Is this true? He's trying to petition his way in based off his top-10 finish from 2004. That's BS. Go out and hit the time just like everyone else. Even Meb and Culpepper had to earn their spots.
Is this true? He's trying to petition his way in based off his top-10 finish from 2004. That's BS. Go out and hit the time just like everyone else. Even Meb and Culpepper had to earn their spots.
you are condemning him for something you aren't even sure he is doing?
tongue in cheek wrote:
you are condemning him for something you aren't even sure he is doing?
I applaud the original poster for jumping in feet first without having any of the facts. That is the true spirit of letsrun.
What's the 10k provision to get admitted? He will need to be fast to be competitive anyway in the trials, so he should find a late season track meet and try to get in that way.
I'm not too bothered by this.
Josh is a television and print media star. His presence ensures added media. Put him in. This is New York, the media capital of the world. Our sport needs Josh Cox.
Nevermind, I found it. 28:45 seems kind of stiff and is a hell of a lot harder than 2:22. What about making it just plain old sub 30:00? Most guys who run sub-30:00 and are putting in mileage can run 2:22 or better, but it's certainly not the other way around. Even so, if you have any shot in hell at making the team, you'd better be able to run 28:45 or faster.
http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-Marathon-Men/entry/qualifyingStandards.asp
It doesn't bother me in the least. He's way better than all those runners who got their 2:21s on downhill courses.
Chief Crunchy wrote:
It doesn't bother me in the least. He's way better than all those runners who got their 2:21s on downhill courses.
Exactly. I'll be there racing in it, and I couldn't care less if he's allowed to run. If he demonstrates reasonable fitness, then i say let him in.
What the original said is indeed true. Cox is petitioning USATF to get in. There sure do seem to be enough valid ways to get in ... you'd think he could have found a place to do a 28:45 10k in the last 18 months or whatever is.
He'll need to find a late season meet in Europe or Japan, or, if he waits until October, down under . Either way, he's in a no lose situation. He either gets the qualifier or he runs the actual New York marathon or Chicago anyway, with his best chance ever to be a top placer and certainly top American. As long as he doesn't try to run a 2:22 somewhere just before the trials and sap his legs, he'll be fine. I wonder if 28:45 on the road counts, which is much tougher to do than the track?
In the link that you provided it says track (FAT).
he needs to run the time to get in O'trials. he's not that special.
the way i figure it, those qualifying times are set up to ensure that the field is of a decent quality. you might not think he is special or deserves to go, but you cannot seriously think he does not have the fitness to be there. if he goes, top-20 is almost certain. to deny someone of his talent would be a mockery of the system. mockery i say.
Where did the qualifier list go? This is all I see on the USATF site, unless I'm not looking in the right place.
http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-Marathon-Men/entry/status.asp#men
oldschool88 wrote:
he needs to run the time to get in O'trials. he's not that special.
Wrong... qualifying is not that special. Pending fitness, he should be given a free pass and a slap on the ass.
Are you guys forgetting the entire spirit of the trials system? You have to qualify to get in, and to make the team, you have to be in the top 3.
If we're letting guys in because "we know they're in good enough shape" (which is a completely subjective rationale) then why don't we take the best 3 guys we have and scrap the trials all together... KK, Meb, and Hall are are 3, no one else....
Our system of selection is great. You not only have to race to prove you belong, which they give you 2 frikin years to do, but you have to race well to get on the team, and then guess what, you have to race well to medal... if we start letting go of that sight, then we might as well give the medals to Haile, Tergat, and Cheryiout... and we should strip Meb of his silver, because racing shouldn't count anymore, just paper champions of what we think they could or should run...
I like Josh Cox and I support his comeback, but he's been on the elite level before and needs to buck up and qualify like the rest.
Wasn't he going to go for it in San Diego early June? If he was in shape he would have already run sub 2:22 by now. He should line up with the rest of the last chance guys in Chicago.
Alan
Josh's MySpace has some pretty funny videos of Meb, Dan Brown and him training at Mammoth Lakes. He certainly looks like he could get in an 'easy' 2:22 with pleanty of time to spare for the Trials.
Can't the USATF just set something up at his local high school and have him run a 10K or marathan in whatever time he needs to? This would please everybody.