NYC RITZ IS OUT :(

Ritz led but wasn't exactly "hammering" the first few miles.

Look at his splits. He was fine and then suddenly he wasn't and he dropped. It sounds like an injury. Most people that blow up suffer for a few miles before dropping out. That wasn't what happened here. He had one bad mile and was out.

No, don't leave this guy alone.

He is a professional athlete, like cam newton or Odell Beckham.

Hold him accountable.

He talked big pre race and dropped out.

He is an athlete at the very end of his career, who line Johnny Unitas, hung around too long.

Looks like Vail DNFd too. Bummer. Why are these guys loathe to stick to shorter distances?

early bird. wrote:

Just remember folks, the 2nd mouse gets the cheese.

Hadn't heard that one before. Haha Perfect!

redux wrote:

Looks like Vail DNFd too. Bummer. Why are these guys loathe to stick to shorter distances?

Money.

The Obvious Answer wrote:

DN Galen wrote:

You're the classic fair weather fan. You're "infuriated", yet you don't know what his race plan was today, his training leading up to the event, or even how he has looked/ran his tune up race? C'mon, man.

This makes no sense. I think you are being over emotional.

Unless you really think his race plan was to hammer the first few miles then DNF. In which case, yeah, he executed it to perfection.

Hammer?1!!! are you saying what he was running was hammering???? lol what do you call what the guy did who won did running 4:35 and 4:25 miles in the later stages....as?

smile wrote:

redux wrote:

Looks like Vail DNFd too. Bummer. Why are these guys loathe to stick to shorter distances?

Money.

But if he focused on shorter distances he could race so much more often. Marathon's clearly not his best distance, not by a long shot

So he's focusing on a distance he clearly cannot handle with regards to cashing big checks? Seems like a desire to make money would push a person to focus on the endeavor where they are most likely to succeed, not where they regularly fail.

bigtool05 wrote:

smile wrote:

Money.

But if he focused on shorter distances he could race so much more often. Marathon's clearly not his best distance, not by a long shot

Flat Outing wrote:

No, don't leave this guy alone.

He is a professional athlete, like cam newton or Odell Beckham.

Hold him accountable.

He talked big pre race and dropped out.

He is an athlete at the very end of his career, who line Johnny Unitas, hung around too long.

You should spend more time focusing on yourself, since you seem to have all the answers.

ffs wrote:

The Obvious Answer wrote:

This makes no sense. I think you are being over emotional.

Unless you really think his race plan was to hammer the first few miles then DNF. In which case, yeah, he executed it to perfection.

Hammer?1!!! are you saying what he was running was hammering???? lol what do you call what the guy did who won did running 4:35 and 4:25 miles in the later stages....as?

That would be dropping the hammer. You can go faster when not carrying heavy tools.

I watched the race later on YouTube. I was thinking as he came storming down the V Bridge that he was running like Ryan Hall in Boston. What's the point of charging out in the early miles? One needs to stay relaxed for as long as possible in the marathon and he looked like he was working way to hard.

And I noticed that before he dropped out due to injury that he was passed by 3 other Americans.

Bummer if he is injured. But, I think he was really starting to fade.

I disagree with that assesment. In the latter stages he looked to be in some discomfort. There is no way that he would fade that early based on how he's been running recently. He's one of the best US runners ever, so everybody should cut him a break.

It was almost as bad as watching Ryan Hall crash and burn in LA Marathon.

Perspective wrote:

I disagree with that assesment. In the latter stages he looked to be in some discomfort. There is no way that he would fade that early based on how he's been running recently. He's one of the best US runners ever, so everybody should cut him a break.

How Ritz runs in one race has little bearing on his next race. He randomly cramped up just 9 miles into the trials.

DN Galen wrote:

GoldenMiles wrote:

You're right, I didn't see the Great North race.

And yeah, if he ran well, why wouldn't I praise him?

You're the classic fair weather fan. You're "infuriated", yet you don't know what his race plan was today, his training leading up to the event, or even how he has looked/ran his tune up race? C'mon, man.

Hey, I'm not saying I'm the most avid fan of the sport. I wouldn't lie and say I was. I don't hate Ritz, of course, but you have to see how it's still frustrating to see this.

20 Second PR wrote:

Ritz led but wasn't exactly "hammering" the first few miles.

Look at his splits. He was fine and then suddenly he wasn't and he dropped. It sounds like an injury. Most people that blow up suffer for a few miles before dropping out. That wasn't what happened here. He had one bad mile and was out.

Heel injury.

DN Galen wrote:

20 Second PR wrote:

Ritz led but wasn't exactly "hammering" the first few miles.

Look at his splits. He was fine and then suddenly he wasn't and he dropped. It sounds like an injury. Most people that blow up suffer for a few miles before dropping out. That wasn't what happened here. He had one bad mile and was out.

Heel injury.

He was hobbling around at the post-race dinner with his family last night, clearly injured. But he had his head up and didn't seem to be wallowing in misery about it. Good for him. I hope he recovers and has some left in his tank.

He should come back next year and rode whore and clean up the 10mile to half road races for a couple years and retire on an upswing

People are saying he got injured and therefore his dumb early race strategy of running 10 meters in front of the pack is unrelated and therefore not a bad strategy. But who on Earth really suggests that approach? It's totally arrogant and begging to be torn apart when it invariably doesn't work. He knows he's got a slim chance of winning and yet he pushes it like Steve Ovett in the home stretch. And when you don't play it safe, the likelihood of something happening increases however slightly. What the hell is with these American runners every year that they think it's their race to lose? Shalane did this twice and you just watch open mouthed and wonder if you're in bizarro world. Honest question: are they incentivized for the TV time? You are left to think there must be some ulterior motive.