From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue May 04 2010 - 08:23:08 EDT
"Bairu’s mother is Ethiopian and his father is Eritrean. His family fled the
civil war between those two countries that lasted for 30 years until Eritrea
gained independence in 1991, and moved to Saudi Arabia (across the Red Sea
from Eritrea), where Simon was born in 1983. After a brief time living in
Athens, Greece, the Bairu family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, when Simon
was 3 years old.
He pointed out that when Keflezighi set the American record (27:13.98) in
the 10K, Jeff Schiebler set the Canadian record of 27:36.01 in the same
race. Bairu also noted that the time spread between the American
(Keflezighi) and the Canadian (Schiebler) — 22.03 seconds — was similar to
what it was Saturday night when the American (Solinsky) finished 24.03
seconds ahead of the Canadian (Bairu).
“Maybe one of those years, we’ll have to reverse roles,” Bairu joked."
http://host.madison.com/sports/running/article_094900c2-5735-11df-9ce7-001cc4c03286.html
http://host.madison.com/sports/running/article_0e40d474-5735-11df-80ef-001cc4c03286.html
Solinsky, Bairu like the sound of broken records
Jason McMahon | 608-252-6019 | jmcmahon@madison.com | Posted: Tuesday, May
4, 2010 5:00 am |
Chris Solinsky said that he and his teammates went into Saturday night’s
10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto,
Calif., just “hoping to have a good performance and boost our spirits
heading into the heart of the track season.”
Amazing what a couple of national records can do for your mood.
Solinsky, a former University of Wisconsin track and cross country standout
who now runs professionally for Nike/Kimbia, obliterated the American record
in the 10K when he crossed the line in 26 minutes, 59.60 seconds. In the
same race, Nike/Kimbia runner Simon Bairu, who starred with Solinsky at
Wisconsin, smashed the Canadian 10K record when he finished in 27:23.63.
“It was definitely a great night for our team,” Bairu said. “It was pretty
awesome.”
Solinsky and Bairu spent a good deal of time on Sunday returning
congratulatory phone calls, texts and e-mails after returning home to
Portland, Ore., where they are part of an elite team of runners training
under former UW coach Jerry Schumacher.
Solinsky slashed more than 14 seconds off the old American record of
27:13.98, set in 2001 by Meb Keflezighi. The Eritrean-born distance running
star was one of the well-wishers to leave messages for Solinsky after the
race, along with track legends Bob Kennedy and Bernard Lagat.
“It’s kind of humbling to have people that you looked up to when you were in
high school and college, and they’re calling to say they’re impressed and
inspired,” said Solinsky, who was a five-time NCAA champion and 11-time
All-American for the UW track team, both program records.
An auspicious debut
What made Solinsky’s accomplishment all the more stunning was that Saturday
night was the first time he had run a 10K on the track. The 25-year-old
Stevens Point native has been focusing on the 5,000 meters since turning
professional after finishing up his storied UW career three years ago. A
five-time NCAA track champion for the Badgers, Solinsky was fifth in the
5,000 at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, and second to former UW teammate Matt
Tegenkamp in the event at last year’s national championships.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s 10K race, Solinsky said on his Twitter
account that he was approaching the event as a “glorified tempo run.” But
the approach changed a little bit when Nike runner Galen Rupp stated that he
was going to take a shot at the American record. Two rabbits, or
pace-setters, were in place, and Solinsky said he heard there was a postrace
press conference set up for Rupp.
“It was definitely fuel for the fire for me,” Solinsky said. “You see
somebody that you’ve been competitive with throughout your career and
they’re talking about doing that kind of thing, and you’re like, ‘Well, I
know that I’m just as good if not better than that person. If they can do
it, then I know I can do it.’
With all the talk about the American record, Solinsky did check Keflezighi’s
time before the race, but didn’t give the mark much thought.
“My mission was to win the race. If we would have gotten off pace and the
winning time would have been 27:25, I would have been completely OK with
that,” Solinsky said. “My only mission was to win the race.”
He did that by making a strong move to the front with a little over 900
meters to go, passing Rupp on the outside on the turn into the homestretch.
Solinsky ran the final half-mile in a blistering 1:56, and raised his hands
in triumph when he saw the clock upon crossing the finish line.
Rupp, a former Oregon star who finished fourth, led the lead pack — which
included Liberty’s Samuel Chelanga, Kenyan Daniel Salel, Solinsky and Bairu
— past the pace-setter on the 17th of 25 laps. Solinsky was laboring to keep
up at that point, suffering through an abdominal cramp that briefly had him
entertaining thoughts of dropping out.
“That kind of put a lot of panic in me. When that happened, I just kind of
took it lap by lap,” Solinsky said. “When it finally went away (with about
six laps to go), I just got shot full of adrenaline and that kind of carried
me through to the finish.”
Solinsky averaged just under 64.8 seconds per lap for the race, and he was
just as surprised as anyone at the pace.
“There were a lot of moments in the race where we started dropping 63-,
64-second quarters, which is good for a 5K, let alone doing two of them back
to back and throwing those in in the middle (of a 10K),” Solinsky said.
“There was definitely doubt that creeped into my mind, but I just wanted to
make sure I was relaxed. I kind of had an all-or-nothing mentality, just
follow it and see what happens. If I blow up, I blow up. If not, something
great can happen.”
Bairu races to redemption
Something great happened for Bairu as well, at the site of a bitter
disappointment a year ago. Bairu, who grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan,
missed qualifying for the 2009 World Championships by less than four seconds
in the 10K at last year’s Cardinal Invitational.
Saturday night, he fell off the lead pack with seven laps to go, but held on
to fifth place and shaved more than 12 seconds off Jeff Schiebler’s Canadian
record of 27:36.01.
“It was basically me against the clock and how badly I wanted that record,”
said Bairu, who was competing in his final track meet of the season. “I knew
it was going to be a long year if I didn’t get that record. I knew if I
didn’t get that record, it would kind of put a damper on the season.”
Bairu, the only two-time NCAA cross country champion in Wisconsin history,
is focusing his professional efforts on longer distances. His next big event
will be the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7.
Solinsky, meanwhile, remains locked in on the 5,000 despite his record
effort in the 10K Saturday night. He has said that he is aiming to qualify
for the 2012 London Olympics in the 5K, then move up to 10K to take a shot
at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, before progressing to the marathon for
2020 and beyond.
He has two 5K races scheduled for the summer — June 4 in Oslo, Norway, and
July 3 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., where he hopes to become
the first American to break 13 minutes on U.S. soil.
“It’s tempting to maybe venture into the 10K a little bit more, because the
5K is kind of a crapshoot a lot. The 5K at the World Championships or
Olympics kind of turns into what a 1500 is, a last-lap sprint,” Solinsky
said. “The 10K is more of a grind-it-out and see who has the aerobic
capacity. If you’re fit, you can run well in the global championship 10Ks.
“But my heart is still in the 5K. I feel like I still have unfinished
business there. I want to fulfill what I believe I can do in that event
first.”
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