Moulten blows up at Steamtown Marathon

Here is the problem.

Casey works very hard and steps into the marathon at a young age which will benefit him in the long run (no pun intended). He runs Chicago in 2:20 and feels like there is more there. So he enters Austin and should probably run about 2:18. THE COURSE IS STUPID FAST.

Please note that I didn't say short or aided or anything else. Guys ran times that they will not equal for 2 years of additional development and guys that are not continuing to improve will NEVER run those times again.

So after Austin Casey views himself as a 2:15 marathoner instead of a 2:18 (which is probably closer to the truth). He enters Boston figuring that he can run with guys like Verran. Boston had good weather and the first half of the course is downhill so 67 minutes is realistic for a 2:15 marathoner. As tough as Casey is he hangs on Verran until just after 22. However he ends up dropping out and can't figure out why? He then goes to Steamtown figuring that Boston was a fluke (in fact Austin was). This time he had no one to run with which means that the 2:18 guy is probably a 2:20 guy by himself. The results are now history.

Misled,

Well said!

Avacado

Still a grumpy old man that's going to let this downhill course grudge shorten his life.

Well said Misled. You hit on exactly how I feel. It is in a way how I also felt about Ryan Shay. He won a relatively weak 10k at NCAA and was running around 2:14 - 2:15 in the marathon shortly after when no one else in the country was taking the marathon seriously. Mr. Shay gets all the spot light and probably grows a bigger ego or at the very least a better opinion of how good he really was. Don't get me wrong, he is a really good runner but he is not in our top 5 marathon guys and hasn't been for a couple years now, since more people started to run it. Just a victim of being good at the wrong time (well he made some good money from races and Nike so he probably isn't a victim). Hopefully both him and Casey can start running closer to their abilities and have some great races.

I was hesitant to reply to this post, but I have a problem with Moulton's strategy. Yes it is great a young guy is going after it in the marathon. But clearly he does not know his own body, and does not respect the marathon enough. Everyone who looks at Austin last year (whether you believe it was short or not) recognizes that it was a fast course that would make duplicating those times on almosy any other course a little hard. He keeps blowing up, relax, and run a few seconds slower early on, and you will have more left in the tank, gaurantee a decent time (2:17) and be more ready to improve the next time. He wants it all right now at 24, and someone should be sitting him down and telling him his best races are 4-5 years ahead of him. Also, I know he is originally from Mass. but heard he now lives in Chicago. If he really flew from Chicago to Scranton to race 2 weeks before one of the best marathons in the world comes to his back door, than honestly he deserves to bonk.

then again wrote:

Because even if he does have a great time, no one will respect it since it wasn't against any competition.

I had no idea that the clock ran slower when there wasn't world-class competition. Einstein didn't have a clue, I guess.

Lets run is a sewer. Get a life you losers.

Relativity, and all that... wrote:

I had no idea that the clock ran slower when there wasn't world-class competition. Einstein didn't have a clue, I guess.

I ran a 5k where everyone crushed their PR's. The top runners were all confident that it was at least a quarter mile short. But everyone else is thouroughly convinced that the course must be accurate because it was measured. Maybe it is validity, as opposed to relativity.

you are a dope. Casey is from NH and still lives there and next time you run 3 hours for a marathon you can try to find Casey to give him some tips. You have spoken like the typically joker who lives off bashing guys because they can't run with them. Try moving out of you mothers basement..Good job Casey

hardset nipples wrote:

It's so obvious and easy that even Keith Stone has results of his own to back up his criticisms.

I think I'll take Bill Rodgers' thoughts on the topics over some high-and-mighty wannabe surrogate for Brian Sell's wife:

"If you want to win a race you have to go a little berserk."

Easy? I said nothing about easy. But I am eternally frustrated by the fact that people glorify tactics that fail time and time again because they show "guts". Apparently it's more important to show guts than to run a good race. Why be some pussy that runs a controlled practiced pace and stand on the podium when you can show everyone how gutsy you are for 18 miles and get smoked the last 10K.

Why is front-running considered the only means of running to win? If you're a 2:05 marathoner running against a bunch of 2:15 people, fine, but if you're some 2:15 guy what sence does it make to go through the half in 1:04-1:05? Just to show people how to run 2:23 the hard way? Who actually wins pulling a stunt like that? (OK, besides Blake splitting the half in 1:13 on the way to a 2:30 at TCM in 03).

I've jogged with Casey and seen him run away from me in many a New England road race. He strikes me as just a young guy who loves to race and isn't at all concerned about living up to the expectations or carrying the hopes and dreams of a bunch of wannabes on letsrun.

I said I heard a rumor, thank you for clarifying.

then again wrote:

Because even if he does have a great time, no one will respect it since it wasn't against any competition.

Who cares who "respects" it? As he said he is just running to get a fast time, not to earn the admiration of his peers.

Keith Stone wrote:

Why is front-running considered the only means of running to win?

It isn't the ONLY means except in the minds of those who set up straw men so they can knock them down.

If you're a 2:05 marathoner running against a bunch of 2:15 people, fine, but if you're some 2:15 guy what sence does it make to go through the half in 1:04-1:05?

On a fast DOWNHILL course if you are trying to be FASTER than a 2:15 guy it makes plenty of sense.

The man was trying to see what he could do. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?

I respect Moulton because he loves to race. He loves to challenge himself.

He could give a flying f**k about what Keith Stone thinks he should do.

He isn't a track nerd, and he could care less about what a bunch of 3-hour marathoners think about him.

"No one will respect his fast times" - WTF are you talking about? Who are you?

"He doesn't respect the marathon" - Get a f**king life, dude.

You twits are the biggest bunch of fanboy losers I have ever seen.

How about this... Go buy a set of balls and attach them.

The man was trying to see what he could do...

MarathonMind wrote:

and he's finding out. I liked misled in Austin's post. Can you rebut what he said?

Of course you liked it. I never understand the uncontainable glee you people let out when someone better than you rolls the dice and fails.

Rebut? No need. I can explain.

1. Austin is fast

2. Boston is not

3. Steamtown is very fast.

4. Moulton is still improving. He is stronger now than he was a year ago or even 6 months ago.

The marathon can humble anyone. It humbles those who go for it more than those who safely sit back on their comfortable "reasonable" pace times.

Do you guys really think Steamtown is that fast? Does all the pounding from the downhills cause a great downside by the end of the race? And how do you think it compares with a course like Chicago in terms of setting a PR?

Casey has an attitude toward the marathon that has been hard to find in this country for the past 20 years. Regardless of his choice of race strategies, he clearly believes in himself and is willing to do the brutal work to achieve his goals. True, his best marathons probably won't be for another 4-5 years, but you don't sit around waiting to turn 28 and then watch it magically happen. You put in the work and gain experience, some of it painful, so you can continue to improve.

Steamtown is the fastest course I have run and I have run Chicago and Philly. I didn't run St George though and I never ran Austin