Scott Fauble First American thread

Forget the "all due respect" niceties, but olyrun3 is otherwise right on the money. NOBODY HAS THE SLIGHTEST IDEA WHAT FAUBLE'S CONTRACT IS, so any speculation whatsoever is a joke...and a bad one. Whoop-de-do makes it sound like Fauble also receives a partridge in a pear tree from Nike.

In what world would anyone think him capable of running 2:08 anywhere, let alone NYC?

It is proof that his training has not made him better.

Gear only contract, same as Nell Rojas.

Agree. $40k max from Nike base salary.

Nell I’m guessing $24,000 base. She signed with Adidas for more, then paid them back to get out of her contract, stating she wanted to run in Nike and she has family support. I think Nike sees some promise in her and her ability to market herself. She’s very personable, unlike Fauble who is not.

The world where he ran 2:08:52 at Boston in the spring.

#1- Don't understand the hate on this thread -- why do we destroy good runners on here? Fauble ran a solid race & was the 1st American. He frequents the top-10 at the majors he runs. Everyone needs to stop acting like that's a bad thing with how stacked fields are these days.

#2- & is this a knock on the state of US marathon running in 2022 when EK is the GOAT & so far ahead of everyone else. The US men have done reasonably well at the Olympics & the women have done better. Yes, we're behind Kenya + Ethiopia but we're right there with everyone else.

It would be great if an American was first overall for US races. Boston, Chicago, and NYC should have US winners for both (all 3?) genders more often then not.

Bitter peanut gallery finds a way to pick every American runner apart. Rupp podiums but he's an alleged cheater and hermit. Seidel podiums but she's a woman and she tweets. Fauble is clean and consistent, but he's got a dry sense of humor and plays it too conservative in races.

That’s lame, an extension of the every kid gets a medal attitude. These are pros competing in global events. Should we not expect the American men and women to run just as fast as anybody else and compete to win? The whole “who will be the top American in this race conversation” is disheartening and I think it’s reasonable to expect more then consistently makes the top 10 in a water downed field. Can you imagine having that attitude in the sprints? Yes, it was awesome when Seidel or Rupp podiumed, but this should be the expectation and not a rarity. Fisher joked that it was only near the end of the season that any of the East Africans racing the 5/10 even bothered to know his name. That’s gotta change.

Knocking Fauble for being top American is strange. It’s not his fault every other American fell apart. The race was hyped as the deepest American field ever. Korir has run 2:07 and finished 3rd American. Shadrack Kipchirchir, a 27:07 10k guy, ran 2:28!!! Rupp DNF. Martin Hehir 2:35.

Fauble did what he does…Ran a race that ensured he wouldn’t blow up and he can walk away happy and with $$. It’s more the other Americans were a disaster. Mentioning his time as a disappointment is a joke…this race, with the weather was clearly 5-6+ min slower than a fast course on a nice day. Just go through PBs of the top finishers.

I'm sure everyone here knows this- the base is really on a part of the contract. I know someone who recently signed a pro contract and there's a base, living stipend, time and place bonuses worked into his contract then when he races there's appearance and prize money and some races have time bonuses.

I seems that runners can make a little bit of money from many sources.

But imagine the prize money (amount and depth) if a bigger field of elite showed up.

Take a tennis major- everyone is there. They're not split between 4-5 majors like marathoning.

I’m not knocking Fauble at all. He’s a guy maximizing his talent. As you point out, he’s smart and consistent. I’m knocking the state of US marathon racing at the elite pro level. If your satisfied with it, good for you. Yes, I’m just a fan and hobby jogger, but think we should expect better across the board, tough not necessarily from Fauble.

Indeed. The haters find it easier to ignore the nature of the NYC course and the heat on the day. He finished 5 mins behind one of the best/fastest ever - I'm not American so I won't assess what that result's worth to American fans/athletes. It seems a comparable run to his PB though.

When US marathoners were among the best in the world our best distance runners were running the event. In '72 Shorter, Moore, and Bacheler were all international class distance runners. In '76 Shorter was there again and Don Kardong had been a solid 5,000 guy. Rodgers was never much for the track but Bill Squires always said he could have been one of the best if he'd taken track seriously. Getting third in World Cross Country supports that argument. Salazar, Craig Virgin, both international class track runners. Greg Meyer was a sub 4:00 miler.

By 1990 we'd gotten away from having our best guys run the marathon and we reverted to the pre 70s where the best guys stayed on the track and either ignored the marathon or maybe ran it as a "back up" event to be sure they made an Olympic team, e.g. George Young in '68. If someone is unhappy with how US marathon runners are placing in big events it's useless to criticize guys like Fauble, Albertson, Hehir, etc., etc., etc., who are guys making the most of the abilities they have. If you want competitive US marathon runners in big events you need to get guys like Fisher, Kinkaid, Klecker, etc., running marathons seriously. It's what happens in Japan, nearly any young runner who shows potential begins training for marathons. That's a big part of why their track times aren't as good as ours. We did it with Galen Rupp. It seems unlikely to happen here now because economically guys like Fisher are probably better off on the track.

At one time I was a fan of Fauble. Not anymore and I am not sure why.

Nothing I saw today improves Fauble's chances at the Olympic team. There are always surprises at the Trials - how many people picked 43 year-old Abdi and the other random guy (from Boulder?) to make the team in 2020? Answer: Zero.

I still think Rupp figures it out (an 80% Rupp jogs 2:09 and makes the team), then insert two randoms out of a pool of 30 and you have your team. Mantz would probably be the the second favorite but the guy has ran one marathon, so he goes into the pool of 30 with everyone else.