Chris Solinsky Runs 26:59.60 for AR in Debut 10K!

Leading up to the weekend, there was a lot of talk about the potential for an American Record in the 10000 meters. Much of the talk focused on Galen's Rupp decision to duck (no pun intended) unfavorable conditions in Oregon and run at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational instead. It turned out that the talk was well justified. Rupp headlined a deep and talented field that included NCAA XC champ Sam Chelanga, Simon Bairu, Tim Nelson, Brett Gotcher, and Chris Solinsky, who was running his 10K debut. Our own Chris Barnicle was also in the 30-person field.

The old record was 27:13.98, set by Meb Keflezighi back in 2001 at this same meet. After a fast opening lap, the pace settled down and hovered around 27:20 pace as the miles went by.

Some posters on LetsRun.com speculated that Solinsky's job was to pace Rupp through a 13:36 5K. That turned out to be a gross under-estimation of Solinsky's potential. After following Rupp and the pacers for most of the race, Solinsky looked visibly impatient with 1200 to go. At that point, Rupp had been working for several laps, but Solinsky looked entirely untroubled by the pace. He seized the lead for the first time on the homestratch of the 23rd lap and immediately powered away from Rupp, Chelanga, and Kenya's David Salel. What followed next sent the Flotrack announcers and the crowd into a state of frenzied disbelief, a penultimate lap of 60 followed by a final lap of 57. Solinsky's final 800m was ~1:56-57, a Bekele-like finish that brought him home under 27:00 in his first attempt at the distance. Do yourself a favor and watch the entire race on Flotrack. Unreal!

The other Chris -- Barnicle, that is -- ran a patient race, settling in near the back of the pack and avoiding the hot pace at the front. It looked like his 5K split was around 14:00 (couldn't tell from the video), and he was hitting the gun lap just as Chelanga and Rupp were finishing in 27:08. He kicked hard to finish in 28:10.59, a 43-second personal best!

A truly remarkable race -- American record for Solinsky and Rupp under the old record as well. A collegiate record for Chelanga and a Canadian record for Bairu.