It is tough to be a New Yorker

forget the "elite runners" new york has armstrong running so it doesnt matter who chicago get everyone will be watching new york

I guess you are right. It is just disappointing with all of the money that Mary has spent that we do not have one World level A marathoner at the top of his game being put in a position to shine. Huge Stage and nothing to watch.

at least new york is usually always a good "race" wheras london, chicago, berlin are usually time trials. id rather watch new york.

So is my sons middle school cross-country meet. We deserve more than a good race. We deserve the best athletes at their best and we are a long way away from that.

Honest New Yorker wrote:

So is my sons middle school cross-country meet. We deserve more than a good race. We deserve the best athletes at their best and we are a long way away from that.

\

I don't want to see a bunch of uber doped up eropeans and africans running a time trial....shit go up to rock park, you can see that boring shit every day.

Actually, it's precisely the sort of field you describe that could make for a lot of drama. Ritz and Sell pulling away from Tergat on First Avenue!

You can get the best athletes, but you can't guarantee that they are going to be healthy.

But we got neither. A race our size should start with 10 sub 2:07 guys and then add in the human interst stories. We have 3 and they aren't healthy. I just wish that New York would see themselves as a major marathon. Instead they just market themselves as a major marathon.

You are a complete fool. Your comments make me think you have an extra chromosone.

Honest New Yorker wrote:

So is my sons middle school cross-country meet. We deserve more than a good race. We deserve the best athletes at their best and we are a long way away from that.

you deserve nothing of the sort. you have an ugly, oversized marathon in an ugly, oversized city.

It is humorous how New York and LA somehow have this sense of entitlement. The Yankees proved that you can put whatever spin you want on it the best just isn't in New York. At the end of the New York Marathon people will still be trying to tell us how great New York was but if you put it up against Chicago you would get the same results as the Tigers vs. the Yankees.

If Tergat is going to run he is going to be fit. If he was truly not fit he would drop out and save himself for another race. How is Ramala a bad front runner? He ran from the front the past two years, winning by a good margin once and losing by a tenth of a second last year after running the fastest mile split ever in a marathon. Ritz may prove to be competitive...not sure about Meb as we havent gotten any updates, but 1 month before the marathon is a horrible time to get injured since it will mess up his peaking if he ahs to take any real downtime.

Tergat was not fit last year. He won at about 80% because that is all it took to win in New York. You yourself admit that it is rough to get the taper correct if you are not 100% a month prior to the event. Last year Tergat did not run Great North because he was not 100%. Ramaala only appears to be a front runner in a weak field.

Yep- Paul is the consumate professional. If he shows up he is bringing his 'A' game. He always does, just as he did last year. 2:09 at New York with some humidity is every bit as good as his 2:04 in perfect conditions on the perfect course when he was 2 years younger. That kick last year was one of the greatest finishes ever.

Ramalla was great, but Paul was greater.

I know that the spin has convinced everyone that New York is a slow course. Keep in mind that Meb has run faster at New York than he was able to run at Boston.

What's harder on the body - racing a marathon or preparing to race a marathon? We could have an extended arguement over that, but one thing is for sure, both are very hard.

The marathon is a self-limiting event, by the pounding one takes getting ready for it and the pounding one takes racing it. One result is that the small population of super stars becomes smaller due to attrition via training or racing.

I'm hoping an American can take New York. Why? It's good for local interest. Actually, I think that it's good for world wide interest because - a lesson some New Yorkers detest - monopoly is boring in the world of sport.

Why? An american wins the US championships every year. If you don't bring in the best (like Chicago does), you have a much greater chance of having an american win. Does that mean anything? Yes. It means the best are not in New York.

Sounds like you want P. Diddy back in the race. You know, he laid off the ladies for a month before this race and shaved his hair into a mohawk. That was some serious preparation.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39748000/jpg/_39748185_p_diddy_203.jpg

i thought this was going to be a thread about how the yankees, with their 194 million dollar payroll (tigers: 82 million), just got bounced from the playoffs again. no title since 2000. lost to the dbacks after being up 3-2. got bounced by the angles, josh beckett and the marlins, staged the greatest collapse in history against the sox, once again lost to the angels, and now this.

there is some justice in the world .