To the male pro-marathoners who can't run faster than 2:06:38, please turn in your pro card.

He's British athlete who cycles - more likely than not to be a doper. Doping Africans have also raised the bar to an unrealistic level.

One could also argue, that everyone back then, ran on shoes with no springboard.

And most without significant financial support.

what about the chick that ran 2:09 thon? Imagine being a pro soccer player and losing agaisnt the womens team.

yes. Arguably noone above 13 qualifies as a "pro." If it was an ekiden type thing where a team would have 13:10 guys helping win big $$$, that would be pro. But there's nothing like that outside Japan.

The only pros are the ones who win the big $$$ and get the good sponsorships.

2:06 is equivalent to a 1:46 800m, sub elite but definitely not a pro.

ya, quit,but on the way out , win a couple of boston marathons, and then shoot yourself.

not sure if anybody said this yet but maybe youre looking at it from the wrong angle. maybe he's so fast BECAUSE he does a lot of cycling and swimming in addition to the running. aerobically you can become super strong doing say 5-6 hours of cardio every day compared to 2-3.

Craig Mottram started off in triathlons.

1) Yee primarily trained 1 discipline all fall to set up fast cracks @ the half/full

2) Yee has a strong running background that never went away

3) There is no such thing as a pro card in running

4) Yee ran the #2 UK marathon time, slim pickings if that eliminates everyone who isn't up to par with him & Farah

But that isn't the way it is. That's shown by the current professional scene. Maybe you misunderstand what it is to be a professional. There are no set "professional" times. It's a mixture of performance and value to the brand.

You should rephrase your post to be a little more accurate.

The first prize money I won on the track was for a 3rd place relay finish in China in the early 1990s. I think my share was about $6, paid in cash, which at the time was not negotiable for foreigners. That's how I popped my amateur cherry.

Funny, I can remember when Belayneh Dinsamo ran the first sub-2:07 in history back in 1988. Basically when I first started running. That time seemed other-worldly back then. And New Balance was offering $1 million to an American male who could break the course eligible AR, which was 2:09-something back then.

Of course, he didn’t have the super shoes just like Steve Jones and Carlos Lopes didn’t have them.

Such a weird distinction. You can win lots of small purse prize money over the years and still not be a pro.

Prize for most stupid post in a pointless thread.

Most people in T&F living off the sport are barely getting by.

Probably same for many many other kinds of sport.

The notion that "pro" is dependent on a particular performance limit shows lack of understanding.

That's like saying as an MLB pitcher who can't be under a 3.0 ERA they shouldn't be a professional baseball player since Shohei Ohtani is a power hitter who can average 3.0 ERA for his career.

But you're a professional baseball player because you are paid to play baseball, not because you're better than some arbitrary threshold amongst MLB players.

Imagine if MLB players weren't paid unless they made an all-star team. Kind of like saying runners shouldn't get paid unless they're contending for olympic medals.

I am pro-marathon. I will let others chose for themselves.

Should be elite by time.

Pro by its pure meaning: Getting paid for running, then a lot of people at the olympics are not pros, even if they win a medal.

Pricemoney is soooo low, they all pay on top of it for living.

Some are lucky and get good sponsoringdeals, women mostly because of their looks. You know Alica Schmidt? Never won something and is by far not in the international class but one of the highest paid track and field athletes.

Then they are not pros, are they? Obviously you're not a pro if you're not getting paid enough.

You're a jerk though, if not a pro

The pros are the ones who are paid enough. There are some. They are nearly all faster than 2:06, and certainly all faster than 13:13. Seriously, why should a 13:10 5000 guy be paid a living wage for it? Noone knows or cares what they do

Your understanding what a pro is, is wrong. Pro in most sports doesnt mean: Get paid enough from pricemoney and so on.

Pro means: You are allowed/get invited and so on to the big events. Its everywhere the same: Triathlon, tennis, bodybuilding....

We have soft bones