Observers of the running scene are writing to the Michigan Runner. Here's what they are saying:
"It is very difficult to make a living & train at a national level. If Webb doesn't make an immediate impact, he might not get a lot of sponsorships, or enough to make running a career. College is the best time to train at high levels & compete. There aren't that many high level meets, unless he goes to Europe, then what about school? What if he gets a major injury? How long will Ray Flynn stay by his side?"

--Daniel Deyo -------------------------------

"I partly think Alan Webb made a bad choice. I think he's being misguided by misinformed outsiders to the running world.

"I don't necessarily disagree with him turning pro and continuing college classes, however, if the figure being rumored is true, a $150,000 contract, to me, isn't worth leaving a county where Webb could have access to Paul McMullen and other world-class runners in the off-season (not to mention up-and-comers Kevin Sullivan and EMU's Boaz Cheboiywo, who is staying here to get his master's). Instead, in Virginia, Webb is going to get professional training with...a high school coach and whomelse???? He'll spend chunks of that $150,000 having to travel to facilities/other pros.

"It's a well-documented fact that top male runners don't peak until their late 20s. It's also no secret that many young runners hit a rut during development in the early 20s - affecting confidence. Those years could've been spent developing his own being at a college (and getting more than $100,000 worth of free education at a good college - I'm thinking what his out-of-state tuition would've been).

"A professional running career is not as secure and guaranteed as Webb might think. Especially when his peers in other sports are being guaranteed millions of dollars in signing bonuses straight out of high school. They could be busts and still be rich; they don't need education to fall back on like runners do (that's my disagreement with Hal Higdon, too).

--Kevin Ryan -------------------------------

I wish Alan well. He's a great young talent who's made a difficult choice. Who among us can understand all the pressure, self-imposed and otherwise, he has been under?

As a Michigan guy, I hate to see Alan leave and, indirectly, make a scapegoat of Ron Warhurst for his "disappointing" season. Alan got injured (What teen doesn't think he should be immortal?), tried to hurry back into peak form while taking advice from conflicting coaches. We can all stand to learn about patience, keeping faith in ourselves (and those we have picked to teach us), and holding focus.

Young men do young-men things, but few have endured being under the microscope as Webb has. Give him time, as he needs to give HIMSELF time, and things will work out.

--Scott Sullivan -------------------------------

I think he's in for a rude awakening. He said he had a lousy year and it was time to move on. I think he needs a little perspective. Let's see -- a freshman wins the Big Ten cross-country title, wins the 1,500 meter title outdoors and is all-American in both cross country and the 1,500. That's an incredible year by anyone else's standards.

As Chris Lear said on the Runner's World web site, Webb's best 1,500 last year, in his year of year's, was 78th best in the world. he's gonna get chewed up by those guys.

Oh, well.

--Tom Henderson -------------------------------

"With regard to Alan Webb's decision to leave the University of Michigan, I'd like to suggest a little different view. At the time Webb came out of high school, an equally celebrated runner named Dathan Ritzenhein was taking up the other half of the headlines, and both youngsters looked to be the leaders of a new generation of promising young American runners who could lead the U.S. back to distance running respectability. And while Webb's struggles have been well-documented and debated over the last week, and the pros and cons of his decision thrown around every running discussion group you can find (fondly referred to as the World Wide Webb), Dathan continues to quietly and steadily continue his solid, steady rise to the top of the American distance running heap. All the reasons and justifications that have been given to support or explain Webb's decision have been experienced by Ritzenhein, yet he seems as happy and content and determined as ever to stay the course he has set out on to an ultimate result of Olympic dreams and beyond.

Kudos to Dathan's teammates, the University of Colorado, the coaches, his family, and most of all Dathan himself, for overcoming all of the things we are now finding out are so difficult for a rising star of that caliber to endure and overcome. We have learned from Alan Webb's situation just how challenging it can be."

--Don Richmond ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bravo to Alan Webb!

I think Alan has done the best thing for his development. Why do I say that? Think about it. He can pick and choose the races he wants to do that will benefit him, instead of worrying about racing in meets every weekend that are scored for a team. As a result he can worry more about training at a much higher intensity as opposed to worrying about burning out in meets that he will blow everyone away in. I'm not insinuating that Coach Warhurst is doing that or that he is burning Alan out, quite the contrary, Warhurst is one of the finest coaches in the nation.

It is just that a coach in Warhurst's position needs bodies to score points at big meets or something along the lines for benefiting the TEAM, whereas Webb is concerned about getting faster and developing the way he wants to as an INDIVIDUAL. This is not to say that Webb is selfish. Heck, with the talent Webb has, I would have gone pro, too. He has done what is best for him$elf. Not only financially but athletically.

Good Luck, Alan

--Brian Terpak.