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

briswiss wrote:

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

Dude, do so much less. This guy does rounds in the COVID ICU. Seems like a good kid. Beat a good field. Ran a fast time. Shoes help, sure, but focusing on them takes away from the performance and the stories that go along with it. LRC feeds into this/fuels it so I'm not surprised that these boards aren't elated with 7 guys going under 2:10, when it has become the norm to trash American men for not being able to do that. Now they do it, and you all have to default to the shoes because what else can you do. Admit that really only a handful of countries have a better group of marathoners?

good day for reebok wrote:

Yeah, I loved the sport my whole life, but this race sent me over the edge. I only want to watch guys that I KNoW are better than Bill Rodgers, and I won’t tolerate races that are designed to help the guys go faster. We were so much tougher in the good ol days. If they ran this race on hills with traffic (cars) and wind and possibly freezing rain, it would have been so much more meaningful. I guess I will go watch NFL now.

i agree, our Heroes like Bill rodgers worked so hard and i really miss Pre too. I'm going to become a swimming fan because they banned the fast swimsuits and I might also watch NFL

rojo wrote:

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/

Yeah, Running Warehouse is no longer carrying Reebok. I think it is associated with Cross fit, Spartan, and MMA, more than running.

good day for reebok wrote:

Yeah, I loved the sport my whole life, but this race sent me over the edge. I only want to watch guys that I KNoW are better than Bill Rodgers, and I won’t tolerate races that are designed to help the guys go faster. We were so much tougher in the good ol days. If they ran this race on hills with traffic (cars) and wind and possibly freezing rain, it would have been so much more meaningful. I guess I will go watch NFL now.

If not for the laundry list of supposed advantages, the bitterman militia on this board (led by rojo) would thinly veil accusations of doping because COVID has prevented OOC testing. I guess we can be glad these simpletons at least have something obvious like shoe technology to latch onto for their crying.

Last I checked, it's still a race with a winner and these runners can still follow progression with or without shoe technology available. It looks like a whole lot of people here simply cannot be genuinely happy for others' success.

Miserable gits on this forum fair play

All times in trampoline shoes should have an asterisk and not eligible for records. Make a separate record book for trampoline shoes.

This was an exciting race as they all battled for place, but the times don't mean anything.

Just for accuracy, as a medical student Hehir isn't "treating" anyone. He's likely not even going in to patient rooms to minimize risk and save PPE. As a fourth year who has already submitted his application for residency, he is likely rounding then bouncing around lunch time. Sorry to put the damper on the easy story for all the lazy "journalists" out there (cough letsrun cough).

All that said, still a hell of a run and he has more going on during the day than these pros who just sit around all day and blog about their feelings.

What marathon course is open to traffic? You want them dodging cars? And most have pacers.

thoughtsfailure wrote:

All times in trampoline shoes should have an asterisk and not eligible for records. Make a separate record book for trampoline shoes.

This was an exciting race as they all battled for place, but the times don't mean anything.

the time records how long it took the athlete to complete the race. Times are useful for comparing performances. The good news is that nowadays it's a level playing field since any athlete can go to the store and buy a good pair of racing shoes. I'm really glad that the sport is past the days of a few athletes having exclusive access to good shoes.

moss me? wrote:

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.

Waah waah waah. Good riddance! The sport doesn't need people who moan nonstop about everything. Who cares if some older athletes get knocked down the all-time list? It's one specific list. It's not like anyone's breaking into the homes of older athletes and stealing their medals! Everybody knows a 2:09 today isn't quite as good as a 2:09 from 20 years ago. Why can't we just appreciate the advancements the sport is making? Personally I see it as an exciting prospect! Who knows what times athletes of the future could run?

Back in the day it used to be more about who and how an athlete ran the fastest time, but now the focus is on the marketing of what shoe they were wearing that allowed them to break the World Record, rather than the physical performance itself. Pretty sure this trend is obvious to anyone here.

Sure, advancement in technology is bound to happen in any sport. Problem with the current situation is lack of emphasis on the root of the sport, that marathon is about competition of who has the best toughness and endurance. It shouldn’t be about competition of which shoe technology allows them to run the fastest.

