Why would any marathoners train for warm weather hmm Beijing??
Why would any marathoners train for warm weather hmm Beijing??
the reasoner wrote:
there is no way a start that early is good for the athletes, it isn't going to be too warm that time of year in NY and the athletes will have to wake up extremely early to have their bodies ready to go. I have heard optimum performance can not be acheived until after 5 waking hours. Waking up at 2:30 cannot be ideal for the athletes. It seems to me that this was the most feasible time logistically so they were stuck with this time.
Marathon races have been run at 7 or 8am for as long as I can remember. Chicago is at 8am. Who the hell gets up 5 hours before race start? Where did you read about optimum performance not being achieved until 5 hours after waking? I've heard more along the lines of 2-3 hours.
Alan
The Beijing Olympic Marathon (both men and women) starts at 7 am.
I remember the 1988 men's trials race in Jersey City, NJ. I ran in the 10k which was held there also, as I remember, starting just after the marathon start. I'm pretty sure that the race started much later, maybe 10:00 or 11:00. It was April and cold and windy (in the 50s). You couldn't watch the race since it was a loop course and I'm pretty sure it wasn't televised in any way, but at least you could see the finish.
For the 3 yrs prior to last, marathon weekend in NYC was definitely warm. 2 yrs. ago I rode the press truck wearing a T-shirt, and was comfortable (it was overcast and foggy before the start, then the sun burned off and the temps rose & it was humid). The 2 yrs, prior I went for a run in CP before heading to the press room and both times came back sweaty after 30 min.
Given that, organizers (and athletes) not doubt felt it was better to err on the side of cooler temps. And is 7:35 that much bigger a deal than 8, when Chi. or most marathons start?
Logistically, it may be a pain in the butt for those not in NYC, but I've talked to at least a dozen people who are driving in or taking an early train to see the race from the start.
malmo wrote:
d2xccoach wrote:malmo - I think the point of the original poster is that one of the stated benefits to having the trials in NYC-and 6 months earlier than usual on NYC Marathon weekend-was that it would draw a much larger number of spectators than Birmingham or NC or Pittsburgh did for prior OT's.
Don't you worry, Mary Wittenberg has promised 200,000 spectators.
What's the total membership of the NYCRR's? Is there mandatory attendence for members.
I live in the pacific time zone. I was glad that Boston started no earlier than 10am (although I preferred noon) because that was 7am my time. According to RW, 41 of the guys in the OT are from pacific time zone (32 CA, 7 OR, 1 WA, 1 NV) so that's like a 4:30am start for 41 of the runners unless they have arrived in EST early enough to adjust.
Too bad the trials aren't on Sunday so everyone could benefit from the hour bump from DST.
wish I was in New York wrote:
Too bad the trials aren't on Sunday so everyone could benefit from the hour bump from DST.
That would have been a mess. Don't let Elaine do the wake up calls. Remember Jean-Paul?
I have run a number of marathons and would have to say 7:30 isn't preferential for optimal performance. To do it right that would require waking up to get your last caloric boost somewhere around 4:30 which means interupting sleeping patterns, etc...
This isn't a matter of whining, its a matter of maximizing performance. If this is what NYC Parks allows then there's nothing that can be done about it, but I can't imagine a single runner that wouldn't mind a slightly later start to allow for a more natural night's sleep with a reasonable chance to shake out and get loose.
I'm not a huge fan of NYC getting this bid in the first place but I do hope that it comes off well. The weather looks spectacular compared to recent OT's. Doubt the winner will be as fast as they predict on the predictions thread, but it will definitely be a fantastic race.
As regards peak performance, men and women have turned in sterling performances very early in the morning. I don't know the starting time of the Houston half-marathon where Hall broke the American record, but in watching the video it's clear that the runners are warming up before sunrise. However, it puzzles me how they do it. Forever I have been unable to run well, no matter how much earlier I get up to warm up and stretch, early in the morning. This makes me wonder if each of us doesn't have some sort of biological clock, which allows for some to be more favorably disposed than others to run well early in the morning. I seem to run best from about 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Before and after those times I'm not nearly as sharp. Perhaps it's a matter of habituation, but perhaps it's a matter of nature, also.
"interupting [sic] sleeping patterns" -- you are aware that these are professional athletes who have been told of the start time well in advance. do you actually believe that they will be staying up late the days leading up to the race so waking up early the day of the race will be a problem? if i can go to sleep early and wake up early the days leading up to a 7am ironman start that i am doing for kicks, i think that professional runners can figure out how to do the same thing for the oly trials.
We're talking about, well those in the mix at least, people who race all over the world at different times of the day/night...
NBC will get their ratings when all of you tune in early afternoon to watch the recap show, why chance even a 7AM west coast feed, plus 90% of the people out there want a 30min show anyway, this board makes up what 3% of the viewing populace?
Plenty of people from the city and surrounding areas will make it in, maybe not for the first lap,but throughout the race..
Actually both Olympic races in Beijing are scheduled to start at 7:30 AM local time
Women Sunday August 17
Men Sunday August 24
That will be 7:30 PM Eastern on Saturday August 16 and Saturday August 23 respectively.