They said it was impossible.
But I knew better!
Given the best weather, the strongest field, the one person who fearlessly sets the pace (and NOT a rabbit!!), and VOILA!, you have the 10000 Meters Run that blew apart the Record Book, and blew people's minds--even if you were not a fan of distance races!
I had planned a report later today covering ALL the events (Q rounds, Heats, Semis, Finals) from the August 12th schedule, plus some news from today's morning session!
Sometimes plans go awry.
To fully detail what took place in the space of less than one-half hour yesterday in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil requires I give a full post to that one race!
There are no shortcuts--to explaining what happened, or to SHATTER an "impossible" World Record!!
First, the race.
NBC showed the women--more than 30 of them--waiting to enter the track to race the most important 25 laps of their life!
I saw all the "players"--including Molly Huddle (She was last to leave the tunnel!), and the anticipation expanded for what was to come.
They did their strides--maybe to dispel the nervousness, maybe to feel the heat.
They toed the lines--a "waterfall" start--and the gun went off.
They did the 1st 400 in 72--fast, but nothing outrageous.
At 1000, the time was 3:01--about a 30:15 pace--again, nothing "nutty"--just strong enough to weed out the wannabes.
But Alice Aprot (She has another last name, but I've seen her referred to as Aprot, so I'll stick to that! Besides, it makes me think of apricots, one of my fave fruits!! LOL) had other ideas.
So taking the lead, she (and a pack of 8 or 9) came through 2000 in 5:55.
They'd run a 2:54, which if kept up, would bring them in well under 30 minutes!
But no distance race in Championship settings EVER goes out at this kind of pace!
Well, rarely!
After all, Tirunesh Dibaba held the Olympic Record of 29:54.66--not exactly crawling!
That was 8 years ago--in Beijing--when the "Baby Faced Destroyer" was at the top of her game.
Now she was 30 years old, and hadn't run much the past year or 2.
Almaz Ayana had.
In fact, despite Tiru's presence, Ayana was heavily favored.
She had blitzed an 8:19 final 3000 in the Beijing 5000 last summer.
She had two of the fastest 5000's ever run.
She'd run 30:07 in her FIRST EVER track 10000!!!
And she was following Aprot.
So was Tiru, but back 5 meters in 4th.
Molly Huddle was hanging onto the pack's rear for all she had--as they were on solid sub-15 5K pace.
In fact, they DID come through 5000 in just under 14:47 (14:46.7), with Huddle now fallen off the back, yet still going through in 14:55, just 13 seconds slower than her American Record!
And then MADNESS attacked this hardy group of women--they INCREASED the pace!!
Aprot let off the gas, stepping back into mid-lead pack, with Ayana taking over, hitting a couple of 66's or 67's (after the opening series of low 70's!!).
What was she DOING??
And how the Hell were there still several women within spitting distance--all running at what was fast becoming World Record-threatening pace??
This lethal drive by Almaz finally started dropping her foes.
Vivian Cheruiyot, however, tried staying as close as she could.
Dibaba had fallen back to 5th, but had 4th--and even 3rd---in sight.
Huddle had disappeared--but not by much---only in reference to the insanity ahead of her!!
She was still moving at a pace that would threaten Shalane Flanagan's American Record---if she didn't completely fall apart.
Runners were being lapped--several more than once!!
Great runners--Emily Infeld, Alexi Pappas, Jo Pavey, Dominique Scott--all of whom would finish in good & honorable times!
Ayana sped through 8000 meters in 23:22.
The announcers were going mad, trying to behold what was happening before their eyes!
In 1993, a 20 year old Chinese woman named Wang Junxia--supposedly stoked to the gills on some sort of turtle (!!!) concoction of her coach--destroyed all historic concepts of what women were capable of.
Her 29:31.78 was so totally outrageous, that Track and Field News decided it was indeed contrived, and banned those times from their lists!
I didn't.
Unless she (and the other Chinese women) tested positive for a banned substance, I would retain those times on my record lists!
At 9000, Ayana's time showed 26:17.
She was holding to her steady 2:55 per K clip.
Cheruiyot was 80 meters behind, but speeding up.
Tirunesh wanted the Bronze, and attacked the two closest to her, finally passing into Medal position.
She was looking like the Tiru of old--but was too far back to challenge either Cheruiyot or Ayana.
For the entire last lap, Ayana was sprinting, passing runner after runner---always on their outside, thus running most of that lap in the 2nd lane!!!
The crowd was utterly stupefied, and on their feet.
