Is this a thing in the marathon? Has it ever been a thing? I feel like I remember some kind of "team scoring" along these lines being done in some non-XC world level event, but I can't recall.
If implemented, would this be a good thing? Would it change any country's strategy for picking their team? (e.g., Maybe you leave the mercurial mega-talent with the best time but a penchant for dropping out at home and take the solid veteran who always finishes pretty well but out of the individual medals?)
They get money for finishing in the top 8. $70,000 for winning and $5,000 for getting 8th and the world championships have team title scoring to it now. (Although, they've for a long time kept track of placing scores in past championships, it's just been given more of a focus now.)
Totally Agree! I'm from the Islands and can attest to the vast #s of untrained distance talent. From childhood, everyone is channeled to "Sprints" ... I Hate Sprints!!!
40 women on starting line? Is this really a world championship? Looks like all events the best in the world did not even show up (more distance than sprints) The best marathoners surely are not here
"Grant's 4th was mega legit" ... 100% - He was there in the fight and battle from beginning to end. It's kind of ridiculous to say the same for Hall ... She was never in the battle, and until we change that mindset, we will never be serious contenders in the Marathon.
GOODBUTNOT You're 100% Spot On! It's totally cringe worthy to pretend that object of World Class Sport is something other than "Winning". We've been cheering for the also ran bunch and lying to ourselves for some time. It long past time to "Get On The Podium"!
It's the ultimate expression of American Marathoning. Just Participate and claim victory. Never concern oneself with actual "Victory" ... The ultimate expression of "Participation Medals".
It's the ultimate expression of American Marathoning. Just Participate and claim victory. Never concern oneself with actual "Victory" ... The ultimate expression of "Participation Medals".
In your warped world, ONLY the winner needs to run the race.
GOODBUTNOT You're 100% Spot On! It's totally cringe worthy to pretend that object of World Class Sport is something other than "Winning". We've been cheering for the also ran bunch and lying to ourselves for some time. It long past time to "Get On The Podium"!
But when an American woman gets on the medal stand she gets trashed by these boards. So not sure what everyone is really looking for here.
In World Class racing, the object is not "Participation"; its about going for the WIN. If one happens to "Blow Up" in that quest, the fans still appreciate. But if you're never going to "Go For It", what's your purpose other than earning a "Participation Medal". This ain't your local fun run. If American Marathoners want respect, then, they need to "Go For The Win"!
Mate have you ever heard of running your own race, especially in a longer event like the marathon? Sticking to a plan and running a pace that you know will give you the best chance of potentially winning. I have seen countless marathons and ironmans etc where athletes have done exactly this and ended up catching the leaders who blew up before the finish and then winning. Sure this didn't happen for Sara Hall but she should be proud of her performance and ran a smart race.
Way too conservative. 5th, 7th, and 8th. Nice job ladies.
There is no way that was too conservative. 2:22 to 2:23 is about their ability level, and they knew that.
And it's shocking that 2:22's on a pretty great weather day on fairly quick course was 5th 7th and 8th. They were over 4 minutes off the win, that's like a bunch of guys running 2:09 being 5th, 7th, and 8th place. Rupp was a exactly 4 minutes off the win and less than 3 minutes from bronze and he was way back in 19th place. For the women that similar gap equals 5th place??? How is there such a lack of depth on the global level for women? Men running 4:48 pace for the marathon means the top 20 men were all less than a mile from the finish line when the first man completed the race, half of them within a quarter mile of the bronze. Women running 5:20 pace means only 7 women were within a mile of the winner, and only 4th place was within a quarter mile of bronze.
In World Class racing, the object is not "Participation"; its about going for the WIN. If one happens to "Blow Up" in that quest, the fans still appreciate. But if you're never going to "Go For It", what's your purpose other than earning a "Participation Medal". This ain't your local fun run. If American Marathoners want respect, then, they need to "Go For The Win"!
People that say this kind of garbage have never trained for and run a marathon. A marathon isn't a race you can pull out of your rear end and have a decent day based on general fitness and putting yourself in the mix, like Hassan did for the 10k. During the course of marathon training, you have a pretty good idea of what shape you are in and what to expect on race day. Like if you go out there and do a long tempo at marathon pace, and your heart rate is at threshold pace the whole time, you ain't holding that pace for the whole marathon. No way, not happening.
Hall and Bates were never going to run 2:18, they knew it, and going after that time would have been suicide for them. Maybe D'Amato could run under 2:20 if she had a proper buildup, but it certainly wasn't happening today, she knew it, backed off, and still finished well. If she didn't back off, she would have ended up like the Ethiopian girls that didn't even finish.
An experienced marathoner knows that there is no point in overextending themselves with a hot early pace. Some of these East African gals came in there with only a couple marathons under their belt and actually didn't know that, and didn't finish or get prize money. They went for it and looked like amateurs. 50% of them crashed hard. 0% of the Americans crashed hard. Well done.
"Grant's 4th was mega legit" ... 100% - He was there in the fight and battle from beginning to end. It's kind of ridiculous to say the same for Hall ... She was never in the battle, and until we change that mindset, we will never be serious contenders in the Marathon.
Sara Hall ran smart. She was aware that she couldn’t go out with the leaders at 2:16 pace. Her best shot is always to run measured and finish strong. D’Amato went out with the lead pack for a while, but realized the pace was too fast for her. it’s not any better to go out fast and DNF.
In World Class racing, the object is not "Participation"; its about going for the WIN. If one happens to "Blow Up" in that quest, the fans still appreciate. But if you're never going to "Go For It", what's your purpose other than earning a "Participation Medal". This ain't your local fun run. If American Marathoners want respect, then, they need to "Go For The Win"!
This is how E. Africans raced for many years. They would all go out with the lead pack and then start dropping like flies after 25k, with many either jogging it in or taking a DNF. That is how you race if you are a country where you have 100+ women who can run close to 2:20 in the marathon. But in a country where there are barely a half dozen that can get close to 2:20, you are expected to run your best race, whether that means staying with the leaders or not depends on your ability.
East African still "GO FOR IT" and they're WINNING!!! Whilst Americans cheer their "Participation Medals". Make any excuse you want. In World Class Athletics - There are WINNERS and LOSERS. American Marathoners seem to be the only marathoners that revel in the latter! Keep Running for those "Participation Medals"!
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