Name the top 10 US marathoners right now?

Earl wrote:

2:16:20 is equal to a 29:03 10k which is roughly the 50th fastest time by a US runner this year. How can only 11 guys in the entire country have run an equivalent marathon time?

I thought the marathon was the glamor event? Does running a good marathon only matter to the top few guys?

Are those times really equal, though? I imagine the guys running 29:03 did that in time trial type efforts at Stanford, Mt. SAC, etc. Does the marathon, even on fast courses, provide that same chance for running an equivalent time? That is, in reality has 29:03 been proven to equal 2:16:20 in the past?

I'm just curious. Not saying you're wrong.

I think you're onto something here... I always thought it more appropriate to look at road performances. My guess is that 29:03 ROAD 10K is generally equivalent to a 2:16ish marathon, or at least the numbers seem to line up better. Does anybody know how many guys ran say under 29:10 on the roads last year?

[quote]blackcactusrules wrote:

ABDI was ahead of both Rohatinsky and Lehmkuhle in NYC last year: 2:14:17. He should be 5th on your list.

How did I miss that Wow, Thanks!

2:06:17 ( 5) Ryan Hall (CA/USA) 14 Oct 1982 13 Apr 2008 London ENG

2:09:21 ( 9) Mebrahtom Keflezighi (CA) 05 May 1975 26 Apr 2009 London ENG

2:10:00 (11) Dathan Ritzenhein (OR) 30 Dec 1982 26 Apr 2009 London ENG

2:13:53.6 (13) Justin Young (CO/USA) 25 Jul 1979 13 Apr 2008 Rotterdam NED

2:14:17 a ( 6) Abdihakim Abdirahman (AZ/USA) 01 Jan 1977 02 Nov 2008 New York NY USA

2:14:23 a ( 7) Joshua Rohatinsky (UT/USA) 07 Mar 1982 02 Nov 2008 New York NY USA

2:14:30 a ( 8) Jason Lehmkuhle (MN/USA) 04 Oct 1977 02 Nov 2008 New York NY USA

2:15:13 a ( 1) Christopher Raabe (DC) 16 Nov 1978 20 Jun 2009 Duluth MN USA

2:15:36 ( 2) Matthew Downin (WI/USA) 10 Feb 1977 16 Nov 2008 San Antonio TX USA

2:16:07 (22) Brian Sell (MI/USA) 11 Apr 1978 24 Aug 2008 Beijing CHN

2:16:13 a (10) Nicholas Arciniaga (MI/USA) 30 Jun 1983 21 Apr 2008 Boston MA USA 10

2:16:20 ( 6) Michael Reneau (WI/USA) 07 Apr 1978 12 Oct 2008 Chicago IL USA

Thats the top 12 times from 2008-9

Fixed

I still think that Josh Cox should be on that list. Atleast deserves to be mentioned as one of our best.

But the question is who is right now. He would have to run a good marathon to be on the list. His 50k was impressive....

His marathon split of 2:20:32 was his best time in the last two years and good for ninth place overall. His final lap on the track was clocked at 71 seconds.

But 50k vs 42.2 would not equal to a 5 min improvement in pace imho.

Josh Cox is the same age as Clint Verran and never beat Clint at any distance in his career. They have run head to head 13 times--4 times at the marathon distance including the Olympic Trials in 2000, 2004, and 2007. I do not think that Clint currently belongs on the list but he has always been better than Josh Cox.

[quote]Earl wrote:

It's a pretty bad year as far a depth. We've had 49 guys run sub 29 10k's on the track this year and only 14 under 2:20. Heck, Josh Cox is 15th on the US list and he did it en-route to his 50k.

Many years ago there was a guy from San Diego who was one of the better, but definitely not the best, runners from the area. While in college at UCLA he ran 28:53 on the track and 2:14 in the marathon. At the time his marathon time wasn't seen as an exceptional performance. It was a very good performance but right in line with his 10k time. If he was running in 2009 his 10k time would rank 35th on the US list but his marathon time would put him 4th!

McCormack?

Didn't Bolota Asmerom run a marathon last year? Id imagine he'd be up on that list.