OFFICIAL 2013 Chicago Marathon Play-by-Play Thread

BTY: Looks like a women with eating disorder wins the chicago marathon?....skinnest winner I have ever seen!...maybe a 100 lbs?

Pretty sure bonuses are only for winning in those times. How the heck could you guys not know for sure?

Ritz has had a great career and all but why can't you guys just call a spade and spade? He was fifth. Ok great, he was six minutes behind the leader. That's like being fifth in 13:20 in a 12:50 5000m. Why can't you just be realistic? "It's his second fastest marathon ever". Ok well here's a news flash, he's 30(?) hasn't even broken 2:07 and has run several marathons. Meanwhile, marathons are being won in 2:03-2:05. So he's still at least two minutes behind the average winning times. You guys need a little perspective. He is a great runner and has had a fantastic career. He has heart and gives his all. Unfortunately, he's not a marathoner. He may end up breaking 60:00 in the half but he's just not a competitive marathoner internationally. I love the guy but I'm a realist. I know the money is on the roads but I really wish he would have stuck to the track after his 5000m pr.

Study your somatotypes dude. If you compare a mesomorph at 5% bodyfat people will say "wow, ripped dude", an ecto at 7% looks like a POW victim. Jeptoo looks great, a lot of power in her stride. Given she had a child a few years ago, there's probably 50 million American women who would kill for her body.

sounds like a double standard to me?...she so skinny...when American Runners get to that weight they are riped apart on these boards

OMG, the winners were just given participation medals.

Two Minute Thousand wrote:

Yesterday I watched the streaming coverage of the Ironman Triathlon--they broadcast for over 8 hours, and showed the real race for 98% of the time. In 8 hours, they had less "human interest" crap than Chicago has had already

[/quote]

WHat human interest did you see? I felt like they focused on the elite race the entire time on the INternet.

At this point he is no ore competitive in the 5000 or 10000. 12:50 vs 13:1026:40s vs 27:30s2:03-5 vs 2:07-9Few thought he would be in contention to win. You are overstating what others said. I hoped he could PR but figured he might still finish 5th in 2:06-7.

reed wrote:

like i said...ritz pulls off 5th place despite dropping early form lead pack

maybe not the 2:06/2:07 as hoped but he just got gapped at the wrong time. need more people to run with

Thats where paying attention and being decisive pays off. That was his mistake.

Idiot lrc user wrote:

Ritz is just playing it smart.

pacing himself for after his career

oosk wrote:

Wondering Again wrote:

Ritz didn't totally blow up. His second fastest marathon ever, I believe.

He had a good (if not quite perfect) race. 5th place in Chicago is nothing to sneeze at.

5th place is meaningless when you're a mile behind.

Gonna have to disagree. 5th is an excellent result for Ritz. His time was pretty good as well.

If folks would stop living in the 'Ritz can run 2:04 and win a major' fantasy world then perhaps they could appreciate a good (if not quite perfect) performance.

Speaking of newsflashes, here's one for you. Ritz is incapable of winning or even medaling at any major track or road race. You wish he would have stuck to the track? Good for you. He would never win there just as effectively as he will never win a major marathon.

Ritz is a great guy and a great runner. But thinking that he could be a world beater at any distance is living in a fantasy world and does a disservice to his actual capabilities and accomplishments.

Yup yup wrote:

At this point he is no ore competitive in the 5000 or 10000.

Agreed. He's just going where he figures he can make most money. Also his 5k times are tapped out, he's predicted marathon time should be much better. He's probably pretty frustrated w today, cramping up *is* really frustrating. If I was in his shoes i'd probably continue plugging away at the marathon, with some halfs for cash. He's not the best in the world, or even close, but hey, he is one of the best in America. I'm not the best at my job, but hey I still love it and make good money as does Ritz, so why not stick with a good thing...in anycase, I don't see a better alternative all things considered.

Yeah like that bronze at the HM World's

What I mean by sticking to the track is this. When he prd (was it 12:56?) that time was pretty good. Certainly much better than any marathon that he had ever run. I was hoping that he would try and concentrate a little more on the 5000m and 10000m at the time because he was a lot closer to being competitive on the track than he was at the marathon. I didn't think he'd medal necessarily but his PR that year in the 5000m was much more competitive than his marathon PR has ever been or will ever be. His track days are over by now for sure and he's never been and will never be a good marathon runner.

Hey idiot,The article says nothing about Muslims. The article says rape is up amongst teens. Don't read Swedish do you, lout?And this has nothing to do with the marathon, buffoon.

wake up wrote:

300 Swedish Teen girls raped by Muslim Immigrants so far in 2013...

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=103&artikel=5612131

rojo wrote:

Employee 1.1

05K 00:17:18 17:18

10K 00:34:11 16:53

15K 00:51:05 16:54

He's on 2:23:41 pace. He ran the first 5k slower which is what JK wanted. I forgot what he said he was shooting for. I think 2:24 as I remember saying hopefully you beat most of the women.

He's fired if he beats my 2:23:07 pb.

Is that my pb or 2:23:13.

02:26:47

*tosses job application*

I'm not overstating what anyone said. Some people even thought he might win. He is not good at the marathon. He is certainly no more competitive on the track anymore. The year he PRd I was hoping that maybe he would try one more outdoor season because his PR was a pretty good time. It was certainly a much better time than his marathon PR. That's all I was saying. The dude had heart it would have been nice after he PRd on the track for him to try and mix it up in some more track races. He doesn't belong in the marathon. He may be able to break 60:00 in the right race but at this point its obvious that he will never compete for a top three finish. The only reason he was fifth is because a bunch of 2:04-2:06 guys went out at a breakneck pace trying to get a world and course record. The weather was perfect today so some of those guys went for broke. Ritz went for a 2:06 and couldn't handle the pace. I think he's great and he's been great but this is not his distance. That's all I'm saying.

Good performance for Ritz. Not what he was hoping for but still very good. In Olympic trials of 2012 he charged in and ran just under 2:10. Today he struggled home and still ran faster. Overall I think he is a better marathoner now than a short time ago.

However with that said I don't think the marathon distance is Ritz's best distance. From what I have seen of his career he is best suited for cross country. Similar to Adam Goucher. I don't think either was ever as comfortable on the roads and track.

As for best duration events for Ritz I think the half marathon is about the best distance for him, with a course that is not pancake flat.

5th place today was better than should have been expected.

What happened to the other 5-6 guys that were better than him on paper? Lets talk about those guys.

Very solid race by Teg today also. Exactly as I had expected.