When Matt Richtman ran the 2:07:57 last year, Rory predicted that we were at the precipice of a lot of American marathoners breaking 2:08. And that does seem to be happening.
Obviously he's using hyperbole but the reality is that the Boston/New York trap and the American marathoning bubble has caused the US to fall behind in marathoning, among other reasons. But America is catching back up and that's why you're starting to see all these "surprise" performances. These times are not a surprise in other parts of the world, but in America there's still a mental shift that needs to take place.