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07/29

Top 5...Top 5 Men's 5,000 Meter Races of All Time

This is a quick but good one.  Here are what I consider the top five Men's 5000 meter races of all time.  The great thing about the 5000 meter is that there are endless amounts of great 5000 meter races, so if you ask someone else their list would be completely different.

5. The 2019 World Championship 5,000 Meter Final.  

This race has it all.  It's a championship final at the world championships.  It's really fast!  It's got two young teenagers making huge moves!  It's got a Canadian and American mixing it up with the world's bests!  It's got team work!  Enjoy!

4. The 2018 Diamond League Final in Brussels.  

All I have to say for this one is that it has 3 of the 7 fastest times in world history, including the 4th fastest run by an 18 year old, Selemon Barega of Ethiopia!  Sorry the video is such bad quality!

3. The 2004 Hengelo 5,000 Meter

The world record by the best 5,000 meter runner of all time, Kenenisa Bekele.  This video is not in english but just look at the splits!  They give each kilometer split.  The pace was so fast, the pacers could only make it to 2,000 meters!

2. The 2003 World Championship 5,000 Meter Final and the 2004 Olympic 5,000 Meter Final

These two are grouped together because they both involved the 3 best distance runners of all time competing head to head.  Hichem El Guerrouj, the world record holder in the mile, Kenenisa Bekele, the 5,000 meter world record holder, and Eluid Kipchoge, the future marathon world record holder.  Enjoy!

1.  The 1972 Olympic 5,000 Meter Final

Maybe I'm biased with this choice as I have been a fan of Steve Prefontaine for as long as I can remember.  A young Steve Prefontaine throws everything he has against the world's best.  What makes this my favorite is how Pre and Lasse Viren are racing off pure instincts over the last mile.  Though it ends in heartbreaking fashion, you love seeing athletes leaving everything on the track!

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07/22

Top 5...Things we look forward to in running

This week we interviewed ourselves!  We discussed our top 5 things we look forward to in the running world.  We kind of looked at this from different views but we had a lot of fun discussing our own separate lists.  We tried to avoid putting Albemarle things on our lists as they would end up making up the whole list. Hope you enjoy the listen!

by Coach Alba-Cantone, Coach Lorenzoni, and Coach Resnick
Top 5...Things we look forward to in runArtist Name
00:00 / 49:45
Things we look forward to

07/15

Top 5...Ways To Be Remembered

This week we have Mark Lorenzoni (my dad) give his top 5 ways to be remembered as a local cross country runner.  I don't think there is anyone that has been more tightly connected to the entire high school running community over the last 40 years.  Though he hasn't coached a high schooler in this time, he has directed 30+ years of Ragged Mountain Cup, been in charge of the finish line chutes of hundreds of high school races, organized the weekly Central Virginia Running poll, and built relationships through runners either working or shopping at Ragged Mountain.  This is a fun listen as we get to hear what makes this sport so special, especially at the local level.  Lots of history in here too!

by Mark Lorenzoni
Top 5...Ways to be rememberedArtist Name
00:00 / 38:31
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Mark handing out prizes at Ragged Mountain Cup

Ways to be remembered

07/08

Top 5...Albemarle XC Moments

Harris Naseh, JD MacKnight, Will Mackenzie, and Sam Tamblre have had a massive impact on our program and it's culture of the past 4 years.  They were heavily involved in the '17 and '19 state championships and our 3rd place finish '18.  We were able to get Harris, JD, and Will to share their top 5 cross country moments over the past few years.  Sadly, Sam missed out because he wasn't feeling well.  This is worth a listen. We owe these boys ​so much and are so lucky to have had them leading our program the last few years.

by Harris Naseh, JD MacKnight, Will Mackenzie

Moments #5 through #3

Top 5...Albemarle XC Moments (Pt. 1)Artist Name
00:00 / 22:28

Moments #2 through #1

Top 5...Albemarle XC Moments (Pt. 2)Artist Name
00:00 / 46:51
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The famous pic from the '19 State Meet

Albmarle XC Moments
Hardest Hills in Cville

07/01

Top 5...Hardest Hills in Charlottesville
by Coach Resnick
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Map of O-Hill with elevation change and grade

I am entering my second week of the PFP Summer 2020 King of the Mountain Competition and boy are my legs feeling tired. Having lived in Charlottesville since 2005, I’ve spent many a run trying to find a route with the least amount of hills. But right now, I don’t know about you but I am seeking out the biggest baddest hills to try and take Sam and Daniel down (while dueling it out with Austin seemingly every other day). So, here is my list of the top 5 hills in Charlottesville. Come run them and you might just see me!

 

  1. O-Hill (from Alderman Rd to the top!) - This is an OG C’ville hill for me as I lived at the base of Observatory Hill as a first year at UVA, back in 2005. There are so many fun trails and ways to gain elevation on this space. My favorite is heading directly from the O-Hill dining hall and running on McCormick Road all the way up to the Observatory. The views of town and the lights of Scott Stadium on the way back down always brings a smile to my face, mainly because I know I just put in work!

  2. Lexington Avenue (from about Lyons Ct Ln to Maple St) - If you or your parents have ever run the 10-miler, they’ll have this hill stamped into the back of their brains! Sometimes called cemetery hill because one way or another that’s where you’ll end up, this climb comes just after halfway on the Charlottesville 10-Miler course. I tell you what, this hill can make or break your race, and like all these hills its way better at the end then at the start. One time I got to run this hill with former Albemarle Patriot All-Star Rachel Ward and I quickly realized why only one of us had 10-miler before.

  3. Barracks Road (from Emmet St to Rugby Rd)  -  When I first started helping Adrian back at AHS, I lived in a house right on the crest of Barracks Road, right in between Hilltop and Rugby. Now it’s going to be hard for many of you to imagine this, but I was once a much better runner than I am today. Part of the reason I was so much better back in 2015 was this hill! To put in context how steep it is, there is some slight truth to the story that in less than a quarter mile while driving down this hill to school one morning, I may have received a speeding ticket even though I never even pressed my foot on the gas. (Although, I should have pressed the break!)

  4. East Jefferson Street (from Meade Ave to 10th St NE) - Back when I was in good shape, Adrian’s older brother Alec used to convince me to wake up at 4:45 a few mornings a week and go for a run with his crew. One day, I think it was my last, I realized how crazy these guys were. We were doing a tempo run with some hills at the end and they introduced me to this monster, located downtown right across the street from the Meade Park Pool. But the repeats we did weren’t the 8 seconds or 15 seconds I do now. No, these bad boys were either 1 or 2 full minutes. They hurt so bad and it didn’t help that this hill never really did end!

  5. River Road (from Belleview Ave to Locust Ave) - This hill sucks because it’s never at the beginning and it's never at the end of a run, so it is always hard work. If you push too hard on what is supposed to be an easy run, you are stuck! For a while, part of this hill bridged a gap on the Rivanna Trail so if you were going for a long trail run, you had to hit the street and lift them legs up high to get to the top and keep going. One great reason to get to the top of the hill is if you turn around and go back down you have an awesome view of Pantops!

 

Honorable Mention - Lambeth Hill (from the Emmet St overpass to Rugby Rd), Huntley Ave (from Sunset Rd to Stribling Ave), Grady Avenue (from 10th St NW to Rugby Rd), and I’m sure a ton others. 

 

Do you have a list of favorite hills in your neighborhood? Or maybe around Albemarle High School? Have you ever driven out to somewhere in the county to run its hills? If you want, share that list as your Top 5 Hardest Hills in Albemarle for next week’s post!

06/24

Top 5...Albemarle XC Workouts

Stephen Smith and Joe Yung sit down with Coach Lorenzoni and Coach Resnick to discuss their top 5 workouts.  This was so much fun to do and we loved hearing how Stephen and Joe ranked them.  Listen to the podcast below to hear their top 5!  Video footage of top 2 also included!

Also, sorry for the very long Led Zeppelin intro song.  I'm going through a big Led Zeppelin phase and Ramble On is my favorite song right now...

by Stephen Smith and Joe Yung
Top 5...WorkoutsArtist Name
00:00 / 29:51

Threw together some old footage I had of our last Rev this past fall and of course added some Led Zeppelin.  

Here's a video of one of the boys running The Patriot last fall.  Sorry for the length.  I edited this one...

Albemarle XC Workouts