"Me for Blog pic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Me-for-Blog-pic_thumb1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1646,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1646","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":3},"title":"My Favorite All Time Middle Distance Runners","author":"CHill","date":"October 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m still working on this years top 10 lists, so going to take another trip down memory lane and look at my favorite middle distance runners. As stated previously,you must be retired to make the list so that precludes the addition of current athletes like David Rudisha. It doesn\u2019t diminish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Aouita\"","block_context":{"text":"Aouita","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=aouita"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sprinter Shadow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Sprinter-Shadow_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":478,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=478","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":4},"title":"Distance Runners Come Alive at Stanford","author":"CHill","date":"May 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"For most of the early season I\u2019ve talked about the speed events and the collegians, because they\u2019ve been the one\u2019s making most of the noise. I\u2019ve been waiting for the distance runners to join the fray \u2013 if for no other reason than I feel like we really have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":489,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=489","url_meta":{"origin":247,"position":5},"title":"Wheating Picks Up Where He Left Off","author":"CHill","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last summer Andrew Wheating emerged as possibly the brightest face in men\u2019s middle distance running in the U.S.. This past weekend he opened his season with a 1500 meter run at the USATF High Performance meet in Southern California. The result was a 3:36.46 win \u2013 the #2 time of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_q69RXDGKhjE\/TdvyRbJJ8nI\/AAAAAAAAALw\/TrzPs3L1fXw\/image_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}