Believing the hype

Deciphering the reports and the photos from last Saturday's big race in Boulder, Alan Culpepper sat back and allowed pre-race favorites Adam Goucher and Dathan Ritzenhein do all the hard work through the first 10 kilometers. It was then that the race went from Goucher trying to stick with the next great American distance hope Ritzenhein, to the former champ Goucher attempting to keep Culpepper from dominating that final two kilometers.

It didn't happen.

Culpepper, fully under control and surging toward to the tape, won Saturday's cross-country championships in Boulder, Colo. by completing the muddy and snowy 12k course in 37:09 to Goucher's 37:35 and Ritzenhein's 37:47.

Interestingly, upon hearing the results by repeatedly refreshing hurriedly typed reports on a running message board, running geeks (like me) sounded a nationwide, "Wow! What a surprise… what got in to Culpepper?"

Here's the thing about that – Culpepper, 34, has been to the Olympics twice in two different events, won two previous national cross-country titles, as well as a national title in the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon. In 2003 Culpepper ran a 2:09:41 at the Chicago Marathon and finished fifth in 2:11:02 after an aggressive effort at the 2006 Boston Marathon.

Yet with those outstanding credentials Culpepper's victory on Saturday is an upset. Why? Was it the rough day he had at the New York City Marathon last November? Perhaps – after all, Culpepper had to drop out because he couldn't stay hydrated despite drinking throughout the race. Couple that with what I wrote about Culpepper before the New York City race and it's easy to understand why the running geeks (like me) believed Ritz, Goucher or Abdi Abdirahman were the runners to beat in the deep field. To wit:

And of course I'd like to write that American Alan Culpepper is going to let it all hang loose and be risky instead of his typically intelligent tactics. Culpepper is always consistently steady, which produces great times but it isn't exactly inspiring. To steal a phrase from baseball players, Culpepper doesn't like to "get dirty."

Culpepper got dirty, literally, on Saturday. Better yet, those so-called "intelligent" tactics served him well. In the end, when the race was on the line, Culpepper ran the two kids into another muddy ditch. There's definitely something inspiring about a tough race run well.

More: Daily Camera (Boulder) running section

Denver Post: "Boulder's 'Running Town' Reputation Safe"

The results

1. Alan Culpepper, Lafayette CO 37:09
   
2. Adam Goucher, Portland OR 37:35
   
3. Dathan Ritzenhein, Boulder CO 37:47
   
4. Jorge Torres, Boulder CO 38:07
   
5. Michael Spence, Ogden UT 38:15
   
6. Zach Sabatino, Morgantown WV 38:16
   
7. Fasil Bizuneh, Flagstaff AZ 38:24
   
8. James Carney, Marina CA 38:25
   
9. Jason Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis 38:26
   
10. Edwardo Torres, Boulder CO 38:31
    

What happened?

Abdi Abdirahman, my choice to win the race, finished 21^st in 39:07.

Hyped just right

Meanwhile, the press covering the event in The Running Republic of Boulder gave the race rave reviews. The town, the event, the course and the fans all lived up to the pre-race hype, which is saying something. In this distance running Super Bowl only the finishing times seemed lopsided with an estimated 10,000 fans lining the course two-to-three people deep to watch a cross-country race. According to the dispatches from Boulder, New York City has a high hurdle to leap for November's marathon Olympic Trials.

We'll definitely have to see that one first hand.

DOMINATION

While the men's national championship was an upset with the old man knocking off the young bucks, the women's race was a coronation. And it wasn't just a new thing, as in Deena Kastor is the best American runner of her era. Nope, that's not good enough.

On Saturday Deena Kastor proved that she is the best woman American runner ever.

Yeah, she's even better than Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Nevermind that Kastor owns three of the top four marathon times in U.S. history, or that Samuleson won the Olympic gold in 1984, the Sullivan Award in 1985, and at 50, Joanie can still run an Olympic Trials-qualifying time for the marathon, what Kastor did to the field on Saturday is ridiculous.

Kastor won her eighth cross-country championship by covering the 8k course in 26:47. That's 61 seconds better than second-place finisher Shalane Flanagan, which is almost unheard of in a national championship race. A five-second victory is significant, but 61 seconds is more than domination if there is such a thing.

Here's the crazy part. Just two weeks ago Flanagan set the American indoor record in the 3,000 meters, and actually led the race after two kilometers. But according to the race recap from Letsrun.com, Flanagan said, "I think it was a little naïve to think that I could run with her."

From Letsrun.com:

Kastor and Flanagan were well clear of the rest of the field not even 2k in, and in third was Kara Goucher who had a big gap over the rest of the field. Kastor however wasted no time in destroying the young upstart Flanagan. She pulled away from Flanagan and soon the lead was 10 seconds, 20 seconds, and then 30 seconds. Flanagan was not faltering, however, as she had 30 seconds up on the third place Goucher. Kastor was just putting on one of the most dominating performances in the history of American women's distance running.

It's going to be really interesting to see what Kastor does in Boston in April.

More: Watch the races and check out the entire day in Boulder on Flocast

Stacked fields

The Super Bowl is on Sunday, and we hear it's a pretty big deal. There might even be a party or two where people get together to watch the game or something. More importantly, though, the next two weekends are kind of a big deal in the track and distance running world.

