The number of people who will read this post can be counted on one hand (SHOUTOUT SLADE (and hopefully Jamie (and maybe Luke))).


Letsrun noted that yesterday marks 10 years since the immortal Chris Solinsky 10,000m.

I’ve written about this race before, but I’ll do it again.

To set the stage:

  • ~30 of the fastest of Americans go to Stanford to run a 10,000m
  • A young Galen Rupp is out to break Meb’s 27:13 American Record
  • Solinsky is in his 10k debut, but has no idea what to expect
  • The group is on pace until a pack of four runners break off
  • With 1000m to go, magic unfolds.

Watch Solinsky in all his glory:

I have watched the video above easily over 100 times. It brings a tear to my eye every time. I’m not kidding. I actually tear up, every time, even 10 years later.


The 27:00 Barrier

To that point, 30 humans ever had run under 27:00 for a 10,000m. All 30 of them came from either Kenya (19), Ethiopia (6), Morocco (2), Eritrea or Uganda, and most came at the height of the EPO era.

A 6’1, 160 pound white dude from the States going sub 27:00 in his debut was unreal. It made Americans feel like we actually had someone who could run with the Africans.


The call by Fenton

Fenton’s call is like 40% of the reason this race is great. His energy and excitement is so genuine. The “C’MON CHRIS! HERE WE GO! OH MY GOD!” gives you chills.

Sadly, he set the bar so high on this iconic race that other Flotrack employees tried to match it and it felt forced.

I bring you the Gordon Mack call of Williams vs. Cheserek at Penn Relays 2015. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe he didn’t have Fenton in mind at all when he made this cringey call. Or maybe you’ll watch it and think it’s not cringey at all. But it feels forced to me whereas Fenton’s doesn’t at all.

Skip to 15:40.


What Happened to Solinsky

Solinsky went on a streak of races in 2010 that still remains unmatched by any American distance runner, running 12:55 once, 12:56 twice, and being on pace for another sub 13:00 before being “pushed” into a bush by Hagos at the start of the bell lap (I somehow can’t find this video anywhere).

He also went toe-to-toe with Lagat at the US champs in 2011 when Lagat was still arguably the best 5k runner in the world.

Injuries derailed his career shortly after this race, but this race illustrates how I feel about Solinsky vs. the Africans compared to Rupp vs. the Africans. He ran with the Africans better than any runner since, even Rupp. Despite Rupp’s 10k silver, I never really felt he belonged the way Solinsky proved in that time (aside from the soft DL 10k win in Eugene).

Despite his Ryan-Hall-like religious views, he was my favorite runner hands down until the writing was truly on the wall.

Long live the Solinsky 10,000m.