With these conditions someone will be near the front that shouldn't be and that someone will make the team. This means wthat we will be sending a team that is not as strong as it should be, might even be more than one that will take advantage of the opportunity and make it.
Next time they should look at where the olympics will be held, look at the course and what the conditions are likely to be and hold the trials somewhere similar. the Kenyans held their trials at Boston one year.
the toughest will come out on top. all these fancy little road runs on the net will not matter a bit. there will be no flat and fast conditions....real "derek clayton" conditions....
Leirbag wrote:
Is it just me or does anyone feel that the track qualification standards for 5000m and 10,000m went for naught? Seriously, did only 6 guys take advantage of this qualifying process? Sort've defeated the purpose of the standard, however, I am glad that Rohatinsky is getting a shot, as is Carney, as they do throw some interest and surprise to the mix.
However, can USATF justify the standards and not have more running because of it? More for an argument for a 20K-Half Marathon standard, as I am sure many, many more guys would take advantage of that standard. The only negative is that the USATF would probably create some ungodly standard like 1:04:00 instead of the reasonable 1:07:30.
Oh well, here's to the future of USATF Qualifying Standards!
1:07:30 would be a joke, I could see maybe 1:06
Why is it not enough if one guy does it and they run pretty well at the Trials? Of course they do not expect most the hit that track mark will run the marathon -- no one ever thought that Webb or Teg were going to run the marathon trials.
"I don't run to be regarded as anything by anybody. I don't care whether people think I'm the greatest runner ever or the greatest bum ever. I don't run for other people; I don't run for my country. I'm not very nationalistic. Derek Clayton comes first in my book." - Derek Clayton
35 degrees
25 mile an hour winds
and rain to top it all off
sounds like the last boston marathon to me
It looks like a real fart in a windstorm.
DUUUUDE! You know what the Hansons can do? They can take advantage of the circuit course and do what Chataway and that other guy did for Bannister.
Sure, none of them are fit enough to run the whole race with Sell. But a few of them can time their pace such that they are finishing 1 lap just as Sell is finishing 2. Then, just as Sell laps them, they pick it up to his pace and pull him through a lap. Another team meanwhile finishes 2 laps just as Sell is finishing 3, and they do the same thing. And so on.
So if Sell can just manage to break away at some point, he can stay in a pack that's 30 seconds in front of the other runners. Both packs will be going 5:10 pace if that, but the gap will be insurmountable.
gorney wrote:
I'm worried that Culpepper and Abdi may become airborn projectiles that impale spectators.
This is pretty good stuff, inspires nice visual imagery. Also, kudos’ to the guy who used "bloviate" in a sentence.
And to the hoosiers who think that the trials would be better off in Indiana - you are all nuts! The last thing we need is another "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in the finish chute area.
I can just see it now, some big boned, glove wearing, finish line worker trying to haul off Ritz all while Abdi, Hall and Meb are beating on him....ugh...nothing like a bunch of skinny, world class marathoners involved in an attempted beat down in front of 200k spectators and 10 letsrun.com viewers glued to the web feed. No thanks, the race is fine where it is. See ya all tomorrow morning on the official OT thread.
With the dramatic weather change, I'm going with KK, Meb and Culp... in that order.
KK? I think the cold windy conditions will hurt Abdi and KK the most and should not be a problem for a cold weather guy like Sell and guys who run cross like Hall, Culpepper and Ritz. I guess Meb should be OK too since he trains in mammoth.
Latest NOAA forecast:
Tonight: A chance of rain after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Northeast wind between 13 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A chance of rain, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 47. Breezy, with a north wind between 18 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%
This actually sounds better than it did this AM.
Incidentally, I just got back from a run and it's dead calm - not even the leaves are moving.
I'm taking Sell for top three. If you can religiously handle 160 mile weeks-who gives a damn about the weather - I'm better prepared-I've seen it all. If he didn't hit the altitude, I think that is a mistake, but there is a lot to be said for knowing you've done more to prepare than anyone else, especially when it comes to inclement conditions.
They should have just held it in conjunction with the NYC Marathon on Sunday...looks like perfect weather..:)
Alan
Dare I say it, the calm before the storm. Does the park surroundings generally hinder the winds?
JimG wrote:
Latest NOAA forecast:
Tonight: A chance of rain after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Northeast wind between 13 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A chance of rain, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 47. Breezy, with a north wind between 18 and 22 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%
This actually sounds better than it did this AM.
Incidentally, I just got back from a run and it's dead calm - not even the leaves are moving.
P.S. Imagine these poor guys trying to get to sleep having no idea exactly what weather conditions they'll face in the morning.
The one year I ran Syttende Mai, the rolling 20mile race from Madison to Stoughton when I turned 40 I was hoping to get about 2:02, but I was only 10 weeks into a racing comeback.
That year (1990) it was pouring rain, 44 degrees F (not WC), and 20-25mph wind from the SE (with higher gusts), i.e., a dead-on headwind. Because it was mid-May in Wisconsin were are not many leaves on the trees so there was little wind break. I ended up at 2:06 even though I was hampered by a sore quad from running a hard 20k just before (only when I ran that so well did I know I was really doing SM). The quad cost me 2+min the last 3+ miles.
In the trials race the trees are still fairly 'leafed' and there are more trees and there is no net running into the wind. It will probably have more effect on time by changing strategy (so you do not lead and break the wind for others) than from the slowing effect during the time spent into the wind.
The forecasts at 30mph were a different matter.
pootipoot wrote:
I don't know a single non-runner who even knows about the OT tomorrow.
Yeah. I called my friend who lives in Brooklyn. He is not a runner, but a big fan of many sports. He and I went to lots of different Olympic events when we lived in Atlanta. He of course knew the NYC marathon was going on this weekend, but he had NO IDEA about the Olympic Trials. When I broke it down for him he was pretty interested in going to watch. But still, lives in New York, and had no idea.
JimG, I'm looking out my window right now, and the leaves are rustling ... and I'm not that far away form "World Headquaters" ....
What a year for big city marathons.
Boston - noreaster
Chicago - record breaking heat
NYC - tropical storm