"The Boston Marathon Was Fixed" thread.

Your a moran wrote:

Please tell me why Meb was chosen over Hall as the American to win this race.

Meb doesn't have to know anything. All it would take would be to have a word with the couple of stable owners who exploit the leading Kenyans and make sure they don't win the race. They can take the risk that someone else comes through and win as long as the few 2:04-2:06 guys are dealt with.

Hall was clearly not in shape. Would have been a bit odd to see the couple of Kenyans follow closely behind as Hall wins in 2:17 - it looked less sketchy at 2:08 but they still weren't going past.

trollism wrote:

Your a moran wrote:

Please tell me why Meb was chosen over Hall as the American to win this race.

Meb doesn't have to know anything. All it would take would be to have a word with the couple of stable owners who exploit the leading Kenyans and make sure they don't win the race. They can take the risk that someone else comes through and win as long as the few 2:04-2:06 guys are dealt with.

Hall was clearly not in shape. Would have been a bit odd to see the couple of Kenyans follow closely behind as Hall wins in 2:17 - it looked less sketchy at 2:08 but they still weren't going past.

Maybe you should check the latest winning times at Boston. 2:08s aren't getting cranked out every year. Do you watch running?

the skeptic wrote:

Too obvious.

There is a lot prestige and money at stake in winning; you would have to have deep pockets to fix a MM. What I saw Meb do today was no difference than what I have seen many times in Marathons. Meb got his separation in a 1-2 mile surge which would have put him on a 2:05 pace and everyone assumed he would blow up. The beauty of Boston is that if you get far enough ahead, the chase pack can't see you and they kind of let Meb and of course he never blew up. - That's basically it.

Btw, to fix a MM you would have to pay off several guys and what's the chance that one would ever mention it. Who would take that risk?

Crying Man wrote:

Another vacuous post.

Congratulations!

One of the many amusing things about your posts is that, while you accuse others of being "vacuous" and not providing evidence, you have failed to provide any objective data to back up your crazy theory. You act like the burden is on everyone else to prove what should be the default position--i.e., that today's outcome was the result of a running competition.

As for the idea that no one ever breaks away from the pack with a slow, steady surge, someone has already provided the counter example of Joan Samuelson at the 1984 Olympic marathon. There's also the example of Frank Shorter in the 1972 Olympic marathon, who broke away at the nine-mile mark even though he was running well under WR pace. And these were *Olympic* marathons with, obviously, loaded fields. When those in the pack were asked afterwards why they let the front runner go so early, their answers were the same: they though that the leader would come back. But they miscalculated.

It happens, dude. You write like someone who has watched very little elite marathon racing.

Maybe they did not respect Meb when he ran out ahead, thinking he would come back, while they hung back keeping an eye on Hall, who they thought would be the faster American today.

Different cultures have different standards of honor and sportsmanship. It's not a matter of better or worse. It's just different.

Nn one had to "pay off" the top African runners. They have their own sense of pride and what is right. There is pride in knowing that you control your life and aren't just a bunch of guys in short shorts chasing after the crumbs thrown in front of you.

In view of all the evidence, it's reasonable to conclude that the top runners decided it would be right for an American to win today if one showed himself worthy. Meb did that and deserves all credit for doing so.

The clearest evidence for this conclusion is Chebet turning off the gas once he got within close range of Meb. There is no doubt, to my eyes, that he did so.

thats how it goes wrote:

The clearest evidence for this conclusion is Chebet turning off the gas once he got within close range of Meb. There is no doubt, to my eyes, that he did so.

Mile after mile, Chebet could see Meb getting closer, but then in the last couple of mies, going up that last major hill, I think Meb broke him: Chebet looked back at that point.

I guess they let Meb win in NY in 2009 too! Sheez! Another .25 miles and the African behind him likely could have caught up to him, but Meb wanted it more! Not every African runs 2:06 in every marathon. They aren't all like Mutai.

If I discovered this website for the first time in my life; I would conclude that this sport is comprised of lunatics- no wonder this is a fringe sport.

east_river_runner wrote:

This thread needs to be moved to the other site LetsDumb.com

I agree

In fact this message board needs to create an extra site; so there could be:

Training forum race reports forum, high school forum,college track & field, shoes & gear, and, a fluff forum - where the double digit IQ types can freely post about who theyd' like to bang, how many times they piss during the day, etc., etc., etc!!!

