Holy crap. Yuki Kawauchi had 1 plan for Boston - To break Galen Rupp. That's why he went out in 4:37!!

Les wrote:

I think they focused on Rupp, aside from being an American running at home and an obvious contender, because his race plan is so consistent and unchanging. In other words, they COULD plan for Rupp. He never changes his approach. Certainly the weather was a big factor. Would Kawauchi's plan have worked if it was warm? We'll never know.

He would have adjusted his plan. He had the perfect plan for the cold. Runners without the body-fat got hypothermia if they were dressed like Kawauchi. This wouldn't happen in the heat, so different plan.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

No dis, but you guys are being arse holes with this.

You put it up as a SUPER HOT TOPIC on the front page. come on, man

That just ridiculous. I believe in taking LEGITIMATE shots at rupp, due to his slow times and

cherry picking races.

but this? People could have died out there, and that is no joke.

Yuki won. cool. But let it be just that.

Yuki was dressed for the weather at the start. He was not dressed for the sh@# storm an hour later. He had a bit of luck in being a little bit larger than most runners. If he broke Rupp, it was in the first half according to his stated plan. In the second half he was running for survival. His surges kept him warm. Runners who slowed got hypothermia.

I don't understand why your upset., but you're 100% right, people could have died out there. Why can't you discuss this topic, it's quoted strategy according to an article?

Anyone think he'll ever break 2:10 again?

Sub What? wrote:

Anyone think he'll ever break 2:10 again?

Yuki ran 2:10 twice last December. I think he can do it in the right race.

Sad that some many posters are dismissive or indifferent to the idea of a gritty racer overcoming a competitor through strategy and willpower. The winning time was slow, the conditions were awful. On 99 days out of 100 Kawauchi would not have won this race, but he did. If he and and his coach want to romanticize and celebrate it I've got no problem with that whatsoever—better than reducing running to some kind of time trial view that worships fast times on flat courses in perfect conditions. Why not cycle pacers around a car race track with a laboratory mindset to breaking some arbitrary time? Oh, wait ... we tried that and nobody found it remotely interesting.

Ehtso wrote:

Skeptical gfghjj wrote:

Sounds like revisionist history to me. Write the story now that the ending is here...

Definitely.

It’s sad how rojo became giddy at the mere suggestion, however improbable, that Kawauchi is an obsessive Rupp-hater like him.

Exactly. You might say it plays to the base. The base is more vocal than the silent majority but that doesn't mean that the majority of readers don't see through it. Now, I'm not saying that the plan was revisionist history. Actually, it makes a lot of sense that Kawauchi formulated a plan that he thought was his best chance of winning and this included taking the better runners out of their plan. The reason it is being reported breathlessly is that for those who have a negative view of Rupp/Salazar/Nike, this is the perfect story.

Rupp lost regardless. Revisionist or not. Rupp lost.

Slow in a marathon wrote:

10k SPEED wrote:

I love how you can tell slow guys because they consider 67 second quarter pace to be “speed”. Lol.

Incredible endurance and aerobic strength? Yes. Speed? No.

I love how you can tell track guys who who cannot figure out the marathon because they talk think in 400 m splits even on the roads.

Found the triggered slow old guy LOL

Fast track guys don’t run marathons bc they have actual SPEED. Why race for 130 mins when you can race for 2??

There's something else. The race commentators regularly ridiculed Yuki's racing tactics during the course of the race. They never said "Oh. Maybe this is a tactic Yuki uses to demoralize his opponents by demonstrating his strength and their weakness." After his winning race he gets to say to the world that he's not such an idiot after all. I think we can forgive him if his post-race story has been polished a bit.

And what was Rupp's post-race narrative/excuse: he succumbed to the ever-present asthma and also hypothermia. True to some extent, but the killing blow for Rupp was probably the mental aspect - he realized he was up against a stronger runner and had no chance of winning, or even coming close to winning.

notrump wrote:

There's something else. The race commentators regularly ridiculed Yuki's racing tactics during the course of the race. They never said "Oh. Maybe this is a tactic Yuki uses to demoralize his opponents by demonstrating his strength and their weakness." After his winning race he gets to say to the world that he's not such an idiot after all. I think we can forgive him if his post-race story has been polished a bit.

