Tim Nelson 2:15:06 marathon debut

I'd say Tim Nelson could run a bit better:

Gebrmariam 1:05:20/1:02:54

Tim Nelson 1:05:33/1:09:33

The best NYC winners (and top contenders) slightly negative split or run it even.

Tim badly overpaced himself and died at the end today, running some 5:20's and 5:30's in the closing miles. Ideally he might have managed 2x1:06:30 for a 2:13.

And in fact, last year when Torres debuted in that exact time- he ran 1:05:11/1:07:49. (Unfortunately this year he ran 1:05:21/1:09:36.)

Predictions are foolish wrote:

Excellent debut if you are a 29:30 10k guy.

Yes, but from 10k to 20k he was running 2:06+ pace.

and for 25K of the race he ran 2:09 pace.

Maybe he thought he was in a race or something.

MarathonMind wrote:

I'd say Tim Nelson could run a bit better:

Gebrmariam 1:05:20/1:02:54

Tim Nelson 1:05:33/1:09:33

The best NYC winners (and top contenders) slightly negative split or run it even.

Tim badly overpaced himself and died at the end today, running some 5:20's and 5:30's in the closing miles. Ideally he might have managed 2x1:06:30 for a 2:13.

And in fact, last year when Torres debuted in that exact time- he ran 1:05:11/1:07:49. (Unfortunately this year he ran 1:05:21/1:09:36.)

Why don't you compare him with all the other guys that were not at the peak of capability. There were a lot of top runners that were not nearly so negative-split as Geb G; #2 has 1:50:20/1:04, #3 was 1:05:20/1:05, etc.

Furthermore, once you are falling off the hoped for pace, you are no longer quite so motivated to squeeze every second out of the pain.

Ritz set the American record in the 5k last year. The marathon is not his best event! He was 6th in the world at 10000 in '09. The 10k should be his focus for 2012. There is NO indication that he has any chance medaling in the marathon. This seems very clear to me at this point.

You should know better wrote:

Americans tend to look for anything to cheer for, but today was a disaster.

That includes Shalane. This New York field is always hyped but never as good as the hype. The best female marathoner in the World right now is Shobukova. She has taken over the title from Mititenko. Both of these athletes were in Chicago along with 2 different 2:22 Ethiopians and a sub 2:22 Japenese women. That field went through the halfway 4 minutes faster than todays field on a hotter day. Shalane showed us nothing today and Nelson was worse.

NYC was a race, not a time trial. How can you compare New York to Chicago and bitch about time? The women went out ridiculously slow and Flanagan just followed. It's not like she was going to speed up the race in her debut. She hung tough the whole race, even through a 4:58 23rd mile. I think she showed that she was for real when she covered that break. Don't look at the time, she beat a lot of really good international marathoners. If she goes to Chicago or London and runs a 2:29, then you can bitch.

jkalsdfja wrote:

Ritz set the American record in the 5k last year. The marathon is not his best event! He was 6th in the world at 10000 in '09. The 10k should be his focus for 2012. There is NO indication that he has any chance medaling in the marathon. This seems very clear to me at this point.

He did finish 9th at the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. That, coupled with the increased variability in the marathon compared to the 10,000m, would seem to me to make him an equally good bet to medal in an unpaced, championship marathon as it would in an unpaced, championship 10,000m. He's a long shot in either case, though. And I think he should try to make the team in both.

I am so proud of my buddy Nelly on his first marathon

Thanks Rubis. Too bad Solinsky wasn't also in the race.

heard this one myself wrote:

Amen brother wrote:

Ritzenhein has gotten more money from a 2:14:01 and 2:12:33 marathons than any runner in history. I don't think he'll ever see another payday like that again.

PT Barnum was right. A sucker (Mary Wittenberg) is born every minute.

Not true. Ritz was brought in for the same reason as Jared and the Chilean Miner. He was brought in to produce hype ( a buzz about the race). It was successful. NY Times even ran a stupid article about his change in running form. There is thread after thread about him.

If he ran well that is a bonus but certainly not necessary.

ritz was not brought in for hype, he has legitimate credentials, wittenberg would let anyone who has run a 12:56 for 5k last year, was 3rd at the world half marathon champs in 60 minutes, was an NCAA champion, a high school national champion, RITZ HAS LEGITIMATE CREDENTIALS.

A sad, sad day wrote:

What do you think of his performance, malmo?

I personally am impressed with him, and for that matter, all the American marathoners today. Time was not indicative of how well they ran and just how tough this race was. Anyone who looks at the erratic pacing can tell this.

IT must have been an eye opener. He hit halfway in 1:05:33 and couldn't maintain contact with the leaders. His last half was 1:09:33. In my first marathon at NY in similar conditions we hit the half at 1:04:56. I was the one who started to hammer after that, but finally broke at 18 miles. My last half was 1:08:33 ad it was a death march. Nelson ran his second half a minute slower. That's painful.

Bottom line is Ritz ran for the money and in no way was he ready to run a quality marathon coming off of another long injury. From his standpoint I understand, he has a family to think about and only a limited window of opportunity to earn the kind of cash that Mary Whit is throwing around. What I am surprised about is that Salazar went along with the plan.

Is Tim Nelson update!??!?

But seriously, will this guy be ready to do well at the trials in January? Does anyone have a scoop?