Talk about this running site dumbing down as well as all the crapola whether true or not if Boston 2014 was fixed.

Hell, a local running club in Victoria, BC'S running msg. board used to have what was named a fluff forum where posters could write about how they had diarrhea at the end of their race

A message to the Johnson brothers who put this together.

Please post the splits of the elites who ran absurdly slow when Meb made his break. When making extreme claims, the burden of proof is in your court.

Most conspiracy theories are so fraught with obvious issues that cripple the entire idea that it's difficult to decide which of these to address first. Those claiming that expecting everyone in on the fix to both agree and remain silent is ludicrous are on the money.

But what about the way the race unfolded? Assume there was a fix and everyone was contracted the let Meb win. How likely is it that the race would have played out the way it did? Wouldn't it have been a lot more compelling to have a group or six or eight guys stick together through at least 30 or 35 kilometers and have them fall off one by one, allowing Med to take off in the last half-mile or something?

Most upset marathon wins on non-runway courses don't involve the underdog outkicking the favorite(s) in the homestretch. They unfold exactly like the race today did -- someone makes an early break, the field lets him or her go, and the move ultimately proves to be the best winning strategy that day. This doesn't mean that this strategy is usually wise (look at Kim Smith's debut at Boston in 2011), but that's exactly why it looks so crafty with the benefit of a post hoc assessment.

Meb has proven over and over that he is an incredible racer. He simply wins a lot of competitions, big ones, and knows both how to prepare himself to compete and how to get the most out of himself on a given day, faced with a known set of conditions. Not just at Athens but in a slew of races both in the intervening years and before Athens. They man seems more immune to caving under pressure than anyone I've ever seen.

The bottom line, though, is that even if both the race organizers and the athletes had all for some reason agreed to let Meb win, the idea that this could both work and be kept a secret shatters credulity. The OP is trolling but it appears that like any successful troll he's swayed some people to his contrived position.

The zombies have taken over wrote:

If I discovered this website for the first time in my life; I would conclude that this sport is comprised of lunatics- no wonder this is a fringe sport.

Agreed. The reason running isn't more popular is that it's obviously filled with hateful D-bags. I'm a runner and after reading posts on this site I HATE runners.

Fix was definitely in. I caught Meb at the end of a long run in SoCal a couple months ago and asked him how Boston training was coming. He smiled and said "i've got it in the bag, bro." Then, he winked and walked to his car.

If anyone in the running world thinks that Meb was in on a conspiracy to win this race, well, you are WRONG. I can say this and bet my life and that of my wife and five children on it because honestly, today the best person won the Boston Marathon. Sketchers could not out spend Nike and I think that is apparent, not to mention the guy won NYC, 2nd in 2004 Olympics, 4th 2012 Olympics, and 2012 Olympic Trials Champion. COME ON, this tread is F..king Retarded!The guy who started it is literally a COMPLETE ASS.Ole and Idiot who knows nothing about US marathoning history or Meb the man!

C. Dita practically stole the 2008 Olympic marathon by going out front early. It was as if the main pack forgot she was up there. I think Ndereba even claimed to have not known Dita was in the lead until the later stages of the race. And wasn't Dita 38 years old when she won!?!?

You just never know. Yea Meb!

It was weird how much fatigue Chebet showed at the end.

Chebet ran 20 seconds faster than Meb in the penultimate mile, though. Maybe he was just really tough and went for more than he had

I think Meb will be on Letterman this week.

Honestly...! wrote:

If anyone in the running world thinks that Meb was in on a conspiracy to win this race, well, you are WRONG. I can say this and bet my life and that of my wife and five children on it because honestly, today the best person won the Boston Marathon. Sketchers could not out spend Nike and I think that is apparent, not to mention the guy won NYC, 2nd in 2004 Olympics, 4th 2012 Olympics, and 2012 Olympic Trials Champion. COME ON, this tread is F..king Retarded!The guy who started it is literally a COMPLETE ASS.Ole and Idiot who knows nothing about US marathoning history or Meb the man!

The fault in your logic is quite simple. Meb most definitely did NOT have to be in on the conspiracy for there to be a conspiracy (and an effective one). He only had to run his race.

The folks in on it would be the folks who did not run their race and allowed him to get away with no real effort.