Reebok Boston's Martin Hehir scores HUGE PB and win for adidas at Marathon Project in 2:08:59

You want something accomplished, give it to a busy man.

Reebok is owned by Adidas... c’mon, this is easy.

he's got 2 kids, Rojo. Do some research.

Bernard Lagat's interview:

BL: How did that go for you Marty? Did it hurt?

MH: It was actually pretty smooth until those last couple miles

BL: Well congratulations

The end

I don't know why Reebok doesn't have a "super shoe" yet. They already use the Pebax foam in a few shoes, so it wouldn't seem too tough. But maybe there's no margin in making yet another marathon racer.

Also weird thing to note, despite the name "Reebok Boston" is based in Virginia.

My bad. I forgot this. Stayed up too late too many nights this week. Adidas may actually sell Reebok - I read that this week which I remember being worried about as I wondered what that would mean for the future of the Fox and the Reebok Boston TC.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/adidas-reebok-potential-sale/

Martin did great, but please call him a sub 2:09 marathoner, don't say he ran 2:08. Thanks;)!

Ho Hum wrote:

I don't know why Reebok doesn't have a "super shoe" yet. They already use the Pebax foam in a few shoes, so it wouldn't seem too tough. But maybe there's no margin in making yet another marathon racer.

Also weird thing to note, despite the name "Reebok Boston" is based in Virginia.

And Marty lives in Philadelphia (Jefferson Medical School) although I understand he was able to spend some time in Virginia because of remote learning.

Of course shoe advances help the runners, but what you noticed is how Marty has always run. Watch video from Syracuse races, whether a sub 4 mile indoors or XC or whatever- that’s his stride. It’s obviously part of what makes him fast.

Congrats to all the racers, I could never do what they just did, pogo shoes or not.

The winner doing that while in med residency plus kids is hugely impressive.

Adding 2 minutes for pogo shoes makes this result make sense historically:

Winner runs 2:11, buncha guys run 2:12-13. Right in line for what we would expect from B team guys (Guys not expected to make Oly teams) in an optimized race situation.

I feel bad for US guys getting bumped down all-time lists because of pogo shoes.

The pogo shoes thing is so sad. Don’t give me any BS about evolution of tech. This is an obvious paradigm shift from “lightweight and cushioned” to “propulsive device” and that is clear to any thinking person not beholden to the shoe giants (Seb Coe’s defense was cringe worthy). Swimming was smart enough to outlaw their version of this (the LZR suits). Looks like running is not going to do the same. Sigh.

troothiness wrote:

I feel bad for US guys getting bumped down all-time lists because of pogo shoes.

I sure as f*ck don't! Guys that fast back in the day should feel secure enough to not attach self-worth to a performance so far in the past or how it ranks all-time. If something like that triggers feelings of insecurity and worthlessness for them, that's nobody else's problem.

Guys back in the day were wearing the top end tech for that time. Now it’s not fair to wear this generations top end shoes? Explain

The shoes allow for harder training efforts and faster recovery, resulting in athletes that are simply more fit than those in the past. It's time to accept the reality and move on from the less fit athletes of the past

Wait for it....we should rerun Trials...

I agree. The sad thing is the temporary buzz attained by those who have following running for maybe 5-10 years (or more). They're conditioned to seeing the second-tier US males run 2:10-2:14, and the second-tier women maybe run 2:27-2:32, and so they're like, oh my god, a 2:08:59 is incredible! oh my god, a 2:23! this is awesome! it's like we suddenly got better at running or something!

And then when you point out that the quality of performance has not really changed when you take the shoes into account, they get all bitter because they want to feel they are a part of something awesome. So they bring out the tired cliches about technology being part of the sport, and how we've always had technological advances, etc....as if this new shoe technology is the same thing as slight cosmetic changes from one year's model to the next.

It reminds me a little bit of the steroid-fueled home run binge in MLB in the 90's and 00's. Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in a season, and later admitted that he was taking steroids at the time. But he also claimed he would have hit 70 homers regardless.

And a huge loss for the sport. Races continue to become more and more of a joke with these shoes. Congrats Martin on your pointless PB

relax bro wrote:

Guys back in the day were wearing the top end tech for that time. Now it’s not fair to wear this generations top end shoes? Explain

Note how I said this is clear to any thinking person? You’re obviously not part of that group.

What if today’s “top end shoes” resulted in 1:45 marathons a year from now? What is the definition of a shoe? Can it include wheels, or giant springs, or a foam/plate combination that is as effective as a spring or a wheel? Do you understand the analogous situation with the swimming suits? All the above fine by you?

If you are fine with these sorts of tech improvements, that’s ok—I simply feel you’re creating a different sport than running. It’s the difference between being amazed by Michael Jordan dunking a basketball versus the Bulls mascot doing a flip dunk off a trampoline. One is more worthy of awe than the other.

Major props to Reebok, Chris Fox, Hehir & Bennie. Also, Paige Stoner with a 2:28:30ish debut.

Come on man.

This is a joke.

First, a marathon on a special closed course.

second, a marathon with pacers.

third, the pogo shoes, worth a good 2-4 minutes.

Are you gonna tell me these guys are as good or better than Bill Rodgers?

I'm out, the sport is a joke.