No women even close to her - pretty impressive. How competitive would that time be at major US road races?

Good on the kid that did 29 and change - lookout if he can swim!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

She was probably just cruising too. She's run faster in triathlon going 31:41 at 2013 ITU WTS Stockholm.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

Yea but not all courses are accurate 10k. Not to take anything away from her though. She's an amazing athlete

Never trust an ITU course time.

Stockholm 2013 was a great course and a great event, but the run was generally acknowledged to have been much shorter than 10K. Alistair Brownlee and Gomez both ran close to 29 minutes on it with very heavy legs from a killer bike course.

Interesting. I didn't know that about the course.

I have looked for more open 10K times of hers to compare but couldn't find anything. By looked I mean I did a 2 min google search then gave up and went for a ride.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

Well she did win the Australian 10k Road National Championship, it would take a pretty special race for her not to podium in a 10k road race in the US.

I just checked the 2014 Peachtree results. I believe it was the US national championship race last year. The female winner was Olympian Amy Hastings with a time of 32:16. Amy was the 2012 US Champion in the track 10,000 meters. So I'd say that Gwen would do pretty well racing 10ks in the USA:)

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

the bike is not a killer in stockholm but the run definitely is short.

It would be a very competitive time in any women's International 10K road race - I think you'd find the majority of those races are won in the mid 31's to low 32's. She's in a different class in terms of her run ability compared to the rest of the Women's ITU field.

Birtwhistle was 2nd at Junior Worlds last year in Edmonton. Did his 1st WTS event in Auckland this year and finished 38th but did finish 2nd to David Hauss at the Mooloolaba ITU world cup event earlier this year. IMO definitely one of the best prospects for AUS. As a pure runner I think he's the equal of the Brownlees and Gomez but right now he can't match them for 10K run speed off the bike. For me the big question mark is can he improve his swim enough to hang on to the front pack. He's only 20 so does have time on his side and his 10K run time will improve off the bike. He's on the start list for Yokohama so will be interested to see how he goes.

2nd place woman was Eloise Wellings, who's been one of Australia's top distance runners over the past decade or so. 3 Commonwealth Games teams and has been selected for 3 Olympic Games but has only made one due to injury. So a pretty handy runner.

Jake Birtwhistle is probably a real shot at making the Rio team and I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes this year in the WTS.

@Mag900, Stockholm features a 10% climb on cobbles (it might not appear that steep on the TV but it is) and all the athletes I've heard talk about (in interviews or in person) say it is a pig (but an enjoyable pig!) ETA Not only is there a cobbled climb but a cobbled descent as well through the Stockholm Old Town.


@HKoldtimer, I'm a little surprised by your assertion that Birtwhistle is the equal of the Brownlees and Gomez as a pure runner. His recent 29.23 on the track implies he has the potential to run 28.32 in a few year's time (which AB did in 2013 in his only every serious track 10K), he is clearly not there yet. He is an exciting prospect although I think Raphael Montoya of France is currently the one I'd vote "most likely to succeed" because he is a much better swimmer (and won the World Juniors last year)

I'd agree at this stage Montoya would be the better prospect given his swim. As I said the big if with Birtwhistle is if he can realistically get his swim up to front pack standard. With any young athlete it's always difficult to guess if they can continue to develop and step up to elite level. Right now I think Birtwhistle is a great prospect but the next 3-4 years will show whether if he can step up and mix it with the Brownlees, Gomez etc.

It was a road race not track (Aus 10K Road Champs). The winner, Liam Adams is no slouch and has run 28:11 for 10,000m (& has a 13:11 5,000m to his name) so I was impressed Birtwhistle was 2nd and only 1sec down on Adams (not to mention he put 2 mins into Royle, Sexton and Bailie). With the exception of AB I'm not convinced JB, Gomez or any other of the top ITU runners would have gone much quicker so I still think Birtwhistle is close to their standard as a pure runner.

Of course run speed is only part of the equation, really all that counts is his 10K at the end of a hard swim/bike and Birtwhistle definitely can't match the top ITU runners at this stage. Still I think he's the best prospect we've had for a while in Aus.

I'm not being facetious but if it is a road race, do we know how accurately it was measured? Besides I'd be pretty astonished if Gomez couldn't run well under 29 minutes, I must say.

