For reference, LA started at 10am. Rupp ran a 2:11 and Cragg ran a 2:28.
The NASCAR speedway sounds kind of promising for spectators but with 170 people wouldn't there be runners at every point on different laps and the winners would just get mixed in so it seems kind of anticlimactic? And maybe mindnumbing for the runners.
For reference, LA started at 10am. Rupp ran a 2:11 and Cragg ran a 2:28.
The NASCAR speedway sounds kind of promising for spectators but with 170 people wouldn't there be runners at every point on different laps and the winners would just get mixed in so it seems kind of anticlimactic? And maybe mindnumbing for the runners.
Best part is women marathoner Kelsey Pontius bragging and hyping up the fact that it’s going to be in Florida like she has some sort of advantage living here. Sorry kelsey no amount of heat will miracle your 2:33 to a qualifying spot much less top 10 finish. But you keep playing that card for social media hype.
Brojos sticky this please. If it is ONLY that hot it's going to be bad. It could be worse. Which means the pace will be slow. Which mean anyone can win, show, and place.
Best part is women marathoner Kelsey Pontius bragging and hyping up the fact that it’s going to be in Florida like she has some sort of advantage living here. Sorry kelsey no amount of heat will miracle your 2:33 to a qualifying spot much less top 10 finish. But you keep playing that card for social media hype.
Brojos sticky this please. If it is ONLY that hot it's going to be bad. It could be worse. Which means the pace will be slow. Which mean anyone can win, show, and place.
Alan
They should deepen the fields allowing ALL collegiate XC champs and All Americans to AUTO QUALIFY!
This might sound farfetched, but wondering if the real reason why Orlando got the Marathon Trials is because it's a short enough distance for USATF CEO Max Siegel to go to Daytona for his NASCAR obligations afterwards.
When you're the king, you can do what you want.
It’s probably in Orlando because it’s A very affordable destination if you aren’t staying on Disney property. While, I typically avoid Orlando, it has tons of amenities, plenty of reasonable accommodations and a large international airport.
It also has some rolling hills for FL standards. I’ve run plenty of noon February runs in the 50s with low humidity in FL. It’s more likely to be in the high 60s and a little humid.
Rolling hills by Florida standards aren’t going to equate to the 1400+ ft pf gain the Paris course has. So for all those saying the point of the trials is to pick the best team, why aren’t we running on a hillier course?
Best part is women marathoner Kelsey Pontius bragging and hyping up the fact that it’s going to be in Florida like she has some sort of advantage living here. Sorry kelsey no amount of heat will miracle your 2:33 to a qualifying spot much less top 10 finish. But you keep playing that card for social media hype.
Brojos sticky this please. If it is ONLY that hot it's going to be bad. It could be worse. Which means the pace will be slow. Which mean anyone can win, show, and place.
Alan
Like what happened in the heat in LA? In the wind and hills in ATL? C'mon, dude, just stop this 1-dimensional logic. The ones who will best be ready for Paris will best be ready for Orlando. Those who can't prepare for Orlando wouldn't be better prepared for Paris. No dream team is going to produce multiple medalists against Africans in Paris, anyway. With Rupp on the downside and Mantz too green to compete without pacers (Boston '23), there's nobody with even an outside shot at the medals among men. Sisson and the rest of the women are great on fast courses in cool weather with pacers, otherwise not so much (minus the questionable-at-best Seidel).
This might sound farfetched, but wondering if the real reason why Orlando got the Marathon Trials is because it's a short enough distance for USATF CEO Max Siegel to go to Daytona for his NASCAR obligations afterwards.
When you're the king, you can do what you want.
It’s probably in Orlando because it’s A very affordable destination if you aren’t staying on Disney property. While, I typically avoid Orlando, it has tons of amenities, plenty of reasonable accommodations and a large international airport.
It also has some rolling hills for FL standards. I’ve run plenty of noon February runs in the 50s with low humidity in FL. It’s more likely to be in the high 60s and a little humid.
Its in Orlando because there is a track club there willing to host the event and from the options that meet that criterium, the USATF bigwigs chose this race because they want a disney vacation. Its at noon, because the USATF bigwigs don't want to get up early. Its not about the athletes at all. Orlando would be fine, despite being the lamest city in Florida, if they would host the race first thing in the morning. Hopefully they come to their senses on this.
For reference, LA started at 10am. Rupp ran a 2:11 and Cragg ran a 2:28.
The NASCAR speedway sounds kind of promising for spectators but with 170 people wouldn't there be runners at every point on different laps and the winners would just get mixed in so it seems kind of anticlimactic? And maybe mindnumbing for the runners.
Coastal California and central Florida are very different environments in the winter. In coastal California, you can run hard and race at any time of the day in the winter without temp or humidity effecting your performance.
It’s probably in Orlando because it’s A very affordable destination if you aren’t staying on Disney property. While, I typically avoid Orlando, it has tons of amenities, plenty of reasonable accommodations and a large international airport.
