Outdoor Track and Field on Flotrack 2013Jul 6, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
Four Americans run the "A" in Oordegem, which makes it Euro's Swarthmore
Four Americans run the "A" in Oordegem, which makes it Euro's Swarthmore
Edit: It took exactly four minutes for someone to send us the video. Awesome work, Levi Hoste!
We get a lot of emails about certain tracks. They’re not all necessarily about the “Hayward Magic” out west, but of the “Swarthmore Magic” out east.
On the surface, the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet is your run-of-the-mill final gathering of the season. Want to run an off-event? Swarthmore. Want to try and take one more shot at a PR? Swarthmore.
The meet gained legendary status in '12, when Columbia’s Kyle Merber dropped his PR by nearly seven seconds to run the American collegiate record in the 1500m (3:35.59). While that race that was set up for Nate Brannen to run the IAAF “A” standard, everyone else was towed along to huge personal bests.
- Results HERE
- LetRun’s analysis of that race HERE
Some people say the track was short. Others, like when the creators of Lost were asked about how they ended the show, say magic. It’s probably the latter.
So when Americans want to run something outrageous, like say a seven second PR or the “A” standard, then Oordegem is the place to run.
Heat 2
Heat 1
Other than the fanfare and congratulations on Twitter, we know very little about the race. Were you there? Email us.
Assorted Thoughts
- How many Americans set personal bests? Eight (Heath, McNamara, Heath, Bayer, Leslie, Leer, Miller, and Bolas. Boylan-Pett's PR is from Swarthmore. Fancy that).
- Anyone find it odd that there were so many Americans in Belgium? 15 of the 29 finishers in the two sections had “USA” listed under their affiliation. That’s not to mention the three UK'ers who train the U.S. (Chris Gowell, Chris O’Hare, and Lee Emanuel, I think).
- It has to be cheaper to fly over three Belgium rabbits to the states instead of everyone going overseas (apparently Danny Stockberger did an excellent job pacing, but he’s American so we’re not counting his travel expenses). Perhaps a Canadian slash American summer track circuit? There are meets, but we would need organization (and money).
Link to the original interview. Congrats, JMac. We never doubted you for a second.
- If Andy Bayer was permitted to run the 5k at USAs, would he have beaten Ryan Hill? More on that Monday.
- Speaking of the third place finisher from U.S. Champs, what are Hill's odds of running the "B" standard of 13:20 and moving on to Moscow? Last summer, Hill ran his 1500m PR (3:38.36) in Belgium. Two weeks later, he ran his 5k PR (13:26.34) in Belgium, too. #TheChase for the standard is going to be close.
- It should be noted that on the women's side, Cory McGee ran 4:09.85. She'll need to drop that 0.85 to hit the "B" standard. #TheChase.
- In the first heat, Alan Webb was second-to-last in 3:46.53. Oddly enough, before the start of the Paris Diamond League, we watched his Paris Golden (not Diamond) League Meet race from ’07. Oh, nostalgia.
We get a lot of emails about certain tracks. They’re not all necessarily about the “Hayward Magic” out west, but of the “Swarthmore Magic” out east.
On the surface, the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet is your run-of-the-mill final gathering of the season. Want to run an off-event? Swarthmore. Want to try and take one more shot at a PR? Swarthmore.
The meet gained legendary status in '12, when Columbia’s Kyle Merber dropped his PR by nearly seven seconds to run the American collegiate record in the 1500m (3:35.59). While that race that was set up for Nate Brannen to run the IAAF “A” standard, everyone else was towed along to huge personal bests.
- Results HERE
- LetRun’s analysis of that race HERE
Some people say the track was short. Others, like when the creators of Lost were asked about how they ended the show, say magic. It’s probably the latter.
So when Americans want to run something outrageous, like say a seven second PR or the “A” standard, then Oordegem is the place to run.
