USATF Oxy High Performance Meet 2013May 17, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
Solinsky is an Optimist, Ritz is a Realist, and Webb is an Unknown
Solinsky is an Optimist, Ritz is a Realist, and Webb is an Unknown
Between guys doubling back, some guys possibly rabbiting the later stages of the race, and some guys running fresh and hoping to hang on for dear life, there are four entrants who everyone will be watching tonight in the men’s 5000m.
Those four come in nice little pairs and how they’ve changed over the last year. I’m talking about the Nike Oregon Project’s Mo Farah and Dathan Ritzenhein and Team Schumacher’s Chris Solinsky and Alan Webb.
Mo Farah
This Time Last Year: Farah was the world 5,000m champion and the world 10,000m silver medalist. The entire weight of the United Kingdom’s distance running community bore down on him as the London Olympic soon approached.
Now: He’s the double Olympic champion.
While his pedigree different, this year’s Oxy HP meet is unfortunately not the same for Farah. Last year, he pulled off an incredible double by winning both the men’s 1500m and 5000m. Yesterday, he pulled out of this year’s 1500m, leaving him in "just" the 5000m.
That should end the question of whether he’ll pull a Tom Byers and instead of rabbiting, he’ll just go the distance and take the win.
"I just felt like running." - Forrest Gump
Farah’s post-Olympic world has had more hometown parades than actual racing. In 2013, Farah won a diluted 3000m in front of the home crowd in Birmingham (7:42.00) and then ran the publicly-criticized first half of the London Marathon (60:59).
Since he’s the defending 5000m world champion, Farah doesn’t need the 5k standard as he receives a free pass (I think. If I'm incorrect, shoot me an email). This is, more or less, a tuneup before he either runs the 5k or 10k at the 2013 Prefontaine Classic.
Chris Solinsky
This Time Last Year: Injured, MIA
Now: On the comeback trail and full of confidence
In what may be the most positive interview of the year, Solinsky was grinning ear to ear after his 5000m at Payton Jordan. Even though his 13:23.62 finish is a far cry from his 12:55.53 personal best from ’10, Solinsky said that he was happier this year at Stanford than when he ran the American record in the 10,000m.
There’s nothing more exciting than a comeback. It’s one thing to be fine tuning your skills to be the best in the world, but it’s another to lift yourself up by your bootstraps when you’re at your lowest point.
As the character Jeremy Goodwin said in my new favorite show Sports Night, "As if it matters how a man falls down, when the fall is all that is left, the fall matters very much."
The last time we tried to make a prediction about what he’d run for 5000m, we guessed around 13:40. Based on his 3k indoors (8:05.38), our prediction made sense on paper, but was wrong in the end.
But this time, we know what to expect. Not only are we basing our prediction off his last race, but he’s said it himself: “I’m going for the “A” standard at Oxy.”
He’ll get it.
Dathan Ritzenhein
This Time Last Year: Hadn’t run for two weeks, then ran the second-fastest 5k of his career (13:14.72)
Now: Healthy and ready to roll
There’s a different mentality this year for Ritz. After taking fourth at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, the former American record holder said he was a bit "fatigued". In a recent interview with Flotrack, Ritz said that he hadn’t run for two weeks prior to Oxy and yet somehow, ran 13:14.72.
This year, he’s been on a roll. He's set a new personal best in the marathon with a ninth place finish in Chicago (2:07:47), took second at the USA XC championships (35:45), took third in the NYC Half-Marathon (61:10), and then ran a tuneup 3000m on the track at the Oregon Twilight (7:47.65).
Photo: Photorun.net
If put the betting line at 13:14.72 and had a make a call of whether he’d be higher or lower than that this year, we’d say lower. His Half-Marathon may not had been a personal best (60:00), but he’s looked strong all year.
We’d like to see him run the marathon this summer in Moscow, but he’s already on the books to return to Chicago. That means the focus from here on out will be the 10k.
Alan Webb
This Time Last Year: Amidst a rough patch, but ran 3:37.26 at Oxy.
Now: Coming off an encouraging 5000m and tonight, he'll run that distance again.
The enigmatic American record holder leaves us in the dark. Like we said in our Weekend Recap from the days following Payton Jordan, the Flotrack community accurately predicted that Webb would run between 13:30 and 13:40 at Stanford (he ran 13:37.68).
Though some pundits proclaimed him to “be back,” we thought of that to be more of a literal statement. Yes, he’s finally back on the track and running, but he’s still a far removed from his once dominant self. Then again, every forward step is a step in the right direction for Webb.
