So what's next for Rupp

I predict he'll do either Boston+Berlin or London+NYC. That would make a lot of sense to me, one fast race plus one US race.

itdepends wrote:

I didn't see a full prize breakdown, but given what this article shows, it would appear Boston has much more money on the table.

http://www.cityam.com/239310/london-marathon-2017-how-does-prize-money-registration-fees-and-finishers-compared-to-new-york-boston-berlin-chicago-and-tokyo

That said, Rupp should not run Boston in 2018. I do think he has a shot at winning it sometime, but let's get in some races that go after the big competition AND times (London, Berlin, etc.).

From there, the calculations become a bit murky. All of the major marathons attract top talent with appearance fees, which range from a couple of thousand for a 2:15 runner to hundreds of thousands for international stars like Haile Gebrselassie or the late Sammy Wanjiru. But the fees are confidential and vary widely, both from runner to runner and race to race. London, for example, seems to have a bigger appearance-fee budget than Boston and has paid upward of $250,000 for the biggest names. So has New York.

London paid a 1 million British Pound appearance fee to Mo Farah.

Good call on the appearance fees.

I also found that London has some insane time bonuses. Those are not factored into the prize money calculations. Boston offers a 50k bonus for a WR and a 25k bonus for CR.

But London starts offering time bonuses of 1k to any men under 2:11 (women 2:28). And it goes all the way down to sub 2:05/2:18 and you get an additional 100k. That was according to the 2016 marathon, couldn't find anything more than that.

Anyways, the money is interesting, and murky, and I don't want to derail that thread with that. Rupp is most likely doing well and money should not really be a factor in his choices.

I think he should go for a fast spring race and that will leave his options open for another fast fall race or something All 'Merican like NYC.

Universal Stud wrote:

London paid a 1 million British Pound appearance fee to Mo Farah.

Galen's not pulling Mo "Darling" Farah appearance money. If he does, I hope the organizers get more for their money than watching a phalanx of bored pacers tow a 2:08 or whatever he ran.

Rumor is they are going to move the date of this years London Marathon due to preparations for the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and his fiancee.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

No one wants to see Rupp run 2:09 again, so he should not do boston. That would be 5 slow marathons in row : Olympic trials, Olympics, Boston, Chicago, Boston.

If he does not do London, he will be scrutinized for it, because it is time to do London. It is time to do a marathon with pacers, to see if he can keep up.

Because his teammate, Jordan Hasay, will definitely do London. She is ready. 2:20? If something were to happen to Mary or Dibaba, Jordan would have a big shot at winning the whole thing.

If he does not do London, he is chickens h i t. No doubt about it.

I hope Jordan and Galen both run London. However Salazar has ties to Boston, growing up there and of course winning there, so that may sway the decision as well as the appearance fee they would get at Boston.

If they do Boston, then they have to take a crack at a fast one in Berlin hopefully, but again.........NYC appearance money could sway the decision and be a major factor.

They both have 2018 and 2019 to chase a fast time. 2020 will be all about the trials and the Games.

If Jordan wants a sub 2:20 and Galen wants wants a sub 2:06, better strike while the iron is hot but we shall see.

Here is what Rupp needs to do:

Enter the London Marathon. Hire his own rabbits to pace him to 30K (or longer if possible) at exactly 2:05:30 pace. Completely ignore everyone else in the race. If he hangs on and runs 2:05:30, then great, he gets the AR. Plus, looking at the last few years, 2:05:30 gets you on the podium since everyone except one or two blows up and runs 2:06+. In fact, running an even 2:05:30 would have won the whole thing in 2013 and 2017 since everyone blew up those years.

Even if he blows up a little, he should still be able to hold on to get a PR in 2:07ish. Then he can say at least I tried then go back to crushing the USA marathons.

Rupp vs. Farah at London will draw a lot of attention in the running world.

Someone REALLY fast should, at some point during the race, run behind Rupp and Farah dressed as a syringe with a "NOP" sign.

Rupp will run Boston. It will be 80+ degrees and he will win in 2:12.