The Week of The Ten: Men’s Preview

Photo by Ryan Sterner of Sam Atkin and Woody Kincaid leading Moh Ahmed and Grant Fisher in last year’s The TEN

From the Department of Rematches and Rivalries

Written by 1970’s Interns from the Celtics & Lakers

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Last year at this time, we were gearing up for a 10,000m race in San Juan Capistrano loaded with a flight of runners coming off the BU bounce and headlined by a man who had broken the American record in the 5000m on that wooden roller coaster of a track in Boston. God help us all if someone ever lights a cigarette near that place. They should take a page out of Ben Blankenship’s book and install a fire sprinkler for every sub 4 clocked there, otherwise, we’ll have to cut some of those fast forest trees prematurely to reconstruct ‘Bannister’s Boston Ladder’. But… about The TEN!

We’ve got a newly minted American record holder, coming off a 12:51 5000m race in Boston touching down at John Wayne airport to face off against the man he beat in the final 200m on that fateful day, the On Athletics Club’s Joe Klecker. Mighty Joe clocked 12:54, and it’s a funny thing about sports. In hindsight, we give quite a bit of an edge to the winner. The headlines following the race were all about Woody Kincaid and Woody’s blazing last lap. Joe got some recognition, but not nearly as much as if he had been the victor that day having run the very same time he did. Joe will have his chance at redemption at The TEN, this Saturday, and despite his runner-up finish at BU, many insiders tout him as the favorite. Joe’s style of racing is a consistent, reliable grind. He’s got no problem taking the lead and ratcheting the pace, splintering the pack and dropping competitors one by one. It’s a strategy he employed in Boston, and it all but worked until Woody unleashed his 25 second final 200m. The question is, will Woody’s 25 second 200m be there at the end of 10,000m at 27 minute pace? There is more margin for error over 10k than there is over 5, and playing the straight hand as Joe does seems to yield more consistent results than waiting on the river for a big play at the finish, but Woody has never been an easy guy to figure out to begin with. He’s got no tells and when he seems to drop, you can’t count him out to roll back with fire in his eyes. He may feel that he has something to prove this year as well. Last year he played the role of pacer for his teammates, Grant Fisher and Moh Ahmed, who set American and Canadian records. This year, he has left the Bowerman Track Club and is out to secure his own legacy. It was Fisher’s 5000m American record one that he took down in Boston at the end of January. Saturday is a chance to knock another one down a rung.

Another contender to keep your eye on is Luis Grijalva, the Guatemalan American Dreamer who placed fourth in the world in the 5000m last year. Although he has never run a 10,000m on the track, he has spent years in Northern Arizona coach, Mike Smith’s ‘high’ school of training in Flagstaff and knows how to deal with the darkness when the oxygen gets low. He claimed runner-up in the Millrose 3000m in 7:33 last month and won a mile at BU in 3:53 before that. He's also been training with Woody Kincaid.

The Puma-signed British athlete, Sam Atkin, like Woody is also looking for some karma to come his way, having paced this race last year. He ran a British indoor record of 7:31 in the 3000m this winter in none other than… Boston.

Canadian Ben Flanagan of On Running and Ronnie Warhurst’s Very Nice Track Club is looking for a big 10 here after a stellar indoor season running 7:43 for 3000m, 13:11 for 5000m and a 2:21 in the 1000m… ridiculous for a man known for his exploits up to half marathon on the road racing scene.

British Puma Racing Elite athlete, Patrick Dever and Nike’s Conner Mantz are back after their 27:23 and 27:25 personal bests last year. Being young guns with big engines, they can’t be counted out for big drops.

Wesley Kiptoo of the Hoka NAZ Elite is coming off a 1:00 2nd place half marathon in Houston and a 13:22 5000m in Boston. He ran 27:37 down here in 2020 while competing for Iowa State. With over a year in the pro ranks under his belt, he’s a real threat. Keep an eye on his teammate, Alex Masai as well. He’s coming off a winter training stint in Kenya and absolutely has the talent to hang.

Make your picks 1-5 and we’ll see how it all plays out. Roll the dice, there have never been no surprises…

Full field and the rest of the races at tracklnd.com/meet/theten.

Broadcast starts at 6:40pm PST on March 4th

Broadcast PPV tickets are $5.99 with $4 going to the prize purse in Tracklnd’s broadcast athlete revenue sharing program with athletes.