That's right, the Millrose Games start today, which whets the appetite for next weekend's national cross-country championships in Boulder. The cross-country championships in Boulder? That's like having Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, and New Year's Eve on the same day… in Las Vegas.

It boggles the mind.

The Millrose Games, which are held in Madison Square Garden, are celebrating its 100^th anniversary and are expected to draw a sell-out crowd for Friday's marquee event, The Wanamaker Mile. That race, televised on ESPN2 at 7 p.m., will feature wunderkind Alan Webb, defending champ Bernard Lagat, and versatile Australian Craig Mottram. All three runners appear to be in good shape, which coupled with the amount of chatter and hype could result in some really fast times. The meet record is 3:52.87, but that could be gone by tonight.

Aside from being a New York City event, much like the Penn Relays have a Philadelphia flavor, the Millrose Games receive a lot of international scrutiny. Many of the world's top track & field performers will be hitting the boards at the Garden for the next two days.

Here's the interesting part: in a USA Today profile, meet director emeritus, Howard Schmertz, said:

"I remember when New York had nine newspapers, and every paper had a track writer. Every paper had a guy writing track every day of the week from mid-January to early March."

Quick, who were the toughest athletes at your high school and college? Check the operative words in that sentence – tough and athlete. Unmistakably, it was the cross-country runners. No, they didn't hit each other like in football or wrestling. Nor is it like basketball with the quick burst of speed and leaping, but in running it's all about managing pain. Whoever can tolerate the most pain will likely win, because there are no huddles, substitutions or time outs.

If your school had crew, that wins.

Nevertheless, the big race in Boulder is especially compelling because of the all-American field in which all the top runners are fit, healthy and focused. And that's not just with the men's field, but also the women's, too.

They are all coming…

When is the last time a big sporting event could boast the best of the best were fit, feisty and at the top of their game?

Getting his work in

Whenever the subject about workouts and running came up, Randy Wolf's ears would always prick up. Why not? Like any competitive athlete, Wolf was always looking for an edge. If he could pick up a little something here or there and add it to his repertoire, it was even better.

I had the chance to talk about my running workouts with Wolf more than a few times over the years and it was easy to tell he was not only interested in long-distance running, but also had a passion for it. A nice, 10-miler was a routine run during the off-season, but mostly, though, he was interested in the volume that elite-level marathoners put in, as well as the types and workout schedules. Better yet, we both had a good chuckle when one writer was gushing over how “tough” Roger Clemens’ workout routine and couldn’t hide his smirk when I finally butt in with a, “Dude, that’s not very hard... ”

I have what I like to call bleephole tendencies. Hey, what are you going to do?

Anyway, I recall a conversation in August of last season where Wolf and I talked about interval sessions and the kind of stuff I did in preparing for a marathon. Like anything with Wolf, it was an informed and well-thought question and, frankly, the first time that a non-competitive runner asked specifically about something as intricate interval sessions.

As a marathoner, I said, I liked to do repeats of a mile to 5 kilometers with longer intervals when preparing for a race. At the time, longish tempo runs were what I was focusing on, which really isn’t a big help to a baseball player – it’s not a big deal for a pitcher to hit a 5k in 16:30 or a 10-miler in 58 flat. But for a marathoner, I explained, I emulated the surges that would occur in a race.

Wolf, though, wanted to know about quarters, which is something I really disliked doing. Oh I did them all right; it’s just that any workout on the track kind of scared the hell out of me. To me the track means speed, and speed kills hamstrings. Plus, stepping on a track wearing spikes meant business. There is no such thing as messing around on a track. It’s easy to go out and run for two hours without stopping where one can allow their thoughts and legs take them to wherever the mood takes them, but a track – that’s like stepping into a boxing ring.

Anyway, I told Wolf that I used to try to do 20 quarters in 70 to 75 seconds with a float around the track for the rest. Another one I “liked” to do was three miles of sprinting the straights and floating the curves. Rob de Castella, the badass Australian marathoner, used to do that one.

Wolf had to leave before we could get deep into the details of intervals sessions and exactly what he was looking for, but I think I figured it out after reading Jayson Stark’s great piece on ESPN.com where Wolf goes through his daily workout routine.

Even though we don’t know how fast he hits his quarters, it’s really a fascinating read and more fantastic work from the great Jayson Stark.

Here's the quote I liked:

"I want to be in baseball shape," he says. "I'm not going to run a marathon or be a decathlon athlete. I'm training to have 35 starts, hopefully more than that [if his team makes the playoffs]. That's what I'm training to do. And I think there were times during the season where I lost my stamina because I didn't listen to my body. I'd go too hard, too hard, too hard, and then I'd fade out. …

"Back when I was 22, 23, 24 years old, I was big into running and keeping in shape that way, and I wouldn't change my routine. I was still into running five, six miles. And then all of a sudden, I'm in the sixth inning and my legs were dead, and I'd have no idea why. I realize now I was just working too hard the days I was not pitching."

Truth be told, I could read about different workouts all day long. Not only is there a possibility of picking up something new, but also it’s really, really motivating.

The running though, is about all there is in common. Instead of the weights, I attempt yoga, which I sure is a treat to see. People like me make the Tin Man look limber. Wolf's workout is for athletes and it appears as if the Dodgers have found themselves a good one.