The Myth of the Mark Allen Sub 2:20?

Very good. That's what I thought. A 2;40 kicker's duel at Ironman is super, but no verifiable results under that. I wonder how these rumors get started.

You forgot about Jason Rexing. He is not only the world greatest triathlete but also a 1:58 marathoner...in trainers of course.

It's not always the case that a triathlete can run much faster than they are going in any given triathlon. I was very successful at triathlon, and ran within 40 seconds of my 10k road pr, for example, at the end of an Olympic distance tri. My 10k road pr was set when I was concentrating soley on running, so to come so close at 1/2 the running mileage after a 1500m swim and 26 mile bike shocked the hell out of me. Yes, the course was legit.

I think Allen could have easily gotten to the 2:30's just running the 'thon, beyond that is pure speculation.

Sure would be interesting to know what Mark's perceived effort or intensity was for the 2nd half of that marathon. I suspect as was said above, he was dialed in enough to be able to run that pace well below "hard" effort. He prob had done it in smaller amounts in training many times and knew going in that if Dave wanted to take him he would have to go under 2;40 to do it. Mark was very smart about the Kona event and learned what it took to win. 'Course he always said later in life that Dave pushed him to new heights that day. for all I know they were both maxxed out!!

Mark Allen was a blatant doper.

I Don't think Mark Allen used performance enhancing drugs. He was/is a very spiritual person. I heard that before his 4-6 month training for an Ironman he would fast for three days in the desert with Indians. This would allow him to contact his soul or something like that. He may have smoked some opium.

d2xccoach wrote:

Anyone else have any verifiable marathon times for people from other sports?

Ryan Bolton (USA Triathlon Olympian in 2000) ran 2:26 at the 2001 Desert Classic Marathon in Scottsdale. He ran 2:49 later that year in Ironman Lake Placid.

How about:

2:23:15 Jamey Yon Motorola Austin 20-Feb-2000

who also posted a 2nd place (8:56:34)at IM Lake Placid in 2001...

I know of Jérôme Chiotti, french cyclist from the EPO era who ran a 2h28' marathon last year at 43.

Mark Sisson ran 2:18, but that might have been before he did triathlons.

Bottom line is that MAFFETONE seems to not actually work very well for anything more than a brisk jog.

I really didn't know this before but Maff disciples really make that method seem like a cult.

Hey man, I've been doing Maff for 6 years and dropped my training pace from 10:30 to 8:47. It works man.

He said that over a ten year period of hr-based training, he got to the point where he'd be able to run 5:20 pace at sub 150 hr on tempos, and at that point each year he'd end his base period of running and focus on other kinds of workouts, but this certainly indicates the ability to run somewhere in the 2:20s. Triathletes are special because they are able in the course of three events, two of which are often in very difficult conditions, to perform very close to one off races in good conditions.

jjjjjj wrote:

He said that over a ten year period of hr-based training, he got to the point where he'd be able to run 5:20 pace at sub 150 hr on tempos, and at that point each year he'd end his base period of running and focus on other kinds of workouts, but this certainly indicates the ability to run somewhere in the 2:20s. Triathletes are special because they are able in the course of three events, two of which are often in very difficult conditions, to perform very close to one off races in good conditions.

Yes, he could for 15 miles. It was the next 11 that was the problem.

jjjjjj wrote:

He said that over a ten year period of hr-based training, he got to the point where he'd be able to run 5:20 pace at sub 150 hr on tempos, and at that point each year he'd end his base period of running and focus on other kinds of workouts, but this certainly indicates the ability to run somewhere in the 2:20s. Triathletes are special because they are able in the course of three events, two of which are often in very difficult conditions, to perform very close to one off races in good conditions.

It indicates ability but apparently it's not good specific training.

The method seems to not focus on the big picture.

CO-Runner wrote:

Around the time of the urban legend, Allen was in really good shape. I recall seeing him at the Kickoff Classic in Boulder ... I thought to myself "I'm going to get to kick Mark Allen's triathlete ass" he ran ~14:50 ... I didn't. heehee ;-)

Even in 2004 there were too many hobby joggers on letsrun.

GOHoos wrote:

Sure would be interesting to know what Mark's perceived effort or intensity was for the 2nd half of that marathon. I suspect as was said above, he was dialed in enough to be able to run that pace well below "hard" effort. He prob had done it in smaller amounts in training many times and knew going in that if Dave wanted to take him he would have to go under 2;40 to do it. Mark was very smart about the Kona event and learned what it took to win. 'Course he always said later in life that Dave pushed him to new heights that day. for all I know they were both maxxed out!!

I heard Dave Scott give a speech at a tri pre-race feed. Very entertaining. Two races he talked about still stick with me. First, one year Scott's race tactic against Allen was to position himself on the inside going into every aid station. Theory was that Allen would have to disrupt his rhythm to either go ahead to get to the table or fall back to get aid. Second, I think this was the year Allen finally beat Scott, late in the race, they were working hard to the finish and were approaching a production van that was on the course. Scott went one way around the van and Allen went the other. Scott said when he got around the van, Allen had made a big move and gapped Scott and worked it home for the win.

2:20 is expected, but 29:59 surprises me, if it was off tri training.