Seriously, this is not meant as a slam, but what is Marius doing THESE DAYS running-wise?? Shouldn?t he still be in his prime? I just have not heard many results for him recently (but could have missed them).
Hodgie was constantly good year-after year.
Compare the 2?? Of course it is hard to do, with different eras and different events. But let?s do this: compare them in each of their own events to their peers! Sounds fair, right? When Hodge ran his 2:11 in 1980 (let?s call it 2:11 flat), the world record was?..what? Mid 2:08 (Clayton, right?)? Let?s call it 2:08:30 (a little slower than that, I think, but let?s go with that). If we divide Hodgie?s time by Clayton?s?.he received a score of 101.95 % of the world record (100% being a perfect world record score).
Marius vs the world 5k record when he ran 13:09? It was Geb at 12:39 right? (let?s call it 12:40). Marius?s score? 103.95%. Hodgie was better in his day against the world in his event that Marius is in his event against his peers.
(and even Hodgie?s 2:11 against KK?s CURRENT marathon world record of mid 2:05 is just over 104% of that record. So even against TODAY?s runners, Hodgie?s 2:11 is almost as good as Marius?s 13:09, even throwing out the huge up-swing in marathon times in the last 20 years. So?..in the end, Hodige?s 2:11 is AT least as good as Marius? 13:09. And then you have Greg Meyer?s 2:09. Again, no HRM, no Lactate analyzer, just lots of miles, and a fair amount speed[at varying tempo?s?.some QUITE fast, some longer and not as intense] thrown in).