Once again, we’ll leave it up to you. Don’t mess this up.
Below is the rest of the men’s 5000m field at the Oxy HP Meet. While our attention has been primarily on the big Nike guys, what about everyone else?
While Mo may not be doubling back, Galen Rupp is running the 1500m earlier in the night before coming back for the 5k. While we were just there in Park City, UT with the Nike Oregon Project, we don’t know whether he’ll pull a Farah and run the whole 5000m or not.
Following Rupp in the double is the newest member of the NOP, Cam Levins. We haven’t seen the no-longer-mileage-man since his disappointing race at World Cross, so we’re unsure of what he’ll run for either of his events tonight. That being said, we’re positive that he wouldn’t be thrown in both races if he wasn’t fit and ready to go.
Aaron Braun returns after a subpar showing in the Payton Jordan 10k, where he picked either him or Andrew Bumablough to vie for the win.
Instead, that win went to another Oxy 5k entrant, Ben St. Lawrence. The now IAAF 10k qualifier followed up his 27:37.55 win at Stanford with a 10th place showing at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k in 29:00.
Another Payton Jordan 5k finisher who we think has more in the tank is Bobby “I’m in Marketing” Curtis. The new member of the Hansons-Brooks group ran 13:32.57 in Palo Alto, CA, but we think that he’s still adapting to a new training environment and will be closer to his personal best of 13:18.97 tonight. Similar to Ritz, his main focus will be the 10,000m in a few weeks at U.S. Champs.
Section 1
Rabbit: Bolota Asmeron (7:56 thru 3000m, going 4000m)
Those four come in nice little pairs and how they’ve changed over the last year. I’m talking about the Nike Oregon Project’s Mo Farah and Dathan Ritzenhein and Team Schumacher’s Chris Solinsky and Alan Webb.
Mo Farah
This Time Last Year: Farah was the world 5,000m champion and the world 10,000m silver medalist. The entire weight of the United Kingdom’s distance running community bore down on him as the London Olympic soon approached.
Now: He’s the double Olympic champion.
While his pedigree different, this year’s Oxy HP meet is unfortunately not the same for Farah. Last year, he pulled off an incredible double by winning both the men’s 1500m and 5000m. Yesterday, he pulled out of this year’s 1500m, leaving him in "just" the 5000m.
That should end the question of whether he’ll pull a Tom Byers and instead of rabbiting, he’ll just go the distance and take the win.
"I just felt like running." - Forrest Gump
Farah’s post-Olympic world has had more hometown parades than actual racing. In 2013, Farah won a diluted 3000m in front of the home crowd in Birmingham (7:42.00) and then ran the publicly-criticized first half of the London Marathon (60:59).
Since he’s the defending 5000m world champion, Farah doesn’t need the 5k standard as he receives a free pass (I think. If I'm incorrect, shoot me an email). This is, more or less, a tuneup before he either runs the 5k or 10k at the 2013 Prefontaine Classic.
Chris Solinsky
This Time Last Year: Injured, MIA
Now: On the comeback trail and full of confidence
In what may be the most positive interview of the year, Solinsky was grinning ear to ear after his 5000m at Payton Jordan. Even though his 13:23.62 finish is a far cry from his 12:55.53 personal best from ’10, Solinsky said that he was happier this year at Stanford than when he ran the American record in the 10,000m.
There’s nothing more exciting than a comeback. It’s one thing to be fine tuning your skills to be the best in the world, but it’s another to lift yourself up by your bootstraps when you’re at your lowest point.
As the character Jeremy Goodwin said in my new favorite show Sports Night, "As if it matters how a man falls down, when the fall is all that is left, the fall matters very much."
I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.
— Chris Solinsky (@ChrisSolinsky) May 3, 2013
The last time we tried to make a prediction about what he’d run for 5000m, we guessed around 13:40. Based on his 3k indoors (8:05.38), our prediction made sense on paper, but was wrong in the end.
But this time, we know what to expect. Not only are we basing our prediction off his last race, but he’s said it himself: “I’m going for the “A” standard at Oxy.”
He’ll get it.
Dathan Ritzenhein
This Time Last Year: Hadn’t run for two weeks, then ran the second-fastest 5k of his career (13:14.72)
Now: Healthy and ready to roll
There’s a different mentality this year for Ritz. After taking fourth at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, the former American record holder said he was a bit "fatigued". In a recent interview with Flotrack, Ritz said that he hadn’t run for two weeks prior to Oxy and yet somehow, ran 13:14.72.
