33 year old from Panama, with 1:09:46 half marathon pb, runs 2:09:49 marathon with super shoes

That half pb is old though. I marathon on had dropped 15minutes since then.

Man with marathon on of 2:15 runs a 2:09 should be the title.

How does an athlete not get scrutinized? Like are big PRs just always “suspicious” nowadays or can we give credit where credit is due and move on. It’s a pair of running shoes that reduces some fatigue in the legs get over it.

Jorge Castelblanco, A police officer in Panama city, Panama, and 2:09:49 Marathon runner is possibly now the fastest police officer in the world, not counting some of those Kenyan runners who run for the police service but rarely do any patrols. This guy is actually an active police officer.

Super shoes have given this 1:10 half marathon runner the ability to run a 2:09:49 Marathon which really speaks volumes about the improvement that people can expect with super shoes no matter the brand.

Free_the_thigh wrote:

That half pb is old though. I marathon on had dropped 15minutes since then.

Man with marathon on of 2:15 runs a 2:09 should be the title.

You are absolutely correct but I’m also trying to find out in which year was the first time that he wore the super shoes - was it in 2016 or after?

Also, sorry for my forgetfulness but which year were the super shoes developed?

I doubt whether the shoes alone could deliver that level of improvement. But with doping they could.

Tough to get under 2:15 when you're working full time. Perhaps his employer decided to let him work part time and concentrate on his running, like those Kenyan "police officers"?

While it is not out of line to bring up doping in any discussion of high level sport in this day and age it does require some context. We just don't know enough about this guy and his progression to justify suspicion or lack of suspicion. He was a 1:09 guy 10 years ago and seems to have no results for a couple of years and then a 2:32 debut marathon in 2015 followed by a jump to a relatively elite level in 2016. I doubt the shoes are worth all 15 minutes of that jump from 2:32 to 2:15. We have no idea about his training and lifestyle. Maybe he was going out drinking 5 nights a week and not really training when he ran 2:32. A lifestyle change could explain the jump in performance just as well as doping could. Then the progression from 2:15 to 2:09 could be attributed partially to consistent high level training and an appropriate lifestyle for a few years in a row and partially to the super shoes. Lets say 3 minutes from training and 2 from the shoes or vice versa. I say all that to point out that this progression, while impressive is explainable with or without doping.

To buy that a jump from being a 'B' runner to world class in his 30's is all natural requires some highly speculative and, I might say, contorted argument.

I am surprised at the typical resistance on these threads against the idea that athletes would dope to improve - when we already know that many do. It is the easiest way to get better results faster. For many athletes, success is everything.

Could the fact that he hasn't run a half in 7 years have something to do with it also.

hate to say, people in certain areas seem almost perfectly correlated to doping likelihood.

lke_4:25 wrote:

How does an athlete not get scrutinized? Like are big PRs just always “suspicious” nowadays or can we give credit where credit is due and move on. It’s a pair of running shoes that reduces some fatigue in the legs get over it.

Hey, kinda like epo?

Armstronglivs wrote:

I am surprised at the typical resistance on these threads against the idea that athletes would dope to improve - when we already know that many do. It is the easiest way to get better results faster. For many athletes, success is everything.

I'm not surprised to see you accusing him of doping.

I guess he is not white/British Commonwealth/English speaking/pre-1990 enough for you to consider him clean.

I bet that he he was called Sebastian Snell, born in Australia in 1958 you would hail him as a real hardworking talent.

paris2024hawk wrote:

Could the fact that he hasn't run a half in 7 years have something to do with it also.

Unless his shoes have some Lance Armstrong motors in them, he didn't double a legitimate HM PR.

Did you guys know that Nico Young's HS 800 PR was 2:07?

Armstronglivs wrote:

I am surprised at the typical resistance on these threads against the idea that athletes would dope to improve - when we already know that many do. It is the easiest way to get better results faster. For many athletes, success is everything.

I doubt it's lack of resistance as much an idea that general decency requires not smearing someone with no more evidence than a surprisingly good performance. Would I be surprised to learn this guy is doping? Not at all. Do I see a reason to suggest he is? Not at all.

Not enough hours wrote:

Tough to get under 2:15 when you're working full time. Perhaps his employer decided to let him work part time and concentrate on his running, like those Kenyan "police officers"?

Derek Clayton, Ron Hill, Ian Thompson.

Yes, any minute now there's gonna be about 10 new 2:01's from those guys who used to run 2:03 or 2:04.

Any minute now.

Not enough hours wrote:

Tough to get under 2:15 when you're working full time. Perhaps his employer decided to let him work part time and concentrate on his running, like those Kenyan "police officers"?

I ran way under 2:15 working full time. I'm still irrelevant though because I didn't qualify for the olympics.

Anyway, saying this guy is a 69 half guy and ran 2:09 marathon because of 'super shoes' takes away from a ton of work he must have done. The 'super shoes' don't do that. The most 'super shoes' do is one minute or two at the very most, though I'll still only say one minute at best at that level of marathoning. The marathon world record has been beaten every few years since it existed, and was 2:03 several years ago. Why is it so hard to believe Kipchoge and Bekele, two of the all-time greats and world champions on the track, couldn't beat 2:03?? Therefore The shoes help at most about a minute. So this guy would still be 2:10 in old shoes. Very impressive.

I agree.its all very strange.I dont doubt hes a talent,but strange shoes,and epo together would make a dramatic improvement .