At each water stop Galen Rupp chucked off his old soaked hat and grabbed a new one from his coach. Rules?

I was making a joke.

I'd just like to throw my hat in to the ring with this theory...ah feck it, never mind.

It's going worldwide now via Reuters and Galen's in on the troll fest:

"Rupp tipped his hat to the victorious Kenyan"

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-athletics-m-marathon-idUSKCN10W0KD

Ken Goe needs to ask his pal Salazar the hat trick. What to put in it to be chillin. And how to get them to those pesky stations.

ice ice baby wrote:

And you believe it. wrote:

And you believe those typical diversionary tactics arranged by AlSal via his pal Ken Goe. I think you missed the "credible provable" bit.

It doesn't matter. Every team is using ice chests for drinks and whatever else, and his hats were provided at aid stations and not elsewhere. Sorry to burst your conspiracy theory- no rules were broken.[/quote]

I was trolling and you believed it. But now, as you come to mention it, how do we know "Every team is using ice chests for drinks and whatever else".

Rupp's Olympic hat has its own twitter page.

https://twitter.com/RuppsNikeHat

To clarify, Salzar later said the hats were filled with ice to keep the racers cooled. Is that an unfair advantage? I don’t know.

Any runner was welcome to have multiple hats but how many runners thought of that? Are water stations going to eventually become aid stops? Will you be able to stop, check your cell phone and play Pokemon Go at a water station? Who knows how the marathon rules will progress…That being said, none of the athletes were breaking any rules by exchanging hats.

So my questioning begins…Do hats make you race quicker? Does throwing your hat off mean you are about to drop the pace?The most important question, however, is: How can Hats Help the Nonelite Runner?

hand out wrote:

There were misters on the woman's course.

I thought that was just in the 800?

2018 wrote:

At an Olympic Marathon? No. No I have not. Have you volunteered at one of the most recent Olympic Marathons? If so please enlighten us to the experience.

Terry Fied wrote:

You have obviously never worked (volunteered) at an aid station during a marathon.

yeah, big difference to what goes on around a normal marathon aid station with whoever they can get volunteers and loitering general public and what goes on around an Olympic aid station where you need accreditation hanging around your neck.

One of those armed police/soldiers that were lining the course must have been paid off to let someone in to pull off this whole hat scam. You can't trust Brazilian police at all.

A couple observations after re-watching a few aid stations on the NBC feed. Rupp was passed his bottles by more than one person. At 35K it is someone obviously different, and obviously not Salazar, than the person passing him his bottle from a screenshot posted a few pages ago. Just after Rupp goes through the aid station Biwott comes through and is handed his bottle (does not grab it off the table). Meb discards his blue hat sometime between 15-20K. Gets a new white hat sometime after 20K.

So there was not one lone person responsible for passing Rupp his bottles, Rupp was not the only athlete to have his bottle handed to him, and he was not the only person to switch hats. Multiple posters have mentioned before me that it is not uncommon for athlete's individual refreshments in the aid areas to be chilled so however Rupp's hat was chilled also does not seem to be a problem. At this point I do not see how Rupp/Salazar did anything worth debating.

Re-watching wrote:

At this point I do not see how Rupp/Salazar did anything worth debating.

That was established long before "At this point", probably page 1, we've just been having fun in the mean time.

This was a televised Olympic marathon where new gear was distributed at refreshment stations. They exist (stations) solely for water and refreshment. This was not a trail race or an ultra, it was an IOC governed, IAAF abiding, Olympic Marathon. There will be another in 4 years.

A "hat" constitutes running gear. It is in the "protective" category of gear and is allowable under regulations that fall under climate/weather conditions. Obviously, gloves, glasses, compression sleeves, jackets, vests, etc. all fall under the same category.

IF Olympic Marathons are allowing athletes to attach new gear to their water bottles available every 5km, this entirely highlights weak IAAF language, opens it up to vague interpretations, and creates a window to exploit and change the mechanism of an international championship race. Again, this is not Gramma's marathon or the place with pianos on California's cliff side. The OLY games has its own governance.

If the language isn't tightened, it will be exploited.

Big Balls. wrote:

Re-watching wrote:

At this point I do not see how Rupp/Salazar did anything worth debating.

That was established long before "At this point", probably page 1, we've just been having fun in the mean time.

Unfortunately, there are a number of posters here who probably do believe this is a "serious" violation.

Well thank God we have you little Hans with his finger in the dike preventing the unspeakable horror of vague IAAF language. We are grateful that you have the moral purity to make sure that the Olympic Marathon doesn't turn into Grandma's, or GASPPP, a Rock'n'Roll.... We can all sleep better knowing you're on the case. Next time, AlSal might sneak heelys in with with Rupp's water bottles. Or maybe you share rojo's idiotic view that air conditioning drones are somehow equivalent with hats. I'm sure Coe and Bach will be enlighted by your wise and sage counsel and are waiting for your report and analysis with bated breath.

After 23 pages, let me summarize it for you. You hate Rupp and/or Al Sal. You'll never give him his due despite being one of the greatest Olympic distance runners in our history. You'll invent idiotic reasons to attempt to diminish his credentials under the guise of the "rules." This says a lot more about you than him.

Galen now that Al Sal has retired you can get sensible advice and reach your full potential. Ditch the ice hat and shave your damn head! Bald like a cue ball.

Big Difference wrote:

2018 wrote:

At an Olympic Marathon? No. No I have not. Have you volunteered at one of the most recent Olympic Marathons? If so please enlighten us to the experience.

yeah, big difference to what goes on around a normal marathon aid station with whoever they can get volunteers and loitering general public and what goes on around an Olympic aid station where you need accreditation hanging around your neck.

Accreditation? You mean like the Aussies had to go wherever they pleased?

There were people in the support areas of the course who did not have accreditation around their necks. People were kept off course, but otherwise, like in most marathons, controlling who could be where didn't entirely work out.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Galen now that Al Sal has retired you can get sensible advice and reach your full potential. Ditch the ice hat and shave your damn head! Bald like a cue ball.

And tape those ears back.

Aussie Accreditation wrote:

Big Difference wrote:

yeah, big difference to what goes on around a normal marathon aid station with whoever they can get volunteers and loitering general public and what goes on around an Olympic aid station where you need accreditation hanging around your neck.

Accreditation? You mean like the Aussies had to go wherever they pleased?

There were people in the support areas of the course who did not have accreditation around their necks. People were kept off course, but otherwise, like in most marathons, controlling who could be where didn't entirely work out.

There is on rule for Aussies and one for every one else, this is how it is and this is how it should be, so STFU.