I had a look at Birtwhistle's results. Which would you say indicate his potential as a runner best?

Gwen is exceptionally fast, but Peachtree is not a PR setting course, as it includes a pretty decent hill midway through. Amy Hastings 10k PR is 31:10.

I think the way to view anything like this is compare a known quantity to the individual you are trying to evaluate. What we know is Bhirtwistle outran GJ on the same course on the same day - but without a swim and a bike prelude(!) - by 2:50. It doesn't matter if the course was short, fast, slow or hilly. We also know that GJ typically gets outran by the elite men by the more 3:30+ at a typical ITU event. Some other factors:

1) Who did what leading into this race? Was this a big deal to Bhirtwislte and just a weekend hard run for GJ? Was the opposite true (doubt that, but you never know).
2) GJ typically shuts it down at the finish line, sometimes earlier. Is she really more like 3:00 slower than the elite men if she was forced to run hard for the entire 10K at an ITU event?

I look at this result and think, hmm, a young guy he has some run talent. Which we already knew before the race. The only thing I really take a way is he got nipped at the line.

hence why the call the hill "cardiac hill" It is awful an fun at the same time

When A. Brownlee was 21 he ran a 29.15 road race. This Birtwhistle kid definitely seems like he's got something about him but it's another thing to perform at the highest level. No doubt he's going to have to step up and put in a huge performance before everyone sits up and takes note. Looking at his swim times he's definitely got it cut out for him.

JB had his breakthrough when he was 20, coming 2nd in London. And I'm pretty sure AB won the flipping world series when he was 21. They were both killing the swim early too.

Non Stanford ran a mid 32 10k two years ago I think so it will be interesting to see how she fares coming back from injury. Given that she trains with Vicky Holland I'd say the signs are optimistically good.

Keep in mind that the 31:10 is Amy's PR on the track which is normally ~ 45 seconds to a minute faster for most than on the road . It was also at the London Olympics so I'm thinking she was pretty peaked for that race and not swimming 30k per week of biking 200+k either;)

Here are Amy's 2013 and 14 results listed on the USA Track and Field web page. If the Aussy course was accurately measured I'd really agree that Gwen would certainly do quite well road racing over here.

2014: 6th at New York Mini 10k (32:33); 3rd at USA Outdoors (32:18.82); 1st at Atlanta Peachtree Road Race (32:16)
2013: 14th at World Outdoors 10,000m (32:51.19); 13th at Paris 5,000m (15:28.79); 4th at USA Outdoors 10,000m (32:31.28); 4th at USATF Oxy HP 5,000m (15:17.35)

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

She was probably just cruising too. She's run faster in triathlon going 31:41 at 2013 ITU WTS Stockholm.

As others have noted some of the "10K" courses may be a bit off.

Never the less, this is not surprising given Jorgensen's back-ground( a runner) and build (built like a runner). It's the fitness and talent you need these days to close out the deal in world class triathlons at this level.

It would make Jorgensen competitive in U.S. 10K running on the track or the road. Not sure if she could duplicate, Canadian Carol Montgomery's to the best of my knowledge, unprecedented feat of qualifying for one Olympic Games, in two different sports - Triathlon and in the 10000m on the track at the Sydney Olympic Games.


I think Carol's best 10K on the track was in a similar range - 32-low.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Sheila Taormina?

unprecedented feat of qualifying for one Olympic Games, in two different sports -

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

I believe that Sheila was different sports, but different Olympic Games - swimming first and later, triathlon.

Carol Montgomery, qualified for Canada in the Triathlon AND the 10,000m on the track in the SAME Olympic Games. I note that Canada's qualification times in events like the 10,000m are often harder than the IAAF standards, so it's by no means a walk.

Unfortunately, Carol was taken out of the Olympic Games triathlon in Sydney with a bike crash and broken wrist - that also took her out of the 10,000m on the track later in the games. We all know that Simon Whitfield won the Gold Medal in the men's triathlon at Sydney. However, it was Carol who was a legitimate favorite on the women's side going into that race, while Whitfield at best was a long-shot!

I last heard about Sheila when she was going for something truly unprecedented, qualifying for a third Olympic team, in a third sport, and third games - Modern Pentathlon, I believe it was for her

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Four different Olympics, 3 different sports. She is pure will in human form.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis