Alberto Salazar calls Edinburgh race “a good idea”

by Doug Binder


News that Dathan Ritzenhein and Galen Rupp would run in a new team component of the Great Edinburgh Cross Country (in Scotland) event on Jan. 8 seemed to come out of left field this week.

Alberto Salazar, who coaches both runners, said he was approached by Ian Stewart, Great Britain’s most renowned track and field event promoter. Brendan Foster, another of the U.K.’s leading track figures, is also associated with the event.

“He said they were having a team event this year and wanted to know if our guys would take part in it,” Salazar said. “I told him it was definitely a possibility.”

The more Salazar thought about it, the more it made sense.