Sunday, May 02, 2010

Meet Chris Solinsky this morning in Palo Alto

Hello everyone,

If you haven't heard we do have a new American record in the 10k! Galen dipped under the record but not before Chris Solinsky (pictured last night to the left by Don Gosney) ran an incredible race to break 27 minutes!

Chris will be at the Nike store in the Stanford shopping center tomorrow morning at 9:30 to answer questions and sign autographs.

Please forward the message on to your readers and friends.

Thanks!




Bret Schoolmeester
Nike Running

5 comments:

Nor Cal Runner said...

Solinsky needs to by Rupp a beer for leading all but the last two laps. I understand being it was his first 10k and all but I hate seeing runners win that way. But hey, it worked for him last night... Kudos for Rupp taking the race over and pushing the pace.

Also a new collegiate record as well. Good racing last night.

Andy Chan said...

In fairness (or maybe it should be in equal unfairness), I've seen Rupp win some races in which he sat behind the leaders until very very late in the race. 2009 USA Champs comes to mind, when Ritz, Meb, and others did most of the work early in the race.

Sky said...

Good point, Andy. Anyway, there's absolutely nothing wrong with winning that way. It's a footrace to the finish regardless of how ou get there so long as you don't violate any rules. If Galen wanted to race only the clock after the last rabbit dropped he should have had AlSal and Nike make better arrangements. Galen ran the race he wanted to, there were just three people better than him Saturday night. That's the risk he took by opting in to the notoriously fast Stanford meet.

Albert Caruana said...

Good points.

I think people are trying to read into Rupp's feelings after the race. He was visibly upset after the meet as he is a competitor. I am sure he didn't enjoy losing especially to the new kid on the block in his event.

I am looking forward to when they meet again at Pre in the 5k.

Coach Small said...

While I agree that there is nothing wrong with racing that way (power to the kicker I say) I do have mixed feelings as I have been on the other side of the coin:

In college I had a guy ride me for 24.5 laps in a 10k only to outkick me the last 200 (I ran 28, he ran 27) for the win. I was pissed.

Another time was in a marathon. There was a strong headwind and was running in 4th. When I caught the guy in 3rd he tucked in behind me and said he could barely go on. I surged to lose him but the 40 mph winds were too much to break away. For the last 6 miles he just tucked in and then blasted the last 100 meters. No joke at the finish the guy jumped in the air at the finish and kicked his heals together right in front of me. Not even a "thank you, I didn't think I could make it" after the race. I wanted to punch him in the face.

Yeah it sucks, and I feel for anyone who does all the work for the kicker to get all the glory (Tergat and Geb's 10k in 1996 comes to mind). But you know what I did the next time I raced the guy who sat for 24 laps? I did the same to him, sat 24 laps and blasted the last 400. And as Andy pointed out, Rupp also had benefited from the sit and kick tactic.

I'd prefer for people to share the work but if you have the best kick, why would you?

One of the things we love about Pre is that he took it out hard and dared people to keep up with his pace. In the day and age where races are rabbited for fast times I am wondering if we are losing the art of racing. Why did Ovett beat Coe in the Olympic 800? Tactics, racing and everything we love about the sport.

On the other side I've seen 52's dropped at the end of 5k and 10k's. Not much you can do against that...and that is pretty amazing to see as well.

So yeah Solinsky should "buy him a Beer"... but I'm pretty sure Rupp still owes one to Meb and Ritz for last year!

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