This year, he’s been on a roll. He's set a new personal best in the marathon with a ninth place finish in Chicago (2:07:47), took second at the USA XC championships (35:45), took third in the NYC Half-Marathon (61:10), and then ran a tuneup 3000m on the track at the Oregon Twilight (7:47.65).
Photo: Photorun.net
If put the betting line at 13:14.72 and had a make a call of whether he’d be higher or lower than that this year, we’d say lower. His Half-Marathon may not had been a personal best (60:00), but he’s looked strong all year.
We’d like to see him run the marathon this summer in Moscow, but he’s already on the books to return to Chicago. That means the focus from here on out will be the 10k.
Alan Webb
This Time Last Year: Amidst a rough patch, but ran 3:37.26 at Oxy.
Now: Coming off an encouraging 5000m and tonight, he'll run that distance again.
The enigmatic American record holder leaves us in the dark. Like we said in our Weekend Recap from the days following Payton Jordan, the Flotrack community accurately predicted that Webb would run between 13:30 and 13:40 at Stanford (he ran 13:37.68).
Though some pundits proclaimed him to “be back,” we thought of that to be more of a literal statement. Yes, he’s finally back on the track and running, but he’s still a far removed from his once dominant self. Then again, every forward step is a step in the right direction for Webb.
Once again, we’ll leave it up to you. Don’t mess this up.
Below is the rest of the men’s 5000m field at the Oxy HP Meet. While our attention has been primarily on the big Nike guys, what about everyone else?
While Mo may not be doubling back, Galen Rupp is running the 1500m earlier in the night before coming back for the 5k. While we were just there in Park City, UT with the Nike Oregon Project, we don’t know whether he’ll pull a Farah and run the whole 5000m or not.
Following Rupp in the double is the newest member of the NOP, Cam Levins. We haven’t seen the no-longer-mileage-man since his disappointing race at World Cross, so we’re unsure of what he’ll run for either of his events tonight. That being said, we’re positive that he wouldn’t be thrown in both races if he wasn’t fit and ready to go.
Aaron Braun returns after a subpar showing in the Payton Jordan 10k, where he picked either him or Andrew Bumablough to vie for the win.
Instead, that win went to another Oxy 5k entrant, Ben St. Lawrence. The now IAAF 10k qualifier followed up his 27:37.55 win at Stanford with a 10th place showing at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k in 29:00.
Another Payton Jordan 5k finisher who we think has more in the tank is Bobby “I’m in Marketing” Curtis. The new member of the Hansons-Brooks group ran 13:32.57 in Palo Alto, CA, but we think that he’s still adapting to a new training environment and will be closer to his personal best of 13:18.97 tonight. Similar to Ritz, his main focus will be the 10,000m in a few weeks at U.S. Champs.
Section 1
Rabbit: Bolota Asmeron (7:56 thru 3000m, going 4000m)
| Name | Affiliation | PR |
| Mo Farah | Nike | 12:53.11 ('11) |
| Galen Rupp | Nike | 12:58.90 ('12) |
| Arne Gabius | Nike | 13:13.43 ('12) |
| Dathan Ritzenhein | Nike | 12:56.27 ('09) |
| Cam Levins | Nike | 13:18.29 ('12) |
| Aaron Braun | adidas | 13:20.25 ('12) |
| Chris Solinsky | Nike | 12:55.53 ('10) |
| Rory Fraser | Bowerman AC | 13:24.07 ('13) |
| Mauricio Gonzalez | Porvenir | 13:32.44 ('13) |
| Tonny Okello | Santa Monica | 13:33.19 ('12) |
| Forest Braden | Bruin Bruise | 13:37.90 ('12) |
| Adbi Nageeye | Netherlands | 13:38.86 ('12) |
| Andy Wacker | adidas | 13:41.45 ('13) |
| Alan Webb | Nike | 13:10.86 ('05) |
| Stephen Furst | adidas | 13:29.05 ('11) |
| Luke Puskedra | Nike | 14:01.03 ('12) |
| Bobby Curtis | Hansons-Brooks | 13:18.97 ('10) |
| Diego Borrego | Zatopek | 13:27.26 ('10) |
| Colton Tully-Doyle | Brooks | 13:47.25 ('11) |
| Lee Emanuel | New Balance | 13:31.56 ('10) |
| Juan Carlos Romero | Mexico | 13:29.40 ('11) |
| Ben St. Lawrence | New Balance | 13:10.08 ('11) |
| Joe Stilin | Unattached | 13:38.36 ('12) |
| Aldo Vega | Unattached | 13:39.37 ('12) |