Men's USA 20k Champs Race : Speakers & Interviews

We run our semi-state high school meet in New Haven. Weird, huh?

Mo is great guy. His track workouts are amazing. He was able to run incredible times as a high schooler with little or no experience with running. I would call that natural talent. Adding to that, the fact that he does not race for months and would show up with a great performance in a short distance like 800m or 1500m (1:52 or 3.43) and sometimes will crash one of the longer races to earn a living like (1:02 in half marathon recently). Placing 2nd in the USA championships is enough prove that this guy is one of the elite runners of the USA, I am supporting him 100% but i wonder why can't a sports club sponsor him ? I will leave that question to all the sports fan out there.
By the way, Coach Lee in Univ. Arizona is not recomended for hard working runners. His focus is more for the end of season trainning such as the case of speed workout for Lagat.

No, I don't know the guy personally. I was a freshman in '03 when he was a senior in high school and remember seeing him in race results all over dyestatcal. Seeing him at Pac 10s back in 04 wearing an Arizona jersey was the last time I saw him in a race up until now.

I wanted to take a moment and share a few things that many of you may, or may not know about Mo. Rather than make assumptions about his so called unwillingness to listen to coaches or his poor attitude; I'm going to share my input on the Mo I’ve come to know for many years.

Mo is greatly misunderstood and please note: I’m not trying to come up with excuses for Mo. Everyone has difficulties and we all face challenges but its no secret that he has had difficulties for a number of years adjusting to life in the states. .
In highs school, Mo made some bold predictions regarding his running ability. It may have been taken as y, but I can clearly see why he said some of the things he stated in Footlocker and Dyestat.com (CA) interviews. His workouts were ridiculous and I personally feel not Shadrack, Rupp or any other guy his senior year could run with him in practice.
Practice means nothing. It is simply a means of preparing for a race. We all know that the reward comes from winning, winning big races and that he did not accomplish. He failed on a number of attempts and I can recall on many occasions where he would voice his frustration with the way he ran.
Here’s the truth that many people did not understand. He was BURNT OUT! He should have saved his energy for big races.
Needless to say he did manage to run some incredible times 29:54 track 10k on the spur of the moment, and a 14:28 at Mt. Sac.
Life in college was not much better. Mo had troubles adjusting in college because of a number of factors which included academics, differences in running philosophy with his coaches and life away from home.
So, we now fast forward to the present. He’s found himself the last few years running OK. Certainly not running to his full potential but hopefully things will start to change for him.
He’s a major talent!
I would like to see him come back and claim what is rightfully his, but he has his work cut out because we do have some incredible talent here in the states.
Call Alberto Salazar!

How well do you know Mo? Is he your friend?

I heard he was an animal also. Why did he leave Arizona? Was it because he did not like the school or the coaching did not work for him?
Thanks

Mo Trafeh. This guy was a fenom from Duarte High School in 2003. Went on to run for Arizona, but I heard he dropped out of college after his freshman year and as has pretty much been under the radar for the past 3 years until now. Good for you Mo.

Another Santa Cruz County runner makes good!! Congratulations, Brett, missed you and Maggie at the Wharf to Wharf this year, but you both had work to do! Great job!

nice job mo .congratulation

Sorry, I spelled "elite" wrong.

There was an eleite station set up at about 7 miles. There was a table on the other side of the road from the regular water stop and just past it there were decorated bottles strewn about along the edge of the road.

Dont think of it as 20k but rather running ~60 mins. Not that long.

It's hard to see these guys not drinking. Here in Texas it was well over 90 degrees that day when I ran. I drink a lot. I think that a 20K is long enough for these guys to have their own water bottles prepared at a couple of stations, like the marathoners do. I'd think it hurts their overall performance when they don't get some hydration. Oh well, but I'm used to running in the high heat and humidity.

Nice coverage. Gotcher looked strong. Thought Carney looked invincible through 8km then not sure what happened?

the heelstrikes..

I really wish Lehmkeuhle could have come up with the win

Brett Gotcher, kick of the week! :)