2008 OT marathon host named tommorow...

scotth wrote:

[ 4. All the names are well-respected members of the running community and, as I recall, part of a selection process unique in its makeup.

What in the hell are you talking about?

All though some of these guys may be respected by you does not mean that they are respected in "the running community".

JIM ESTES

Thought to be the lap dog for Mary Wittenburg. Has never turned down a free perk. Has accepted payments from NYRR to assure the trials. Defended his short 10 mile race for 3 years promising all of us that the course was accurate. Proved to be dead wrong.

GLENN LATIMER

An agent for many years that has relationships with all of the major marathons. Has promised that the Trials will be in a major market (hardly unbiased to be on a selection committee). Has been known to represent athletes with drug allegations.

FRED FINKE

Has never met a photo op that he didn't like. Has said publicly that he wants Bill Roe's job. He thinks that Teddy Mitchell is good for the sport. He is supposed to be in charge of LDR but will side with the MLDR on every issue.

Now you can claim that my comments are not the view of all of the folks on this board and that is fair. However you claimed that this committee is respected by ALL and that is horse shit.

I love ignorance. There is an old saying: \"Keep your mouth closed and people will wonder how ignorant you are. Open your mouth and you reomove all doubt.\" Congrats!!You have removed all doubt.

1. Estes a lap dog for Mary w? You are an idiot!

2. Fink has already said he does not want Bill Roes job. EVER!

3. I have never seen a photo that Fink is in. With all the photo op\'s I would think he would be somewhere. Please link me to a photo of him.

4. As for siding with MLDR on every issue, you need to check with the women. There was not a pretty seen in one of Fink\'s meetings at the national convention.

5. I have been to the Estes house and I can say he has never taken anything from NY. Are you stupid? Pay off estes? What do they(NY) have to gain? NOTHING!!! You are retarded.

6. As for Latimer, at least he has over 50% athletes on his committee (all members of oly teams and world teams from what I have seen). If that is true, it proves you are an IDIOT and a wannabe 2:30 runner trying to sound important.

Time to nitpick, find a mispelling, any small point you can argue.

You\'re an idiot, but hey, now you can sign on as someone else and support your stupidity.

Teddy Mitchel

Dear Tedy or Teddy (depending on your spelling),

Time will tell. I say that lap dog Estes and Big time Latimer will have their way and the mens trials will be in New York. They will then try to convince us all what a great decision it is. Mr Finke or Fink (depending on the spelling) will follow what he thinks is the best move for himself rather than the sport.

How does staying in someones house make you aware of what is going on? Didn't you stay in Eddy's house as well?

New York or Boston...who cares...I do...pick a better race location than a mega tv market. How about Arkon?

Ahhhhh great. Comments from a knowledgable, respected source. Finally we get an honest evaluation of the procedure!!!!

If I remember correct from a prior thread on this subject this idea runs into trouble due to sponsorship concerns. Meaning certain firms have rights to sponsor olympic trials while ING has the NY Marathon locked up. Otherwise, this idea makes great sense.

I apologize for mixing up Charleston with Columbia, SC, no intent to malign what I've been told were 2 first-class trials races in 1996-2000. Just hazy memory.

Clark and Spangler were absolutely upsets. They were the only true "dark horses" I mentioned tho.

Yes, David Morris had the AR going into 2000, and Joe LeMay had a faster qualifying time, but if I recall he had been fighting injuries and/or a mini-slump. DeHaven had run 2:13:01 in 1998, before the 2000 USOT qualifying season opened, making his PR faster than Joe's.

And Rod was on a very strong roll going into the 2000 USOT; in my prerace competitive analysis, I had figured that he was the guy to beat. And despite my also-ran/"should be happy just to be here" status, technically I was more than just an interested observer. And some smart people I talked to thought the same.

Clarifying further - - I recall that David M. had been fighting injurties and a mini-slump. Joe L. was going great guns coming into the P'gh trial, as I recall.

I welcome greater detail/corrections if anyone wants to beat this near-dead horse further.

As someone who is planning on getting a qualifying time myself, I don't really care where it is held just so long as everyone has to run the same course in the same conditions and its held in the late winter/early spring of 2008 rather than late fall of 2007.

Interesting when you start talking about the potential field for the men's trials and realize that only 3 will make it.

Meb

Abdi

KK

Culpepper

Shay

Sell

and so on, and so on, and it could have been even deeper if Kennedy had decided to stick around for a go at it.

Not to forget Browne or any of the 10k guys who may decide to move-up or give it shot after qualifying for the marathon trials through the new 10k time standard.

I completely disagree that you must simulate the Olympic Trials to the conditions at the Olympics. Thats complete garbage.

I think if you have great marathon runners they will be able to adapt to the conditions that are presented to them. Our 2004 Olympic Team is a perfect example of that. The 2004 trials did not mirror those of the Olympics but our men's team had a respectable showing at the trials. Meb has placed well in warm weather marathons and marathon where the temperatures were reasonable (Trials and NYC). Culpepper has also performed well on a variety of courses and weather conditions.

Having said that we all know that colder weather and flatter courses provide us with better times so why not have the trials on a course with good weather and is relatively flat. Why risk another 2000 mess when we only send one athlete due to dumb decisions on the trial locations.

Tomorrow is now today. When is the "annoucement"? Lets move on from the same rehashed arguments.

100% dead on. There is no reason to simulate anything during the trials. I hear the same thing at cross country at the conference and regional meetings, referring to the national course. Do it on your own time leading up to the big race, that is so much more effective.

But seriously, when are we going to officially find out where/when the trials are at?

I for one hope that New York wins or buys or whatever it takes to get the trials. The trials should be in New York. The trials had better be in the spring though. If New York hosts the trials in November it is incredibly self serving. I however bet that we do have them in November just so that we can flex our muscles and prove that we can do whatever the hell we want.

Gosh, do you suppose the national governing body might be the source of the info?

Gee, isn't that the obvious place to hear the info, we want to know when we are going to hear it.

The Big Apple wrote:

I for one hope that New York wins or buys or whatever it takes to get the trials. The trials should be in New York. The trials had better be in the spring though. If New York hosts the trials in November it is incredibly self serving. I however bet that we do have them in November just so that we can flex our muscles and prove that we can do whatever the hell we want.

Actually, I thought it always sucked that the marathon trials were in the spring, generally run in hot, steamy conditions. It favors the runners who train in the east. The trials should be in the fall or late fall in a dry climate, so the best men can emerge from the pack. Plus, a spring marathon doesn't give adequate recovery time for the Olympics in the fall.

You must have missed B'Ham.

Equilibrium wrote:

[quote]The Big Apple wrote:

"..... always sucked that the marathon trials were in the spring, generally run in hot, steamy conditions. It favors the runners who train in the east."

How does hot, steamy weather in the spring favor those from the east? I'm not sure I get this and I've trained in the east. In addition, how many hot steamy trials have there been?

Plus, a spring marathon doesn't give adequate recovery time for the Olympics in the fall.

a fall marathon allows a runner without much sense to capitalize on their selection and run another spring marathon. What good what that serve other than a few dollars in his pocket?