The Week of February 13, 2023

Photo by Ryan Sterner

From the Department of Games and Garage Rock Revival

Written by Intern 1251

One year ago, it seemed like the Bowerman Track Club was untouchable in the long-distance events. Teammates Grant Fisher and Moh Ahmed fought each other to the line at The TEN in San Juan Capistrano, running 26:33 and 26:34, beating third place by 41 seconds. Times that seemed previously untouchable on the domestic level, times that are now both American and Canadian records, besting the previous marks by 11 and 25 seconds. Fisher’s and Ahmed’s times would wind up ranking fastest and second fastest in the world still at the end of the season, and Jack Rayner’s third place time would hold onto the 21st fastest overall. In the women’s race, Bowerman athlete, Elise Cranny narrowly missed the American record of 30:13.17, running 30:14.66 and beating second place by nearly 46 seconds.

The event did not have the feel of a race. It was dominated by one team who had set up the pacing with members of their own team to create the ideal environment for the ideal result: fast times. The focus on an ideal environment was so honed that the event was moved back one day because the forecast showed winds on the originally slated date.

The discussion around what constitutes a race and what is a time trial in the sport is ever-present and often murky. Diehard racing fans lament the focus on record attempts because they rarely occur with the best lining up against each other, they are protective of the few or even single athlete making the attempt, and more often than not, they lack the organic drama of racers playing the game to win, employing tactics uniquely played to best their opponents. Fans of record attempts grow frustrated of pure racing because tactics or the lack of them often result in the finishing time being slow. People want to watch something that has never happened before, and it is easier to explain what they have seen with a single number than with a sequence of moves and time splits enacted by different individuals.

Walking away from The TEN last year, I was impressed by the performances. How could you not be? (Shit, I would roll up to a Bowerman TC practice in a bucket hat with a sack of peanuts just to watch a tempo) Those times are fast. I also found myself thinking, what would Joshua Cheptegei have run in those conditions with that perfect set-up? 25:50?

I lean toward the racing purist end of the spectrum. It’s not that I enjoy watching slow races, it’s that I enjoy the game within the race. A slow winning time is a victory for anyone who benefitted from that scenario, and the fault of anyone who would have benefitted from a faster pace but neglected to make it that way. I like the players in the game that I’m watching to have agency, and I love when they want to win. A win in a time trial is a win against the clock. A win in a race is beating your opponent, and different moves must be thought through and made to beat different opponents. Each race is different because each field of athletes is different, and the players in the race have different information on other athletes in the field and their varying fitness levels each time.

Last year, it was not the fault of the Bowerman Track Club that The TEN wasn’t really a race. The conversations we were having at that time were about whether there would ever be other challengers to BTC’s dominance. Everyone was invited to The TEN and many came, they just weren’t on the level to compete.

Things have changed in a year. The On Athletics Club has quickly closed the gap and have contenders at both the middle and long distances. Many may even call them the best team on the continent right now, taking BTC’s crown. Joe Klecker won the US Champs 10,000m last year in a kicker’s race against Grant Fisher, 2 minutes slower than Fisher’s run at The TEN, and now Klecker, having run 12:54 in the 5000m this winter has the time chops to hang even in a fast-paced 10,000m time trial. Woody Kincaid, the man who paced Fisher and Ahmed through much of The TEN last year has left BTC, striking out on his own to achieve individual glory, and has done so already, beating Klecker in that 5000m, running 12:51 (Talk to me now I’m older… You’re friend told you cause I told her).

On the women’s side, OAC’s Alicia Monson has steadily improved. She broke the American 3000m record at the Millrose Games recently, beating Elise Cranny in the process. The women of Puma Racing Elite have stepped up their game with Natosha Rogers, Sarah Inglis and Fionna O’Keefe running at or under the 15 minute mark in the 5000m in Boston. The former BTC athlete, Emily Infeld made the world 5000m team under new coaching last year.

All of these athletes will be racing in The TEN this year, making it quite possibly the best compromise for time trialing and racing fans alike- a fast-paced affair with contenders who have the tools to be in it in the end when the racing starts. There are two notable absences: Grant Fisher and Moh Ahmed.

Some may say races like The TEN don’t mean much in comparison to the World Championships taking place later in the year, where, I might add, racing is front and center. Those same people are probably calling for more races that carry meaning throughout the calendar. Because we all want to watch races that matter.

Well guess what, we get to decide what matters. The dollar only carries value because we all agree that it does. It’s a piece of worn paper with a pyramid with an eye on it that hasn’t been backed by gold for decades. The USA Championships and World Championships carry meaning because of their names and because the best show up there (most of the time). The best are showing up to The TEN, and I’m going to honor their commitment by giving it all the meaning it deserves and you should too.

Oh, and it’s backed by silver.

The TEN, March 4th

World Athletics Silver Label Event.

Hosted by Sound Running

Broadcast on Tracklnd