Did Galen win because he dropped his hat?

I saw Galen's hat on a werewolf drinking a pina colada in Trader Vic's.

His hair was perfect.

Honestly I don't understand how you can run with a hat in the heat. Much better option to use one of these visor hats that triathletes use. Lets you look like a tool, though.

I heard the Hat is getting its own feature on Flotrack

Galen's hat doesn't even have its own twitter account. Small potatoes. The mask still rules.

https://twitter.com/themaskofgalen

The hat wrote:

Notice he lost his hat around the time he broke from Meb. Do you think it was weighing him down?

What if Meb threw his hat away at that point? could he have kept pace?

I know that the majority of you guys are too young, but I remember from the films (yes, I said films...) during the early part of my running career which were featuring Jim Ryan... that the great Kenyan middle distance runner, Kip Keino, often would wear a cap during a race and then toss it off or up in the air... just before he started his big finishing sprint. He did this for a year or two in the 1960's... either before or after his 1500 gold in Mexico City....and I may have even seen it in an indoor race in America... which is really strange... why wear a cap indoors?

But, if he was superstitious or just wanted to keep reinforcing his "trademark" or "brand" then it would make some sense. Maybe some of you computer geeks/nerds out there can look this up on YouTube or somewhere on the internet to confirm that what I remember/say is the truth!

It seemed to me that Galen took off his cap shortly before he made his move against Meb (right before/after 22 miles?) and he did it for a reason. However, I do agree with some earlier writers.... I think it was a mistake from that far out and I would have waited to discard the cap until only 2 miles to go if I didn't want to wear it all the way in to the finish. His face did get red over that final 4 miles... but it could have been from the Viagra/Cialis that Coach Salazar recommends for maximum performance!

P.S. I believe Meb did the correct thing keeping it on to the finish... and that Dathan did the wrong thing.... only wearing a visor when he has thinning hair! Not sure that is what caused his leg cramps, though! The ventilated material caps nowadays allow plenty of room for the top of the head to breath during really hot days.

Craig Virgin wrote:

His face did get red over that final 4 miles... but it could have been from the Viagra/Cialis that Coach Salazar recommends for maximum performance!

LOL!

jenapharm wrote:

He didn't only drop the hat he dropped the hammer at that point and killed off the old man

No.

It was obvious Meb chose to run in on even pace, protecting his spot rather than pointlessly and immaturely risking heat exhaustion. This is why Meb was chilling at the press conference while Rupp was barely recovered enough (puking?) to get in front of the cameras.

Rupp showed his inexperience, while Meb showed he had his eye on the long game.

Am I on a site of gossipy women?

so many titles to be hanging out on LetsRun shit. Need attention much?

"In Tokyo he purchased an orange baseball cap that was to become his trademark. He would throw it off in races when he felt he had won. Ron Clarke, who would race him many times in the coming years, wrote about this: “One of the strange sidelights to Kipchoge…was his flamboyance, which somehow seems a little out of character. He warmed up in a blood-red tracksuit and ran in an orange jockey cap, which he dramatically discarded when he made his final burst for the tape.” (The Unforgiving Minute, p. 169)"

It was obvious Meb chose to run in on even pace, protecting his spot rather than pointlessly and immaturely risking heat exhaustion. This is why Meb was chilling at the press conference while Rupp was barely recovered enough (puking?) to get in front of the cameras.

Rupp showed his inexperience, while Meb showed he had his eye on the long game.

You're probably right, but I'd willing to puke a bit to guarantee the $15,000 difference between what he earned and what Meb earned. Neither of them is likely to medal in the Olympic marathon, and they'll both get piles of sponsorship deals for their appearance there.

No. The Galen did not win because he took off his hat. He won because Meb stepped on that crack at mile 18 and could not help worrying that he broke his mamma's back. The obsessive compulsive thoughts became so pervasive that he did not notice Galen take the lead until it was too late.

He suffered wrote:

Hat observer wrote:

I felt that taking his hat off was a mistake.

He looked face-fired at the end--.

Face-fired. is that a commonly used expression

There are all sorts of weird expressions on here you never see or hear anywhere else

Who knew that Galen's hat strategy would pay off six months later.