Heat 2
| Rank | Lane | ID | Name | Team | Cat | Result | Info |
| 1 | 3 | 9178 | Maazouzi Zakaria | MAR | Sen | 3:32.89 | |
| 2 | 4 | 9177 | Elkaam Fouad | MAR | Sen | 3:33.71 | |
| 3 | 10 | 9017 | Alemayehu Zebene | ETH | Sen | 3:33.73 | |
| 4 | 18 | 9443 | McNamara Jordan | USA | Sen | 3:34.00 | |
| 5 | 7 | 9436 | Heath Garrett | USA | Sen | 3:34.12 | |
| 6 | 6 | 9508 | Bayer Andy | USA | Sen | 3:34.47 | |
| 7 | 2 | 9441 | Leslie Cory | USA | Sen | 3:34.93 | |
| 8 | 8 | 9440 | Leer Will | USA | Sen | 3:35.27 | |
| 9 | 16 | 9506 | Chris O'Hare | GB | Sen | 3:35.37 | |
| 10 | 5 | 9507 | Wolde David | ETH | Sen | 3:35.38 | |
| 11 | 17 | 9445 | Miller Craig | USA | Sen | 3:35.48 | |
| 12 | 14 | 9425 | Bolas Jack | USA | Sen | 3:35.54 | |
| 13 | 11 | 9115 | Otmane Belharbazi | FRA | Sen | 3:35.93 | |
| 14 | 15 | 9411 | Emanuel Lee | GBR | Sen | 3:36.55 | |
| 15 | 9 | 9016 | Abinet Abiyot | ETH | Sen | 3:36.91 | |
| 16 | 12 | 9426 | Boylan-Pett Liam | USA | Sen | 3:37.31 | |
| 17 | 1 | 9451 | See Jeff | USA | Sen | 3:43.37 | |
| 13 | 9453 | Stockberger Danny | USA | Sen | DNF | ||
| 19 | 9994 | Bett Reuben | KEN | Sen | DNF |
Heat 1
| Rank | Lane | ID | Name | Team | Cat | Result | Info |
| 1 | 6 | 9437 | Hill Ryan | USA | Sen | 3:38.57 | |
| 2 | 9 | 9427 | Bumbalough Andrew | USA | Sen | 3:39.04 | |
| 3 | 7 | 9435 | Heath Elliott | USA | Sen | 3:39.27 | |
| 4 | 4 | 9424 | Blankenship Ben | USA | Sen | 3:39.70 | |
| 5 | 5 | 9505 | Stilin Joe | USA | Sen | 3:39.72 | |
| 6 | 3 | 9413 | Gowell Chris | GBR | Sen | 3:41.71 | |
| 7 | 10 | 9008 | Rowe Brenton | AUT | Sen | 3:42.12 | |
| 8 | 11 | 9401 | Bachtiger Mario | SUI | Sen | 3:42.76 | |
| 9 | 1 | 9030 | Benjamin Pires | FRA | Sen | 3:44.46 | |
| 10 | 13 | 9402 | Breit Stefan | SUI | Sen | 3:45.42 | |
| 11 | 2 | 9459 | Webb Alan | USA | Sen | 3:46.53 | |
| 12 | 12 | 9387 | Velde Morten | NOR | Sen | 3:52.10 | |
| 8 | 1193 | Marrion Geoffrey | CABW | Sen | DNF | ||
| 14 | 9996 | Agache Hannes | BEL | Sen | DNF |
Other than the fanfare and congratulations on Twitter, we know very little about the race. Were you there? Email us.
Assorted Thoughts
- How many Americans set personal bests? Eight (Heath, McNamara, Heath, Bayer, Leslie, Leer, Miller, and Bolas. Boylan-Pett's PR is from Swarthmore. Fancy that).
- Anyone find it odd that there were so many Americans in Belgium? 15 of the 29 finishers in the two sections had “USA” listed under their affiliation. That’s not to mention the three UK'ers who train the U.S. (Chris Gowell, Chris O’Hare, and Lee Emanuel, I think).
Sad truth: Most USA athletes headed for meets in Europe will come home poorer than when they left. Very little $$ at secondary meets :-(
— David Monti (@d9monti) July 3, 2013
- It has to be cheaper to fly over three Belgium rabbits to the states instead of everyone going overseas (apparently Danny Stockberger did an excellent job pacing, but he’s American so we’re not counting his travel expenses). Perhaps a Canadian slash American summer track circuit? There are meets, but we would need organization (and money).
Early in the year I said "3:34 or bust". My only apology is that it took me a month longer than I expected. I'm here now. I'm determined.
— J.MAC (@JordanMcNamara) July 6, 2013
Link to the original interview. Congrats, JMac. We never doubted you for a second.
- If Andy Bayer was permitted to run the 5k at USAs, would he have beaten Ryan Hill? More on that Monday.
- Speaking of the third place finisher from U.S. Champs, what are Hill's odds of running the "B" standard of 13:20 and moving on to Moscow? Last summer, Hill ran his 1500m PR (3:38.36) in Belgium. Two weeks later, he ran his 5k PR (13:26.34) in Belgium, too. #TheChase for the standard is going to be close.
- It should be noted that on the women's side, Cory McGee ran 4:09.85. She'll need to drop that 0.85 to hit the "B" standard. #TheChase.
- In the first heat, Alan Webb was second-to-last in 3:46.53. Oddly enough, before the start of the Paris Diamond League, we watched his Paris Golden (not Diamond) League Meet race from ’07. Oh, nostalgia.