It also has some rolling hills for FL standards. I’ve run plenty of noon February runs in the 50s with low humidity in FL. It’s more likely to be in the high 60s and a little humid.
Its in Orlando because there is a track club there willing to host the event and from the options that meet that criterium, the USATF bigwigs chose this race because they want a disney vacation. Its at noon, because the USATF bigwigs don't want to get up early. Its not about the athletes at all. Orlando would be fine, despite being the lamest city in Florida, if they would host the race first thing in the morning. Hopefully they come to their senses on this.
If the OP's rumor reporting is true and the start is at noon it's solely because... NBC tv window. People would whine if it was streaming-for-a-fee-only that USATF lacks the strength to get this event on television. USATF/USOPC gets it on television from their negotiating position and people whine that USATF isn't strong enough to dictate the window to the network. Well duh, the interest in the race to make the marathon teams for Paris doesn't even represent a 5% viewership share for any given day and time. Stop the delusions that this 8th rate sporting event should command better than that. And yes, the camerawork and commentary will once again be average, at best.
What were the ratings for the last Olympic Trials Marathon? I can't imagine they are very good at all, to be honest.
Heck, they should have timed it with the Daytona 500. Put the trials at Daytona Motor Speedway. Friday night. Under the lights on the 2.5 mile oval. Granted NASCAR fans aren't exactly known to be running fans, but it would all but ensure spectators and TV Ratings are probably going to be better on a Friday night in February than on a Saturday at Noon.
A flatter road course would be a better idea than a traditional oval. Less monotonous for the runners as well. Pick one of the F1, Indy Car, or Endurance race tracks.
What were the ratings for the last Olympic Trials Marathon? I can't imagine they are very good at all, to be honest.
Heck, they should have timed it with the Daytona 500. Put the trials at Daytona Motor Speedway. Friday night. Under the lights on the 2.5 mile oval. Granted NASCAR fans aren't exactly known to be running fans, but it would all but ensure spectators and TV Ratings are probably going to be better on a Friday night in February than on a Saturday at Noon.
A flatter road course would be a better idea than a traditional oval. Less monotonous for the runners as well. Pick one of the F1, Indy Car, or Endurance race tracks.
Good point. But the reason I used Daytona is that if they are going to insist on a February date for the trials, you'd have Daytona packed with fans already.
Noon is never a good time for a marathon in Orlando, but it will emulate summer in Paris better than if it were at 6 am. Probably not conducive to getting any Olympic standards, though.
It’s probably in Orlando because it’s A very affordable destination if you aren’t staying on Disney property. While, I typically avoid Orlando, it has tons of amenities, plenty of reasonable accommodations and a large international airport.
It also has some rolling hills for FL standards. I’ve run plenty of noon February runs in the 50s with low humidity in FL. It’s more likely to be in the high 60s and a little humid.
Rolling hills by Florida standards aren’t going to equate to the 1400+ ft pf gain the Paris course has. So for all those saying the point of the trials is to pick the best team, why aren’t we running on a hillier course?
They can run through casselberry, fern park and maitland and hit 1400’. The hills arent steep enough to separate a field, but they are enough to wake your legs up. The highest point in the area near the botanical gardens and the hills are good enough to keep race interesting. Absolutely dreadful to run with cars zooming by, but probably lovely without traffic
Not sure that the USOPC/USATF folks want a Disney vacation in Orlando, considering that NBCUniversal is the TV rights holder, but since there's a Universal Studios in Orlando, they'll take that!
Noon start in Orlando from an NBC standpoint probably means that the Trials marathon is on TV after an English Premier League game, so the programmers are telling you: EPL>Marathon.
They're banking that those watching EPL will stick around to watch a bunch of skinny folks running around.
I get your point but Atlanta had a ton of casual fans watching it. Orlando is going to be the same way. I think they should start earlier too but Orlando isn’t going to be extremely hot by this time at this time of year. Weather will be less of a factor than it was in Atlanta and the god awful wind was at every turn. This is a very cool event and it’s basically free so anyone nearby should go watch it. Make a trip out of it. In other sports this would be like being arms length away from All star weekend except this is the whole season. Atlanta had a marathon the following day too and I thought that was very neat. Kinda like playing a round of golf in Augusta. Hey Tiger hit for par here and I only triple bogeyed. Galen went through at 4:40 and I’m struggling to hit 7.
This thread shows the typical mindset of why American Distance running is soft.
Orlando has an average of 52-71 on Feb 3rd. (74% humidity) And it is flat as a pancake. Paris France will have elevation and average temps of 58-76 in August 2024. (67% humidity)
Do we want to send the best 3 marathon runners to the olympics or do we want to make sure all Olympic qualifiers feel great about their runs and have fun? Hey, why don't we allow headphones and Go Pros for the US Olympic qualifiers too for the youtube content makers?