by Larry EderThe video below was created by the Shoe Addicts in honor of Galen Rupp, the new American holder for 10,000 meters ( he also holds the AR for 5,000m indoors), which Galen set in his last race of the 2011 outdoor track season, at the Belgacom Van Damme Memorial in Brussels, Belgium.
The Shoe Addicts is AJ Felice (videographer), Mike Deering ( copy writing, research) and Adam Johnson-Eder (creative, voice). They can be reached at [email protected].
For more videos by the Shoe Addicts: http://www.youtube.com/user/theshoeaddicts
Galen Rupp has been a rising star in
American Track & Field for the past decade. I have had the fortune
to watch Galen develop from a high school runner, who was pretty darn
good, to his years at the University of Oregon, to his past two years at
the Nike Oregon project. I remember watching Galen winning the Nike
Border Clash his senior year in high school. Right after that, he jogged
down and did a series of 300 meter cutdowns. That workout was right out
of Bill Dellinger’s Oregon training sessions, and a favorite of Alberto
Salazar and his old training partner, Rudy Chapa.
What is
fascinating, to me, about Galen Rupp is how he has lead a fairly normal
life with everyone whispering that he is the Next Pre, or whatever.
It
was amazing to watch him run in Berlin in 2009, and last year, across
Europe, and this season, I believe, we saw a new person. Perhaps, it is
just Galen Rupp getting used to running the high mileage. Perhaps, it
was Galen Rupp getting used to running as a professional runner.
Last
winter, I interviewed Galen Rupp just before his second place finish at
the USA indoor in the 3,000 meters. This was a week after he set the AR
for 5,000m in Birmingham at the AVIVA Indoor GP. He had run three races
in three weeks, and traveled across the world. Galen Rupp had just come
back from New Zealand, where he was to run a 10,000m, which was
canceled due to the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
In
Birmingham, England, Mo Farah, his new training partner, and Galen Rupp,
went 1,2 in the 5,000 meters, with Rupp, going by the Ethiopian Merga,
over the last 200 meters. It was so nice seeing Galen sprint on by
Merga.
After the race, Mo Farah and Galen Rupp jogged down, and
then did a workout over another twelve laps, where they jogged the turns
and sprinted the straightaways.The workout was watched from the outside of the track by their coach, Alberto Salazar.
In
Daegu, Galen Rupp finished seventh in the 10,000 meters, and ninth in
the 5,000 meters. He was there til the very end. In Brussels, Galen Rupp
ran with Kenenisa Bekele until 800 meters, when Bekele put four seconds
on him. Galen did not let it get any further, he gutted it out, running
26:48.00, breaking the American record by eleven seconds.
To see more videos by the Shoe Addicts: http://www.youtube.com/user/theshoeaddicts
