Jake Krolick runs 2:19:00.14 at Houston this weekend. USATF grants him entry into the trials. Hours later he’s denied.

How about more elementary rounding? wrote:

Ok, so the current rule says anything .xx gets rounded up. That should change. Anyone knowing basic rounding rules knows you round up by 5, or in this case .50, so you should round down anything below like his supposed exact time. Seems like the rounding rules need to change.

It's not going to happen. You'd be ignoring the history of how they round times in track and field, which would make times recorded with your method not comparable with historical times. You'd have to keep a separate list of times or use a heck of a lot of asterisks to indicate uncertainty in how to properly order a list of times. It'd be a complete mess.

The benefit of the way rounding is done now (and historically) is that the quality of a time can never overstated. If you run 2:19:00.499, with your method, you'd round down to 2:19:00 and be overstating the quality of the time by 0.499 second.

Jacob wasn’t the last man starting the Houston Marathon. It was Calum Neff.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=qeXR1ZOi5F8&t=0h42m26s

you realize that 2.19 is four miles behind the world record...

thanks for posting calum

I haven't read the entire thread, but he should be let in. The IAAF certification process requires that a course be NOT LESS than the marathon distance and up to 0.1% long... or 42 meters. The IAAF further recommends that course measurement always be 0.1% too long to prevent possible short courses upon remeasurement.

He was short by 28 inches over a course that could have been up to 42 meters longer than a marathon.

USATF:

"'Gun' time is the only acceptable method of timing. Chip/net times cannot be used for qualifying. Consideration may be given to "chip/tag" time for competitors with "gun" time extremely close to the above qualifying standards."

Also USATF:

768 Wasserman, Elizabeth (NY) 2:45:00 - 2:45:41 gun time

Men's Rights wrote:

McGurk wrote:

Krolick is currently listed at the moment. Does this mean that he is in?

Looks like Jake is in the Olympic Trials now if the USATF site is up to date since it lists Jacob Krolick with a qualifying time of 2:19:00.00

Even more interesting is that the USATF lists Alec Baldwin the actor as qualifying for the Olympic Trials with a time of 2:18:33.00

Kevin Colon 2:18:09.00

Brandon Johnson 2:18:13.00

Christopher Burnett 2:18:24.00

Stewart Harwell Valor Track Club 2:18:31.00

Alec Baldwin 2:18:33.00

Thomas Slattery 2:18:35.00

Jacob Krolick 2:19:00.00

If this is correct, I'm glad he got in, he deserves it. There is precedent for letting people in that came very close and the ATC screwed up by sending the email they are also the ones that are paying for the his expenses, so it's fair.

That being said, they should let him in and list his time as 2:19:00.14, that is what he ran.

Totally agree about the historic aspects and how that would create more problems than its worth. I'm only saying round this way for the purposes of a qualifying standard. And this does have historical precedent ... Boston, prior to the current system, used to round down for BQs. For example, you could have run a 3:10:59 and it was considered a 3:10. ... I am not however arguing for that liberal of a rounding in this case.

I "love" that this guy tried to point at a bunch of a women who he thinks got an exception that he didn't get and then it turns out that the situations weren't at all the same. Pathetic! He's probably a sexist, and if he isn't he should have looked at the details before ranting about a bunch of women whose situations aren't at all applicable.

It's not a historic problem because they have already let several in that were over the standard in previous years. They have already created the problem and shouldn't just keep changing the rules.

Yeah, great job letting in a guy who had previously never broken 2:24 in the marathon. That'll make a huge difference in the field - better rethink the predictions. He couldn't run under the standard then got all whiny because he was "close". The standard was weak, he was in a lightning fast race, and wore shoes that took 5+ minutes off his time - yet didn't run the qualifying time.

If they ban CheaterFlys prior the trials, I bet this guy won't even break 2:25. While we're at it, why not just let in any marathoner who has run sub 2:24 without wearing CheaterFlys?

The trials should be about qualifying for the Olympics, not qualifying for the trials. Those who are on the fringe are not realistic candidates for the Olympic team, so it is not some great tragedy if the individual doesn't get in. In fact, if the rules are clear, then they should enforce the rules to maintain the integrity of the sport. If the USATF wants to limit the field, great.

One of my daughters missed qualifying for a regional USATF meet in one event by one place. She learned that she needed to get faster. When I was younger, I missed the finals for a national event by a fraction of a second. I learned I needed to get faster. It stinks to be the last one out, but all events are not for everyone, that is the whole point of having a standard in the first place.

dunes runner wrote:

In the best year ever for the US men's marathon, the qualifying time was 2:23 flat.

The men's qualifying time should be changed to 2:23 flat and remain there from now on.

2:19 is already too soft. They have about 240 athletes qualified. That is like having the 10K standard at 30:00. The marathon trials is the hobby jogger Olympics.

And I’m the biggest hobby jogger moran of all!

Really? How low should it be? Should only elite drug cheats from NOP be allowed into the trials? 2:19 is the lowest the standard has ever been and is faster than 60% of the field in most Olympic marathon fields. It is a reasonable time and need not be any faster; lowering the time only reduces the number of runners "going for it"; the more the merrier and the more the sport is elevated by the real athletes, not elite crap like NOP. The OM hardly ever goes much under 2:10 because it is mostly a cheat free race compared to the very likely dirty world records that have been posted in recent years. The trashing of this dude here for being annoyed when they said yes and then no is ridiculous and the garbage of ex-high school stars who still think they are important; any dude running near 2:19 now has a shot on this Atlanta course and anyone running 2:19 now will be able to represent the USA just fine if they make the US team. The elitist BS that perpetuates much if this sport is pure trash, half coming from doped up jokes. Thank God someone seems to have decided on reason over arrogance in this case.

McGurk wrote:

...any dude running near 2:19 now has a shot on this Atlanta course....

Hahahahahaha.

Listen, I'll never run within an hour of that time, but no one consistently running 2:19 is coming anywhere near the top 3.

Gotta feel bad for someone missing their dream by one second (as someone who ran 2:00 in the 800, I know), but let's not pretend this guy - or any other 2:15+ - is a contender.

Leaning at the finish might have slowed down his chip crossing.

Should he have stuck out the foot that had the chip on it?

Maybe that be the marathoner's version of leaning at the finish!

macdaddy wrote:

McGurk wrote:

...any dude running near 2:19 now has a shot on this Atlanta course....

Hahahahahaha.

Listen, I'll never run within an hour of that time, but no one consistently running 2:19 is coming anywhere near the top 3.

Maybe in this field. But Bill Rodgers ran 2:09:55 in his 6th marathon after his first 5 marathons went: DNF, 2:28, 2:19, 2:36, 2:21. He wasn't even consistently running 2:19 before making the jump.

It is supposedly an elite event. However, it is hard to consider it an elite event when the standard is the 1200th fastest time in the world in 2019 (in an event that not a lot of people run). Here is a breakdown of what time you would need to run to hit that position in other events:

1500 - 3:49

5000 - 14:15

10000 - 30:07

Those times wouldn't even get you into the NCAA regional meet (or into the finals at a decent conference meet), let alone the Olympic trials. The standard is slow enough. They don't need to go out of their way to make exceptions so that the 240th athlete doesn't get their feelings hurt. This is supposed to be an elite event, not some fun run that gives everyone a medal for finishing. If you want a participation trophy, stick to the age group awards at your local races.