Once In A (Marathon) Lifetime Conditions Forecast For Boston On Monday

long sox wrote:

I hope the women get the memo about the tail wind and don't jog the first 20 miles like some recent marathons.

FOR REAL. please let the leading pack of women all be under 2:20!

Do you think this could change strategy and let people take off solo in the front to let the wind hit them, rather than sitting in a pack?

Another dumb Q. Is it a slight advantage to the more hefty runners who have more surface to be pushed on by the wind?

[quote]platonicwabbits wrote:

A rabbit wouldn't feel the affect of the wind if someone's tucked behind.

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quote]

Good lord there are some seriously stupid mofo's on this board.

platonicwabbits wrote:

Another dumb Q. Is it a slight advantage to the more hefty runners who have more surface to be pushed on by the wind?

Yeah....it's almost a lock that a fat f***er wins the race.

20 miles per hour = 8.9 meters per second. Did you ever run with a 9mps wind behind you? Is sub 2 hour marathon possible on Monday?

calling it 2:04:20 wrote:

if you are slow enough 20mph wind will feel like someone gently pushing on your back.

If you are running less than 20 mph (i.e. every athlete who races longer than 400m) then it will feel like someone pushing at your back.

with that wind, why not go out hard the first 100, 200 and 400, and maybe add some more world bests? flojo had nothing like this.

The really fun part will be reading people bashing Hall (and God) for him "only" running 2:04:xx in a wind-aided race.

according to the runworks.com calculator, a 2:00:00 marathon with a 20mph tailwind is equivalent to 2:11:00. not sure I believe that though haha

Note that the wind speeds are for a height 10m (33 feet) above ground level, so it will not be that fast on the ground running through the city. Still, with low temps as well, this could be a roaring race and ... hope your quads hold out.

platonicwabbits wrote:

A rabbit wouldn't feel the affect of the wind if someone's tucked behind.

Brian Wave wrote:

Good lord there are some seriously stupid mofo's on this board.

This is interesting. Do you think he's stupid because what he said is obvious, or because what he said is wrong? Answer carefully, or you could be considered a very stupid mofo.

Actually, this tailwind is probably a gift from God to both Hall & Goucher.

With the tailwind, they will run a decent time (which they wouldn't have without the wind). This will allow them to appear relevant again (at least to their fans/sponsors) and ride their endorsement gravy trains a bit longer.

fuser wrote:

calling it 2:04:20 wrote:

if you are slow enough 20mph wind will feel like someone gently pushing on your back.

If you are running less than 20 mph (i.e. every athlete who races longer than 400m) then it will feel like someone pushing at your back.

That's preposterous. You don't "feel" a 1mph wind. It has to be significant for you to feel like it's actually pushing you. Otherwise, it's just swishing air.

dukerdog wrote:

platonicwabbits wrote:

A rabbit wouldn't feel the affect of the wind if someone's tucked behind.

Brian Wave wrote:

Good lord there are some seriously stupid mofo's on this board.

This is interesting. Do you think he's stupid because what he said is obvious, or because what he said is wrong? Answer carefully, or you could be considered a very stupid mofo.

Because what he said is wrong. With a few people behind you, you don't just stop feeling the wind. It swishes through the people and turns inward as soon as it passes anything. Beside, there is also a slight advantage to having someone behind you because it helps the air in front of them move forward faster than if there were nobody there. Also, he will at least not feel the effect of wind blowing in his face.

The record restgrictions are stupid. In no other sport do they restrict records.

Why doesn't baseball ban Homeruns at altitude or in stadiums with shorter fences than the bigger parks?

Boston SHOULD be record eligible.

platonicwabbits wrote:

Another dumb Q. Is it a slight advantage to the more hefty runners who have more surface to be pushed on by the wind?

Just a small point, but the increased surface area doesn't make up for the fact that they are heavier, they catch a bit more wind, but it pushes them less "hard" per unit area, they end up getting less benefit from a tailwind (although they also get less detriment from headwinds, so...)

runn wrote:

The record restgrictions are stupid. In no other sport do they restrict records.

Why doesn't baseball ban Homeruns at altitude or in stadiums with shorter fences than the bigger parks?

Boston SHOULD be record eligible.

tradition. and yes, records ARE restricted in other sports -- swimming??

a home run is not necessarily defined by a ball traveling outside the stadium...a batter just has to get around the bases.

also the benefits to sluggers at high altitude is offset by the benefit to pitchers (balls travel faster).

I think you mean per unit mass, it will be the same per unit area but the heavier runner has more mass per unit area, and will thus have less wind per unit mass. This is why heavier guys can descend faster on a bike all other factors held equal.

The idea of "stealing" somebody's tailwind is a bit complicated I think. I don't think there would be a noticeable effect if it's just a couple leaders running in line. I think their collective surface areas would be too small and their distance apart too great (you don't run 1 foot behind somebody, there is a decent gap even if you're right on their heels) to have a noticeable effect.

But if we're talking about a big pack, I think there would be a noticeable loss of benefit compared to somebody running in the unobstructed wind. A good size pack would have enough resistance to divert some of the ground level flow over top of them. They would still benefit from decreased resistance to their forward motion due to the turbulent flow created by the wind going over them, but it wouldn't be as good as being directly pushed by a wind going faster than them.

Maybe we should run some CFD.