Breaking: Galen Rupp WILL defend his Chicago Marathon title in 2018

I don't think all the wmm races should have pacers. Much better to have some without, either fixed or on a rotating basis. They could have extra incentive to do the non-paced one (either extra points and/or money) to prevent the top guys ebbing away.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Yes and no. Galen does win races, but Hall went for it. He went after the fast races and the fast times. That is his legend, same thing with Pre.

Galen does not have that kind of legacy. He is a winner, and he will have his history. There is no doubting that.

But Hall has a go for it legacy, and he wasn't afraid to go up against the east africans.

Since when does "Goes for it" have more value than "Wins it"?

Isn't the whole point of racing to win? And since when does Hall have more credit for "(going) up against the east africans"?

I seem to recall Rupp winning a 10,000 meter silver in London, a marathon bronze in Rio, a Chicago marathon and a Prague marathon. Each of those races involved more than beating a bunch of non-Africans.

Hall was inspiring, yes. But he never pulled off a big victory, sorry. Galen and Meb have done that, and Galen also now has a 2:06 low to his name.

I agree. He has to be careful not to burn himself out before the olympics 2020. Championship racing will get him the gold.

Good move.

He can shoot for the AR and win the race. If he went to Berlin and ran the AR, he would probably come in fifth. Rupp is also not ready to run a WR attempt race like London or Berlin. He has only run one all out fast marathon. NY is too slow to try to get the AR. Chicago will pay him a lot more than Berlin. Once he gets the AR, he can then take on Berlin or London and test his limits.

Barabbas wrote:

anacondarunner wrote:

This is disappointing, unless Chicago reintroduces pacers and he targets KK’s American record (I won’t hold my breath).

Would have much rather seen him face NYC’s deeper, better international field or go for a PR in Berlin. Chicago has become the weakest WMM by far since they eliminated rabbits.

+1

Chicago has gone the way of the Carlsbad 5000 -- RIP.

CHICAGO – The Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced today that defending champion

and three-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp and American marathon debut record-holder

Jordan Hasay will compete for top honors at the 41st annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon

on Sunday, October 7.

The chicago write-up says three-time Oly medalist?

Did I miss one somewhere?

Jersey City Resident wrote:

Doesn't anybody have an educated guess what type of appearance fee he is likely getting?

Three hundred bucks + a fifty dollar Eskimo Pie gift certificate

YourMom.Com wrote:

CHICAGO – The Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced today that defending champion

and three-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp and American marathon debut record-holder

Jordan Hasay will compete for top honors at the 41st annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon

on Sunday, October 7.

The chicago write-up says three-time Oly medalist?

Did I miss one somewhere?

Just checked the chicago website and they've already edited that statement to say three time olympian and later to say two time medalist.... just the pdf on the LR page is still wrong.

WHEW THANK GOODNESS NOW I CAN RELAX.

Carry on with your disparaging comments about terrible chicago only being an awesome combination of pacerless championship-style on a flat fast beautiful urban course full of energy.

macdaddy wrote:

Scorpion_runner wrote:

This is disappointing, and this is why he is still in the background of Hall.

LOL! Hall couldn't carry Rupp's gym bag.

Rupp wouldn't let ANYBODY carry his gym bag. They might sneak in some androgel into it

Scorpion_runner wrote:

This is disappointing, and this is why he is still in the background of Hall. Hall did London twice by the time he was 25!

And then after Chicago he will do Boston. That will be three straight years without running a major international marathon.

We need another quality american male marathoner ASAP, so that we can have someone who is willing to run some overseas

marathon majors.

He just came off running a 2:06 marathon, and instead of opting to run Berlin, he chooses to run Chicago? It will be another sit and kick fest, and it is not that there is anything wrong with that, but the conspiracy theory it going to start flying for sure.

Is Nike protecting this guy, and keeping him away from marathon races that they can't control like Tokyo, London and Berlin?

