Hall is running London

has mahon run sub 2:30? please this is just an observation does everyone have to take everything so personal on this board.

if you read about salazar he mentions that he felt invinceable prior to 84 and raced too many marathons. i am sure he would take back that 2:08 to have placed top 3 in LA.

hall should be very cautious about london if he really wants to demonstrate gods talent to the world in bejing.

talent pool wrote:

has mahon run sub 2:30? please this is just an observation does everyone have to take everything so personal on this board.

Yes, he's run 2:13. However he ran more crappy marathons than good ones.

Maybe Hall wants the money, maybe he doesn't. He probably doesn't need it at this very moment. While Hall doesn't race that much, Nov-Aug is a very long time. He could easily become stale. It's not like he's racing Boston. I'm sure he thought about this. It's competition. I don't think we can compare Hall to Meb. Ryan may very well go into hibernation after the Olympics. From the examples given on this thread, it seems much better to have a marathon under one's belt for the year.

talent pool wrote:

hall should be very cautious about london if he really wants to demonstrate gods talent to the world in bejing.

The very essence of all sports is competition! Are you saying that someone of Hall´s ability has to wait from November until late August to run another marathon?

Ummm, "History repeating itself", did you notice that Kefelzighi had a great summer of racing in 2007 before he got injured? That kind of obviates any "he ruined himself" claim.

Also, before you claim the injury was because of running too many marathons, remember that this year this guy was trainign to be at a level that I (and probably you) can only fantazise about -- and to give less than your best effort is to condemn yourself to falling short of your potential. When you train that hard, you risk injury. Same in any sport.

Meb ruined himself.............as a marathoner.

apologies if this is somewhere in the thread but....i can just see mr. monti standing there..."well mr. champ marathoner, I'd love to give you a 5-figure contract, but now i'll make it 6-figures since your fee went UP so much because of that dnf 15min ago".....uhhhh, riiiight. ok everyone, get ready to dnf because NYC and CHI will greatly INCREASE your appearance fee. gosh, and i thought winning races increased marketability....proof once again that this board is populated by the double digit IQ.dude-ps. prior to his WC win...Luke Kibet who???? afterwards, hello 5-figure fee. point made!

Not the entire story wrote:

David,

Come on, be honest, tell the whole story. I will be willing to bet that yourself and Carey Pinkowski will be at the Olympic Games with contracts in hand, just waiting for a couple of big shooters to DNF. The athletes all know this. In other words, the athletes have a financial benefit (courtesy of major fall marathons), to DNF. That has as much to do with the lack of success of the Kenyans as anything else.

The Olympics are the enemy of every major fall marathon. If you don't realize this, then you are not very close to the inner workings of the sport. If Geb or Paula drop from the games, I guarantee they will be offered contracts for a fall marathon. Hell, in 2004, New York convinced some that they didn't need recovery time from the Olympics. Meb was able to pull it off but poor Deena and Dan Browne were not so lucky.

History repeating itself wrote:

The Olympics are the enemy of every major fall marathon.

This assertion is ridiculous. The Olympics are the absolute best vehicle the sport has for raising its profile and helping to build awareness of top stars. The fall marathons depend on the Olympics to provide the kind of memorable drama which will draw additional attention to their races. What race organizer doesn't want the Olympic champion in his race?

I think it's smart for Hall to run London if that's what he wants to do. There may not be a lot of time between London and the Olympics, but I think he can handle it. This will better prepare him since he has only run one world-class marathon (his debut marathon) at London last year. Then he ran the trials, but he was at a higher level than the other U.S. guys.

David,

1. Can you tell me that you are not competing with the Olympics for the same athletes?

2. Can you tell me that you don't secretly hope that Kenya or Ethiopia or Japan leave one or more of their top marathoners off of their team?

3. Can you tell me that you will not be in Beijing signing athletes for your marathon 10 weeks later?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you are in fact competing with the Olympics for athletes and that makes them an enemy.

You can turn it around and say that the publicity from the Olympics helps the sport. But so does the publicity from Chicago and they are also the enemy when competing for athletes.

Questions 1 and 2 indicate that you know very little about David Monti.

As for Question 3, my guess is "doubtful." Most fall marathon conversations involving anyone good enough to run in the Olympics would have started by June at the latest. Radcliffe's very late entry into the ING NYCM in '04 was a major surprise on many levels to many people.

Strictly speaking, USATF decides who gets travel funds and what the payday is. The LOC gives USATF the cash to do just that. They pay the million or so to have the right to put on the race.

Just maybe wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

guys show up under 2:19 who USATF are footing the bill for,

and USATF money to fight for

Alan

Alan,

1. USATF did not pay for any athletes to come to the Trials. This is always done by the LOC.

2. Take a look at the couple hundred dollars of USATF prize money. All of the money comes from the host.

Geb's going to run the Olympics, isn't he? That would put him at 3: Berlin, Dubai, Beijing.

I think that Hall running London will help him for the Olympic marathon, and let me remind everyone that does not agree with that decision that the US women Olympic trials are in Boston in April.

So don't tell me that you think that women need less time to prepare than men?

You will see great things from Hall in the time to come.

I think Hall should read the IAAF article of Gary Reed. Hall already has money in the bank (Prize money of +$60k and endorsements). It makes me wonder if Hall is the opposite of someone like Gary Reed.

.............This should be the quote of the day..............

“I have never raced for the money,” he affirms, “I have never chased the money, that’s not what I am about. I focus on the ‘majors’ I focused on the World championships I focus on the Olympics. I am not trying to get rich off track and field. I am just trying to win medals. The money will take care of itself.”

yes but geb already has two olympic gold medals - the thirst for a third is probably not as great as someone who is hoping for onehe may know running three has the potential to hurt his chances in beijing - he may not care all that muchbesides hall is great and I think he may have a shot at a medal but geb and hall are in different leagues at the moment and in totally different points in their career

Tempo777 wrote:

Geb's going to run the Olympics, isn't he? That would put him at 3: Berlin, Dubai, Beijing.

I'll continue this list with other hopefulls

Wanjaru: Fukuka, London, Beijing

Lel: NY, London, Beijing

Kibet: World Champs, London, Beijing

Cheruiyot: Chicago, - , Beijing

Tergat: -, London, Beijing

(I don't know who Kenya will take and I wouldn't be surprised to see Cheruiyot at Boston etc.)

Ramaala: NY, London, Beijing

Baldini: NY, London, Beijing

Goumri: NY, London, Beijing

Gharib: Chicago, London, Beijing

The list goes on but my point is that most of the runners in the field will have run a fall marathon in 2007 and a spring marathon in 08. Boston hasn't been announced yet but there will probably be some 08 olympians in that field aswell. It is very possible that the gold medal will go to someone that did NY, London and Beijing.

I like that Ryan is doing London because I think he will do well and I think it will boost his confidence. (I think he will run sub 2:07 and then he should be less afraid when the more important race happens) If he does poorly though it could be a bad decision.

a whole lotta asking goin' on