There is a brightness in the faces of Mo Farah and Chris Solinsky which cannot be entirely explained by the fact that both are due to race in tomorrow’s climactic Samsung Diamond League 5000m race at the Zürich Weltklasse meeting.
Both come to this race with rising ambition at the end of a season in which both have offered fresh reasons for believing that one day, perhaps soon, they can offer a serious challenge to the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners who currently dominate their chosen events.
‘Oh God! That’s amazing!
Farah, the first man to win European 5000 and 10,000m titles at the same Championships in 20 years, is now hoping to improve his time in the shorter distance – and ideally to get under the psychologically significant barrier of 13 minutes.
That is something Solinsky has already managed, and the American consolidated his achievement by lowering his personal best to 12:55.53 in finishing fifth in the Stockholm Diamond League meeting earlier this month.
But Solinsky has broken through the 10,000m barrier even more dramatically this year, having become the first non-African runner to better 27 minutes as he won at Palo Alto on 1 May to set a new North American record of 26:59.60 on what was his debut at the distance.
Farah’s personal bests are not at that level – yet. He ran 13:05.66 in Gateshead in July, and clocked 27:28.86 in Marseille in June.
However, he is working on reducing those times, with tomorrow’s race offering him a great opportunity in the 5000.
“To get under 13 minutes tomorrow would be really good for me,” he says. “I’ve watched the Diamond League races on TV – and that first race in Doha was amazing, with so many under 13 minutes.”
“I don’t have a clue about the pace-making tomorrow. You have to be realistic, and my limit now is close to 13 minutes. But I have been close for four years now, so it’s something I want to do.”
“I was training in Kenya when I saw that Chris had gone under 27 minutes, and I was like ‘Oh God! That’s amazing! I’ve known Chris for years, and it just shows you what can be done. It gives you belief. If Chris can do it, we can all do it. It’s open. It’s possible.”
In the zone...feeding off each other
While Farah has put himself in the zone in recent years following a deliberate decision to train with the Kenyan contingent in London’s Bushy Park, and spend six weeks at a time in their training camps in the Great Rift Valley, running at dawn and eating ugali from the camp fire pots, Solinsky has achieved the same effect by joining the increasingly effective contingent of US runners based in Oregon.
“Oregon Track Club is a big umbrella,” says Solinsky. “There’s one in Eugene and one in Portland. In Portland there are two coaches – Alberto Salazar and my coach, Jerry Schumacher, with whom I have been working since I was at the University of Wisconsin."
“Our group had had a lot of success and Alberto asked if we wanted to come out and work collectively with a lot of the top runners in the US to try and bring US distance running back to where it was in the 70s."
“It’s a great situation because we have a lot of facilities, and opportunities at our disposal in the Nike Headquarters. The runners in the group just feed off of each other."
“Dathan Ritzenhein had a lot of success – at this meet last year he ran 12:56, and he’s now preparing for the New York marathon. Kara Goucher got a bronze in the 2007 Osaka World Championships, I see what these people do in practice, I’m right there, I can be there too."
“That’s kind of what we stumbled upon – that group atmosphere means that success just breeds success over and over again."
“Every runner has a bad day eventually, but even if that’s you, you can still contribute to the group as a whole. We keep each other humble. I mean, if anyone has success, there’s someone there to bring you right back down to earth. No one is wide-eyed about what group members accomplish.”
For Farah, there is a similar sense of widening possibilities from training with a group. “If I trained in England I would be lucky to get two people working with me,” he says. “In Kenya I can be running with 12 or 15 others."
“But talented as they are, you can be beating them in some sessions. There are some weaknesses. It shows me that, if I work hard, it’s possible to beat these runners.”
Unfinished business
For Solinsky, tomorrow’s race could be a significant pointer.
“Talking to my coach I think the way things unfold. Tomorrow could be a very good indication of which direction I go in. If I can get myself down to the low 12:50 range I think my desire to stay in the 5k will be a little bit more warranted. But I think as of now 26:59 has a little bit more weight than 12:55.”
“I guess over the next two years we will go with whatever we feel has the best chance of a medal.”
“I think because of my history in the five ii have more of a passion for the 5000 than the 10,000. But I can’t argue with the success I had with the 10 in my one race. But the passion’s definitely in the 5000 and I feel like I have unfinished business at that distance.”
“I feel like I’m still learning how to run a 5000. I’ve performed pretty well but I feel the emphasis is still on learning how to compete and win a Diamond League race and then carrying that into a championship final.”
No preconceived notions
Reflecting on his startling 10,000 debut, Solinsky says: “I think a lot of it has to do with being naive and having no expectations whatsoever. I went into the race knowing that I could throw caution to the wind and push myself further because it was a debut and if it didn’t go well, no one expected me to do anything anyway. You don’t know about the pace, you don’t know what the splits mean.”
“To a degree in a 5000 you get 4k into the race and I’ve felt how it feels before, and you almost dread that feeling. That was in the past.”
“The 10k has taught me to completely disregard any preconceived notions and to just go out there. Since that race I have almost been trying to re-invent myself, to be naive about my racing and not to think too much.”
For the moment there are no plans for a second 10,000 for Solinsky, although he will follow Zurich with a 3000m in Rieti.
Motivating people
Solinsky smiles at the fuss that was made about him being the tallest and heaviest runner to have broken through a barrier through which 30 Africans had previously passed.
“Overall I would say it’s kind of humorous and ridiculous to focus on the facts like ‘so much bigger’, ‘so much taller’ or even to bring the race issue into it and say ‘the only white man to do it’,” he says.
“Maybe if there is any positive kick out of all that it’s in motivating people that don’t think they could become successful runners into becoming successful.”
It certainly seems to have had that effect on Farah, but Solinsky too has taken in his British friend’s recent achievements.
“What Mo accomplished has motivated me, and I feel like I have maybe motivated other Europeans and Americans to think outside the box in terms of going into races with a different strategy, putting themselves in a position to win.”
“Even if you’re ranked 24th in the world as Mo is, or tenth, of 30th, whatever, put yourself in a position to win because you never know what will happen in races. The more times you give yourself the opportunity, the greater the chance that you can win.”
“Obviously someone like Kenenisa Bekele is a supreme athlete, but he’s beatable. He’s shown he can be beaten, and he will be again. I’m going to give myself that opportunity, with him and anyone else I line up against.”
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