Chicago and Boston are literally Major marathons. Also, Nike has no control over the Boston field - it's an Adidas race.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

macdaddy wrote:

LOL! Hall couldn't carry Rupp's gym bag.

Yes and no. Galen does win races, but Hall went for it. He went after the fast races and the fast times. That is his legend, same thing with Pre.

Galen does not have that kind of legacy. He is a winner, and he will have his history. There is no doubting that.

But Hall has a go for it legacy, and he wasn't afraid to go up against the east africans.

Rupp does have a "go for it" attitude. It's just that he chooses to go for it at the end of the race instead of the beginning, like a smart person would.

He should run Berlin, because he would be able to draft off of a lot of people through 30k and then we'd see if he really could run 2:04 mid. Chicago without pacers and sometimes with hot weather is not a good bet but chosen for the $$.

go.rupp wrote:

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Yes and no. Galen does win races, but Hall went for it. He went after the fast races and the fast times. That is his legend, same thing with Pre.

Galen does not have that kind of legacy. He is a winner, and he will have his history. There is no doubting that.

But Hall has a go for it legacy, and he wasn't afraid to go up against the east africans.

Since when does "Goes for it" have more value than "Wins it"?.

Since Pre finished 4th.

Jersey City Resident wrote:

Doesn't anybody have an educated guess what type of appearance fee he is likely getting?

I checked a past thread on elite apearance fees can be just a plane ticket ect to up go 300,000. Im going to guess 50,000 to 100,000.

Aparently depending on yhe runner their debut marathon might be the most they make.

Anyone else?

Berlin is two weeks earlier this year which could be a real factor in terms of race conditions. It could be warmer than Chicago three weeks later.

I think Chicago is a good choice for Rupp; they just need to give him some pacers. If it’s just going to be “tactical”, then I’d rather see him run NYC.

Chicago is a great financial choice for Rupp. He probably is getting a nice appearance fee. He has a good chance to win or get Top 5 on a bad day, so he gets some more cash for that. If he wins this race, he gets a good start on the next series for the World Marathon Majors. Maybe his contract has some bonuses for performance in the WMM and he has a better chance of getting those bonuses at Chicago.

And maybe they will even have pacers this year so Rupp can satisfy the desires of all the fanboys and run a fast time.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

This is disappointing, and this is why he is still in the background of Hall. Hall did London twice by the time he was 25!

And then after Chicago he will do Boston. That will be three straight years without running a major international marathon.

We need another quality american male marathoner ASAP, so that we can have someone who is willing to run some overseas

marathon majors.

He just came off running a 2:06 marathon, and instead of opting to run Berlin, he chooses to run Chicago? It will be another sit and kick fest, and it is not that there is anything wrong with that, but the conspiracy theory it going to start flying for sure.

Is Nike protecting this guy, and keeping him away from marathon races that they can't control like Tokyo, London and Berlin?

Galen didn't even start his marathon career by the time he was 25. He was too busy getting an Olympic Silver medal in the 10k and running multiple American Records on the track. Plus, if Hall won Chicago you know he would be back to defend his title, but he didn't, did he? Oh, and where's Hall's Olympic medal in the marathon? Is it too far in the background?

When you win any WMM, they are going to pay a really big appearance fee for the defending champ. It almost looks embarrassing for the race organizers if you can't get your defending champ to come back unless there's some reasonable circumstance (Olympic year). Rupp is best off getting titles in NY and Boston. It would be really special if an American were to win all the WMM in the US. An American record would just be the icing on the cake. He already has a medal.

I would have liked to see Rupp in NYC. He's a championship style racer and that course would suit him well. He could win NYC and come back to win Boston next year. That would give him the USA trifecta.

I wouldn't go to Berlin. Too much pressure to run a fast time and he's not a 2:03 guy.

He's choosing Chicago because of the $$$ and Salazar's relationship with the NYRR.