Before Galen Rupp chases training partner Mo Farah (the next time they run against each other on the track), he's decided to chase the shadow of Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lomong. Last week, the 27 year-old Olympic silver medalist broke the American indoor record in the 5k (13:01 to Lomong's 13:07) at Boston University. At Boston University again on Saturday, he ran 8:07.41 for two miles, or two seconds quicker than Lagat's old American best, letsrun.com reported.
Rupp ran most of the race paced by a team of three rabbits, the first of which led him to a 4:01.6 opening mile (a pace that would have broken the world indoor record of 8:04.35 set by Kennenisa Bekele). He closed in 60.9.
Letsrun, the famous running site and maybe the best sports destinations on the web, has been uncharacteristically reserved in light of Rupp's performances over the last two weeks. In their "quick take" section, they praised both runs, but didn't wish to speculate on future performances, such as the upcoming indoor World Championships in Poland. They even mentioned the superiority of indoor surfaces over outdoors, insinuating that outdoor marks are only faster because runners are in better shape at that point and that Rupp's marks, at least in the past, may have been a sign he peaked too early. (He ran a 3:50 mile, 7:30 3k indoors last year, but nothing as impressive in the 2013 outdoor season.)
Rupp's lack of hype might simply be a sign of respect. He's accomplished enough that he doesn't need journalistic build up. He's now "one of the guys."
Still, with probably the best coach in the world right now, it's difficult to imagine Alberto Salazar and Rupp making the same mistake they may have made last year. If that is indeed the case, maybe they deserve a little more media juice. Plus, their immediate goal is to peak indoors anyway, at the aforementioned indoor World Championships in March.
"A fast time - an American record is great. We like to set records, but at the same time the most important thing is competing. The most important thing this year is to make the US World Championship team in Albuquerque which will be tough and then to do well in the Worlds at Poland," Salazar said after Rupp's 5k record. "We'd rather not get any of these records and do well there."
Even so, Rupp will go for one more indoor American record when he laces up in a mile run three weeks from now, according to letsrun.