You couldn't hear yourself breathe!
In fact, what was taking place left you breathless!
I was at home CRYING!!
I was crying because of the magnificence of what I was seeing.
I cried because I knew that what I'd been saying all these decades was coming true---that "impossible" records COULD be broken---if only a runner--or runnerS---were fearless and determined and totally insane with one goal in mind---take that record DOWN!!
Following are the numbers.
You will NOT believe how TOTAL the rewrite of my (and everyone's!!) Record Book became from just 30 minutes (LESS & a bit more!!) of masterful track racing!!
Runner by runner.
Almaz Ayana
29:17.45 WORLD Record
Olympic Games MEET Record
Ethiopia NATIONAL Record
AGE 24 Record
Moves from 8th All-Time World to 1st
Moves from 4th to 1st on my COMBINED EVENTS 3000-5000-10000 list.
(8:22.22, 14:12.59, 29:17.45 adds to 51:52.26.)
Moves from 3rd to 1st on my COMBINED EVENTS 5000-10000 list
(14:12.59, 29:17.45) adds to 43:30.04)
Her race splits were 14:46 and 14:31.
Yes, she NEGATIVE SPLIT the race!!!
Vivian Cheruiyot
29:32.53
Best 2nd PLACE ever!
Kenya NATIONAL Record
AGE 32 Record
3rd All-Time World
2nd on COMBINED EVENTS 3000, 5000, 10000 list
(8:28.66, 14:20.87, 29:32.53 adds to 52:22.06)
2nd on COMBINED EVENTS 5000, 10000 list
(14:20.87, 29:32.53 adds to 43:53.40)
Tirunesh Dibaba
29:42.56
PR by 12.10 seconds, but FALLS from 3rd All Time World to 4th!!
Best-ever 3rd PLACE mark
AGE 30 Record
2nd A-T COMBINED EVENTS 3000, 5000, 10000 list
(8:29.55, 14:11.15, 29:42.56 adds to 52:23.26)
3rd A-T COMBINED EVENTS 5000, 10000 list
(14:11.15, 29:42.56 adds to 43:53.71)
Alice Aprot
29:53.51
AGE 22 Record
Best 4th PLACE mark
5th All-Time World
Betsy Saina
30:07.78
Best 5th PLACE record
13th All-Time World
11th A-T COMBINED EVENTS 5000, 10000 list
(14:39.49, 30:07.78 adds to 44:47.27)
Molly Huddle
30:13.17
AMERICAN RECORD!!
AGE 31 Record
Best 6th PLACE mark
17th All-Time World
Moves from 2nd All-Time US to 1st!
Moves from 2nd to 1st on US COMBINED EVENTS 3000, 5000, 10000 list
(8:42.99, 14:42.64, 30:13.17 adds to 53:38.80)
Moves from 2nd to 1st on US COMBINED EVENTS 5000, 10000 list
(14:42.64, 30:13.17 adds to 44:55.81
Yasmin Can
30:26.41
Best 7th PLACE mark
AGE 19 Record (Born December 11, 1996!)
Gelete Burka
30:26.66
Best 8th PLACE mark
And there's MORE!!
Here's the rest!
Emily Infeld ran a PR of 31:26.94 in 11th place!
She moves from 24th A-T US to 14th!
Sarah Lahti's 31:28.43 is the new National Record of Sweden!
Diane Nukuri finished 13th in 31:28.69.
That's the National Record of Burundi!
Jo Pavey--42 years old (She'll be 43 in September!!), finished 15th in 31:33.44--just 2.26 seconds from the Age 40 & Over record!!
Alexi Pappas, the American turned Greek, ended in 17th with her PR (and new National Record of Greece!) of 31:36.16!
Darya Maslova's 31:36.90 is Kirghizstan's new National Record!!
Dominique Scott--newly graduated into Pro-dom from the University of Arkansas--finished in 21st with her PR of 31:51.47.
While a few women were kicked OFF my World DDD list, the most prominent of them was Sally Kipyego, whose mark dated from 2012!
If you have access to NBC (I do, via Xfinity/Comcast!), please take 30 minutes of your time to watch the COMPLETE video of this historic and mind-numbing race!!
If you have access, go to the complete Day One livestream, and scroll along to about 1:50 (one hour 50 minutes) into that program.
You'll come to the race I just described!
You won't regret the time spent!!
(I intend to watch it MANY times!!)
I'll be back with MORE detailed results from the first day, and today's action--soon!!
There is already MUCH to tell!!
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