2013 UW Indoor Preview

Galen Rupp... World Record Holder, Sort Of?

Galen Rupp... World Record Holder, Sort Of?

Jan 10, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
Galen Rupp... World Record Holder, Sort Of?

If you managed to finally come back down to Earth after looking at the updated Millrose Games two-mile field, there is still some sobering and slightly disappointing truth to the announcement.

In a perfect world, Galen Rupp would be present to defend his American indoor two-mile record. Instead, he’ll be like the rest of us mere mortals, watch the race live on ESPN3, and hope that Lagat falls short of the mark. I can't begin to imagine the things that track fans would sacrifice in order to see Rupp run in NYC.

Both Rupp and Lagat are familiar with American indoor records. February 11th, 2012 was a historic day for the duo as they swapped records at two different meets.

Rupp would run 8:09.72 in the two-mile at the USATF Track Classic in Fayetteville to break Lagat’s previous mark of 8:10.07.

Back in New York, Lagat would accomplish the same feat in the 5000m. Rupp should have called “no tag-backs” on the playground that is American distance running because Lagat would run 13:07.15, which broke Rupp’s record by four seconds.

The big outcry is that Rupp is leaving it to chance whether or not he’ll keep his record. Rather than control his own destiny and deny Lagat the chance to etch his name on the plaque of American record holders, he’ll simply let it go without a fight.

Then again, the annual Winter Record Exchange may happen again this year.

His face at 0:22 says it all.

When
Flotrack contacted the University of Washington officials, we were told that the rabbit for the men’s mile was scheduled to pass 800m in 1:55. Ideally, that would put Rupp on 3:50 mile pace for his first race since the Olympic 5000m.

Then we though, “What’s the American indoor mile record?” It’s 3:49.89 from Lagat, which was set back in ’05.

Then, for fun, we thought, “Well, what’s the world indoor mile record?” It’s 3:48.45 from none other than the King of the Mile, Hicham El Guerrouj set even further back in ’97.

Galen Rupp... world record holder? It's doubtful and even looking back on it, inane to even write that last sentence. But his 1500m personal best of 3:34.75 does convert to 3:51.87 for the mile and the field is supposed to go out fast. Rupp breaking the record is like winning the lottery - the odds are incredibly high, but someone wins every now and then.

If you’re asking why the mile specialist Matt Centrowitz isn’t the candidate to break the record, well we have bad news. Reports from UW indicate that Centro has scratched from the mile and will instead run the 800m. Not every indoor matchup can be as epic as Millrose, I suppose.

There have also been unconfirmed reports from the Dempsey that Rupp is currently in solid mile shape. If he’s going to let his two-mile record go to chance, does he have a safe bet in the mile?

Unfortunately, none of this will count because the Dempsey is oversized and therefore, unofficial according to IAAF standards. But hey, it'll still be a Dempsey facility record.