And what was Rupp's post-race narrative/excuse: he succumbed to the ever-present asthma and also hypothermia. True to some extent, but the killing blow for Rupp was probably the mental aspect - he realized he was up against a stronger runner and had no chance of winning, or even coming close to winning.

You’re right. Every time Rupp has been in a race against strong competition, he has dropped out. This is well known. Every track race against Mo- a DNF for Rupp. The Olympic marathon against Kipchoge- another DNF. We all know that Rupp never finishes a race if he can’t win.

Do you not see how ridiculous you sound?

Thanks for sharing the inside scoop from Brett Larner. Very inspiring!

That was one of the best running related pieces I've read in my life. Just enough skill + just enough luck (alright maybe a crapload) + thorough planning. Awesome.

“Concentrating only on Rupp was the best approach I could take,” Kawauchi said. “It kept me from getting distracted by all the others.”

C0l0rado wrote:

Sad that some many posters are dismissive or indifferent to the idea of a gritty racer overcoming a competitor through strategy and willpower. The winning time was slow, the conditions were awful. On 99 days out of 100 Kawauchi would not have won this race, but he did. If he and and his coach want to romanticize and celebrate it I've got no problem with that whatsoever—better than reducing running to some kind of time trial view that worships fast times on flat courses in perfect conditions. Why not cycle pacers around a car race track with a laboratory mindset to breaking some arbitrary time? Oh, wait ... we tried that and nobody found it remotely interesting.

Assuming all things being the same before the race and the weather being somewhat random for the same period for the Boston marathon, against the same elite field over 100 random days, I’d say his chances are pretty good on a bunch of those days. On any cold rainy day, he has the advantage. If any of the Africans wore what he wore on race day, they don’t finish. Also, I think he wins on some hot days and some slow majors since he knows how to finish a race. And he has the advantage of being unestimated if he were to go out like meb in 2014.

Yuki’s not going to win another major. He’s not going to be underestimated and the other elite will dress appropriately. Similarly, Rupp does not win any more majors unless it’s a weak field in Boston/Chicago- he will never win in Tokyo, Berlin, and London.

I'm all for bashing the brojos, but this time I don't get it. Can someone explain to me, logically and coherently, how this story = hating on Rupp? If anything, I think it shows respect for Rupp.

As for the rest, I think some people are conflating two related, but distinct, questions:

1) Did Kawauchi really use this strategy, or is he just saying he did?

2) Did Kawauchi win because he used this strategy, or did he win because of other factors, such as physiology or gear?

10k SPEES wrote:

Slow in a marathon wrote:

I love how you can tell track guys who who cannot figure out the marathon because they talk think in 400 m splits even on the roads.

Found the triggered slow old guy LOL

Fast track guys don’t run marathons bc they have actual SPEED. Why race for 130 mins when you can race for 2??

Ever heard of Geb? Bekele? Kipchoge? Tergat?

YK had the perfect storm (pun intended) come his way... He'd better enjoy his minute of fame because he will never be a "true elite" as in battling out with the top guys out there in a top marathon with fast times ensuing. He will never run a 2.05-2.06 and i am not even sure if he raced less he could..... although given that Tokyo 2020 will be a scorcher he could well medal at home.

Rupp could be one of those guys if he only stopped playing chicken and just race at home but i suspect he will never be too....

I totally agree with you, he knew in a regular race, if it’s slow, Galen would run away. He was going to try this and the weather only inspired him further. As well he was finely prepared to run the course efficiently over the last stretch as he said in the article and that probably inspired him as well. The race is the race, regardless of anyone’s pedigree.

This guy is going to make so much $$$$ on appearance fees now that he's the Boston champ and has the strength to run a fast race nearly every weekend

This is absolutely legendary. What a BAD MF'er..Seriously I am fan for life even if he never runs again. That's a cold hearted competitor.