When was Houston awarded the Men's 2012 Marathon Trials?

dsfgjiodfg wrote:

Would Houston do a crit course for the trials or just run ahead of the regular race? Watching the men's race in Central Park last time was awesome.

running the crit course in central park last time sucked balls! also, for us west coasters, running at 7am also sucked. early on in the race, i remember thinking, "goddamn, i'm so tired!" because we set the alarm for 4am (1am west coast time); i actually woke up about 2:30 due to nerves. the great thing about NYC and boston is that they both start later than normal, which is great if you're coming from many time zones away. birmingham started early (7:30), and had some loops, but it was not nearly as bad as NYC.

This made my day, thanks Ray.

I take it you're not Ryan Hall?

"But that was when sport was a sport and men were men"

Do I need to remind everyone, especially on the women's side, how many OT's were won by "beneficiaries of Charity". Case in point the chic from Alaska who trained on a treadmill in her basement with the heat jacked to 70 and wooped everyone at the trials in South Carolina on and 80 degree day in February! You just make due and tell yourself that you'll be tougher for it!

No, you don't, because that's no longer the reality. Thank NYRR and others for that. Cute, but not even a 'nice try' for that one.

uranidiot wrote:

Do I need to remind everyone, especially on the women's side, how many OT's were won by "beneficiaries of Charity". Case in point the chic from Alaska who trained on a treadmill in her basement with the heat jacked to 70 and wooped everyone at the trials in South Carolina on and 80 degree day in February! You just make due and tell yourself that you'll be tougher for it!

These are all legitimate factors. But, again I repeat, anyone with a legit shot at an Olympic Team will have all the bases covered. If they don't, they don't belong.

That being said, USATF LDR should (and sometimes does) take all these factors into account when deciding on the site, course, starting time, date,etc. Problem is, the deciding factor is always money

sj quik wrote: also, for us west coasters, running at 7am also sucked. early on in the race, i remember thinking, "goddamn, i'm so tired!" because we set the alarm for 4am (1am west coast time); i actually woke up about 2:30 due to nerves. the great thing about NYC and boston is that they both start later than normal, which is great if you're coming from many time zones away. birmingham started early (7:30), and had some loops, but it was not nearly as bad as NYC.

I'm an old fart that still enjoys a marathon. When I focus on a race even 1 time zone away I will adjust my runs to match up with the local start time. Freeking Bordin used this method from the other side of the world to win Seoul. I guess you never thought of that? And don't give me that work/ schedule/ family/ school crap. If you think you could finish 1,2 or 3 you will do whatever it takes to adjust...including relocating for 3 months or so.

the clock is adjustable wrote:

I'm an old fart that still enjoys a marathon. When I focus on a race even 1 time zone away I will adjust my runs to match up with the local start time. Freeking Bordin used this method from the other side of the world to win Seoul. I guess you never thought of that? And don't give me that work/ schedule/ family/ school crap. If you think you could finish 1,2 or 3 you will do whatever it takes to adjust...including relocating for 3 months or so.

waking up at 3:30am to do runs and workouts at 4am was not feasible given the fact that i, like most guys at the trials, have a job that does not include running. did i have a shot at top 3? no. does that mean i think that guys on the east coast had an advantage for a 7am race? maybe. i wasn't going to PR regardless of the start time that day, but it's still something to consider. from what i've heard, that's why the midwest is often the location for NCAA XC nationals--so it isn't too much of a detriment to those coming from the coasts (although it does tend to start rather late).

maybe my teammate and i were the only ones to notice the jetlag. there were some non-elites from california that did well. should the organizers cater to the guys who have no shot at the olympics? maybe not; but if that's the case, don't invite them. the runners opinions are often allowed to be heard, but not often taken into consideration. personally, i had a better athlete experience in birmingham; but then again, i ran much better there, as well.

Glad you enjoyed Birmingham. As it's my home I enjoyed watching you guys make laps. I do think now that the B standard is gone the A could be lowered, but maybe that's why the 1/2 and 10k standard was thrown in. Even though guys may not finish top 10, lets get a big field and reward guys for their devotion to the sport.