Tim Synowiec breaks 49-yr old US HS marathon record - Runs 2:22:51, wins Salisbury Marathon in the process

So any teenage star at 800-5k should be able to break this record easily, right? I will not even say Hudson's time (The Bible Of The Sport counts times until the end of August after graduation, so don't know if that makes it). I'll just say the time we are discussing here. If it is 10 minutes below what you feel it should be, why don't you go for it. If it is 'worth' somewhere in the neighborhood of a last place finish at any State Meet in any mid-D event, why don't you already have the record. Why doesn't Nico?

Claiming something that nobody has ever done (run 10 minutes faster than this time while in HS) is easy to do is ridiculous. If it were easy to do, someone would have. Let me rephrase: If it were truly easy, a lot would have.

Since when do you care if people are criticizing an amateur athlete?

Oh, wait, only when they're males. Got it!

If you are running 4:05/840/14/29 on the track in HS (, what are you gaining by going out and running a 214 marathon? It is a rare kid that makes that choice. Heck if Chapa didn't think that was his best chance at the trials, I doubt he runs anywhere near that many 10ks...

You guys are teaching an old dog new tricks. Which I actually do appreciate. But it isn't easy. I have a Masters in American History but an Ignoramuses in the sciences. Still I do know that, as a runner for 36 years in Miami, I HATED the heat snd humidity. In 1978, when I was 40, I ran 2:33:55 at Boston - 5:50 pace - but six weeks later in Miami I ran a 20k, less thsn half the distance - at 6:10 pace. And only 8 cups of ice water over my head at the 8 mile mark got me home that fast.

As I acknowledge previously, in the West Valley race I was unaware of any discomfort from the humidity, but after the tace they wrapped me in blankets for 20' or so because I had the shaky chills. Which I did not have after my teo Washington D.C. marathons (really Beltsville MD) in the late 1960s when, in both cases, it was bitter cold for a Miamian:28-32 degrees. But very dry conditions.

The March 1973 Northern California Running Review, which was edited by Jack Leydig, who was also race director for theWest Valley Marathon has a race report. It says the previous record was 2:25:16 by Chuck Walker.

Yes I am definitely an OLDtimer. Have friends in the Bay area and my mom was in Seattle (moved from Long Island) so I often escaped in summer (from teaching in Miami) to the west coast. And ran several interesting races there. Including a National Masters 25K in Medford OR IN 1977 and an 8 miler in Point Reyes in 1966 won by Ray Hatton. Darryl Beardall got 5th and I was 6th. First mile climbed 360'. (They had a topo map at the sign in table.) Tough for a Miamian (high point c.20' - except for bridges)

Okay, I had the Chuck part. Thanks. To show what a small world it was then I think I might know who you are in that know someone who knows someone way. We missed each other at Beltsville by a few years if you ran there in the 60's.

That is a fun fact. Thanks. Kingery did have a very decent career.

Just checked my training diary. Beltsville in '67 and '68. Both dub-30 degrees and very windy. And hilly. And the Point Reyes race was actually 1968.

As I recall, I once knew who you are (were?😀) based on your earlier discussion thread comments but time fogs my memory. Escapes me now. I'm Geoff Pietsch.

From his youtube video description

"I will now start working up my speed and getting ready to run fast on the track."

So with the shoe conversion chart I get a 2:26 here. Pretty good but no record.

So says someone who can't run a 2:14 marathon. Don't many of you remember this quote?

"I used to have no respect for a 2:14 marathoner. Now I am one."

I know some of you reading this will know when and by whom this was said. Hint: 5k PR a minute and a half fastest than the kids you refer to.

But to seriously answer your question, what you have to gain is entrance into theTrials, appearance fees at big marathons in the US, and a decade-long contract for 6 figures per year. If you can run the same time Ritz did in his debut, and comparable to any number of recent BTC runners - and you're 17 - 'what are you gaining?' is only a question asked by someone unaware of the sport of professional marathoning.

Yup. That was my guess. Your name stuck with me because there used to be Kiwi called Geoff Pyne who ran at UCLA in the 60's (I think) and I'd see both names in race results and wonder if it was two guys with very similar names or one guy whose last name got misspelled in some results. I think 1973 was my first year at Beltsville. I'm Rich Englehart. In case you want to chat a bit I'll give you my back up e-mail address: Engstock@yahoo.com.

Brad Hudson ran 2:17 at Chicago, the October after his HS senior year.

If I were a college coach, I'd give this kid a scholarship on the spot as long as he expressed commitment to running XC/5k/10k and no more marathons for a few years. I have to believe he'd be capable of running 24:xx for 8k and 30:00 for 10k as a freshman. Maybe less upside than a 4:10 1600 runner but more of a sure bet to contribute right away.

I live in Salisbury, too. You're from SBY and never heard of Timmy? Well, local newspaper does skew more toward football or basketball, and two local schools won State soccer titles last Fall. He was 2nd in the 3A XC States, great team, great kids, all of them. He had just won the 10-miler. We've certainly been watching Tim develop, and dad is a good runner, too. Same day, coincidental to the marathon performance, Tim and a classmate received the Eastern Shore Running Club scholarships. Criteria is not for the best times, it's for those who all well-rounded student-athletes. He is a class act, at the finish, anywhere, you're not going to hear much about this time or that, he's going to ask how you are doing. All the best to you ahead, Timmy, and all our young runners.

Not sure why various posters are commenting on this guy's NCAA options. Does it seem like he's planning to participate? I'll admit I haven't watched his YT episodes, so maybe he talks about it there. But in general, saying he has no hope of doing anything on his school's teams or any collegiate team (as posters have starting on page 1) is somewhat disrespectful since those programs don't offer anything for marathoners or even someone who's best events are 15-21k.

All this could have been said of Wanjiru, who was racing beyond 5k at high school age and marathons at traditional college age. "Sammy has no chance at Arcadia! He'll never get a scholarship unless he drops down!" This kind of thing would have been ridiculous to post. The dude was great at half, and especially full, marathons. Our kid could be on the same path. Hopefully, anyway!

Timmy recently won the 3200 meters at the Bayside Conference track & field championship in 9:43, ahead by 40 seconds, just looked like he was cruising along, not thinking too much on time, bigger meets ahead this Spring. Oklahoma State University is getting a class-act young man.

He won the State 3200 in 9:28 on May 28, beat Ashton Tolson to the finish, exciting race. Outstanding young man, great team.