Do you expect general public will be interested in sport where biggest discussion and coverage continues to be about what gear they were wearing?

Bipbob wrote:

Back in the day it used to be more about who and how an athlete ran the fastest time, but now the focus is on the marketing of what shoe they were wearing that allowed them to break the World Record, rather than the physical performance itself. Pretty sure this trend is obvious to anyone here.

Sure, advancement in technology is bound to happen in any sport. Problem with the current situation is lack of emphasis on the root of the sport, that marathon is about competition of who has the best toughness and endurance. It shouldn’t be about competition of which shoe technology allows them to run the fastest.

Do you expect general public will be interested in sport where biggest discussion and coverage continues to be about what gear they were wearing?

I agree that the coverage needs to shift away from the shoes. Luckily, almost every reasonable shoe brand has a good shoe now so the playing field is leveling and we can stop talking about it and giving free advertising to the shoe companies.

So what if times are shifted by two minutes? A 2:01 is still faster than a 2:04, and now that someone has run a 2:01 in good shoes, it will be fun to see if someone else can run faster. I enjoyed watching today's race and it was clear that Martin Hehir had a lot of toughness and endurance, and was able to run faster than other runners in the field that had equally good shoes. I don't see why it would be more interesting if they were running in crappy shoes that people in the 1990's wore.

Bipbob wrote:

Do you expect general public will be interested in sport where biggest discussion and coverage continues to be about what gear they were wearing?

Where exactly is that happening if somewhere other than Letsrun? It's the Jobros and their minions driving this narrative.

So do you want record attempts and money in the sport or not? Also, what does marketing of shoe brand technology and record attempts have to do with what happened today?

troothiness wrote:

[quote]relax bro wrote:

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?

The "foam/plate combination" IS effectively a spring; it is NOT a wheel or as effective as a wheel.

shoes ftw wrote:

good day for reebok wrote:

Yeah, I loved the sport my whole life, but this race sent me over the edge. I only want to watch guys that I KNoW are better than Bill Rodgers, and I won’t tolerate races that are designed to help the guys go faster. We were so much tougher in the good ol days. If they ran this race on hills with traffic (cars) and wind and possibly freezing rain, it would have been so much more meaningful. I guess I will go watch NFL now.

i agree, our Heroes like Bill rodgers worked so hard and i really miss Pre too. I'm going to become a swimming fan because they banned the fast swimsuits and I might also watch NFL

No you won’t.

TakeYourL wrote:

shoes ftw wrote:

i agree, our Heroes like Bill rodgers worked so hard and i really miss Pre too. I'm going to become a swimming fan because they banned the fast swimsuits and I might also watch NFL

No you won’t.

I'm losing track of who is being sarcastic on this thread. Congratulations to Martin Hehir, and let the shoes and the faster times live on.

NERunner53 wrote:

briswiss wrote:

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

Dude, do so much less. This guy does rounds in the COVID ICU. Seems like a good kid. Beat a good field. Ran a fast time. Shoes help, sure, but focusing on them takes away from the performance and the stories that go along with it. LRC feeds into this/fuels it so I'm not surprised that these boards aren't elated with 7 guys going under 2:10, when it has become the norm to trash American men for not being able to do that. Now they do it, and you all have to default to the shoes because what else can you do. Admit that really only a handful of countries have a better group of marathoners?

Ok, thank you Martin for making a lot of money and having tremendous job security. COVID is an absolute joke for anyone in decent health. Why am I supposed to treat him like a hero for treating COVID patients? It would be life changing for me to have a job like that.

I’m not trashing on him. Have him go out there and run a sub 2:12 with normal shoes. He can’t and won’t ever do that. I’m not going to get excited about some BS race. A marathon isn’t a marathon anymore

You forgot to take a shot at Jill Biden while you were on your rant. Try again.

This website has officially spiraled out of control.

Why don't you covid-denying, shoe-bashing knuckle draggers just organize a race where everyone wears Sambas and you are disqualified if you wear a mask ever at any point in your life? Liberty Classic Marathon you can have Rand Paul shoot the gun.