Is Athletics Australia Corrupt and is Nic Bideau the leader?

Yes, lack of flat out speed makes him a time triallist. Nic is on record as saying "speedwork is not important"

His problems stem from his form (running style) , the fast cadence short stride and low backlift. The faster carbon plated shoes excacerbated that difference between him and the rest as his style gets less benefit.

Someone should tell Nic that Pose went out of fashion years ago (jeepers, that messed up a lot of runners). Go back to running like you did in the schoolyard.

So that's why Sophie O'Sullivan runs the way she does ...

Sophie O should legitimately come back to Australia and play WAFL or WNRL. She has the build as well as running ability to be a star - Bull in a china shop type operator. She would make much more money than being a runner too.

There seems to be a pattern emerging of NB athletes being satisfied with NB during their peak running years, then turning against him when their performances, race prospects, and pay decline due to inevitable increased age. The party does not last forever.

Exit through the gift shop!

Why couldn't Stewy be in a solo or blended group? Jess Hull, Seth O'Donnell are Nike athletes who don't train in a 'Nike Group'. There's others like Issy Hume. Feel like he just needs a new coach.

Andy Buchanan spoke on the Better With Running podcast today about the assumed reason for his stressie- he is working too much. Said that his sponsorship is not enough to live on so he has to take on all these other things (teaching, his shop, other sponsorship commitments). How the heck is our current best marathoner and half marathoner on a deal that he can't live on? Any other 2.06 guys working full time? Has his manager done him dirty here? Must be galling for him to beat guys in his own 'group' that earn a living from their shoe deals.

Melbourne Mara should be interesting tomorrow - Particular both the half marathons.

Sinead hasn't done any major races since the Olympics drama so keen to see if she's still got the fire. I think Izzy Batt takes the W though.
Stewy Vs. Brett Vs. Haftu in the half is a good battle too.

No real surprises outside of the Men's half - I think Stewy and Brett might finally be cooked. Nowhere near it in the half. Not sure when their Nike contracts expire but I can't imagine they're gonna want to retain a couple of dudes running 64 half marathons.

Nike Marathon
Male
Jack RAYNER (#1) 02:15:02
Steven MCKENNA 02:16:42
Fraser DARCY 02:17:38

Female
Caitlin ADAMS (#5) 02:30:26
Sarah KLEIN (#3) 02:35:59
Milly CLARK (#2) 02:37:40

Half Marathon
Haftu STRINTZOS 01:02:13

Zach FACIONI 01:03:21

Toby GUALTER 01:03:22

Brett ROBINSON 01:03:57

Jacob COCKS 01:03:59

Stewart MCSWEYN 01:04:16

Female
Izzi BATT-DOYLE 01:08:55

Georgia GRGEC 01:09:44

Sinead DIVER 01:10:56

Also is this the worst Nike kit of all time? light grey half tights are not it.
w ww.instagram.com/p/DPnN__uEvjo/?img_index=1

Terrible Nike kit. Love the idea of honouring Cathy, but the execution is horrible.

MTC have had their day.

Agreed - increasingly a very old squad.

Jack is 29, Stewy is 30, Brett is 34, Ryan is 35, Gen is 36 and Sinead is 48. While Brett, Ryan and Gen are all signed up to do Valencia, it's hard to see them setting any PBs moving forward. Jack may still have some room to move - but he needs to pick a distance and focus on it.

To the knackery the lot of ‘em!

If anyone has listened to Jack Rayner on the latest For the Kudos ep, he admits to receiving help in the from of an ad hoc salt drink on course by a mate on a bike, is that external assistance allowed?

Certainly isn't allowed for 'regular' runners. Maybe different rules for elites?
Can I have a supporter ride a bike next to me?
No personal support riders or bike riders within the vicinity of runners are permitted on course. Any transgression will result in disqualification from the event.

I had the pleasure when I was a sophomore in University the pleasure to race Lee Evans and Tommy Smith in a quarter mile. A dual meet between San Jose State and College of San Mateo. My coach who is now in the Track and Field Hall of Fame and coach of Dick Fosbury, Bernie Wagner told me if I ever wanted to get under 50 seconds I would have to run under 22.0 for the first half of this race. He said, I'll be at the 220 mark and if you are 22 flat or under, you don't have to finish the race.

In lane 1 I flashed by as Bernie yelled 21.8. Instead of quitting I did the math and figured there was no way I would be slower than 50 flat. Lee Evans and Tommy Smith (who usually beat Lee) were tiny dots on the track ahead of me. I staggered in; crawled (not literally) over to the timers and found that my time was 49.8. First time I broke 50. For the next 22 years I always broke 50 flat. In 1975 I raced John Akii-Bua in Aarhus, Denmark. I was in lane 4 and John in lane 3. My game plan was forget about 13 steps, just stay ahead of John for as many hurdles as I could. John passed me before I reached my second hurdle. Winning a medal in the Olympics was out of the question.

MTC usually breaks this rule (shocking... I know). There was a live stream last year, and you could watch a guy on a bike (think it may have been Collis) handing out personal drinks to Jack/Ryan outside of aid stations.

1:48:56 in the video here - Jack swerves over and grabs a bottle from a personal cyclist on the side of the road who had been following behind him the whole race.

melbournemarathon.com.au

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I have run in the elite race before. The race director told us at the briefing that they wouldn't be monitoring outside assistance if they were passing us gels etc, as long as there was no pacing involved. All the elites received the same information. Whether that is right or wrong from the race is up for debate, but MTC did not have special privileges.

Probably part of the reason MTC always runs Melbourne (aside from it being a Nike event) as the rules are loosey goosey and the event evidently doesn't give a fcck.