CJ has the guts for a challenge. It's time he goes to Berlin and chase the American record. That's a legit course that plays to his strength. I admire his honest effort in racing. An easier course suits him. I think with his talent he needs to race Boston. I think he can get the AR.
Fun race for the Americans. Major props to CJ and Elkaneh Kibet for staying with the lead pack for so long and for Fauble for running smart and getting a small PB (previou pb of 2:09:09).
Top 5 Americans
1. Fauble, Scott (USA)19--2:08:52 2. Kibet, Elkanah (USA)28--2:09:07 3. Albertson, Cj (USA)29--2:10:23 4. Matt McDonald 2:10:35 5. Reed Fischer 2:10:54
Great run from Reed. Emerging star. His grit is finally complemented by good coaching.
CJ and Fauble should trade strategies. Fauble is better than settling for trying to be top American. CJ running more even splits might produce a better result. Just my view from 30,000 feet.
It's almost funny what happens when Americans catch a good weather day at the marathon they all run each spring (they run fast). Placing took a hit today with the deepest fields in years but sub-2:11 @ Boston is still no joke.
I'm also impressed by Benjamin Schneiderman -- he looks to be the people's champion, with a 2:18 out of the mass start. Should do a write-up on him.
No major props for Albertson and the other guy. The goal is to run the best race one could, and, clearly, Scott Fauble did that. He was by far the smartest and best American out there and showed that he knows how to race in a marathon. No one will remember or care about who was doing well at mile 20 or 21. A marathon is 26.2 miles and one must plan and race for that. Results are what count. Fauble produced a fine result. And spoke intelligently after the race. Congrats to him.
Fauble's post race interview was funny. The interviewer, Trenni Kusnierek, says something like "You also had US runners like CJ and Elkanah up there. What does that say about the future of American distance running?"
Fauble is like "I don't know about the future of US distance runners, I just know that in the last 4 miles I wanted to beat them and be the top American."
Speak that truth, Scott.
He also talked about the impact of being able to spend the last 8 weeks in Boulder with Team Bosshard. Seems like a cool dude.
Fauble is like "I don't know about the future of US distance runners, I just know that in the last 4 miles I wanted to beat them and be the top American."
We need more discussion on competition and matchups to grow the sport. This is also as important as times in the super shoe era become hard to compare. Watch all the pre-race videos on here. When asked what their goal was for race day, they were all bland and cryptic. You never hear Tom Brady say, “I’m going to go out there and see what happens.”
He should probably not run a 2:10 in training a couple of weeks before the race. Two 2:10’s is impressive in that amount of time but better training and being a little more patient in the race itself might yield a 2:07
He should probably not run a 2:10 in training a couple of weeks before the race. Two 2:10’s is impressive in that amount of time but better training and being a little more patient in the race itself might yield a 2:07
I think that's what happened to Beardsley, he did a tough 20-22 miler a few weeks before and left his race in the workout, but then dueled in the sun with Salazar.
Fauble is like "I don't know about the future of US distance runners, I just know that in the last 4 miles I wanted to beat them and be the top American."
We need more discussion on competition and matchups to grow the sport. This is also as important as times in the super shoe era become hard to compare. Watch all the pre-race videos on here. When asked what their goal was for race day, they were all bland and cryptic. You never hear Tom Brady say, “I’m going to go out there and see what happens.”
Agreed but Tom Brady doesn’t just want to be the top QB in the NFC South.
No major props for Albertson and the other guy. The goal is to run the best race one could, and, clearly, Scott Fauble did that. He was by far the smartest and best American out there and showed that he knows how to race in a marathon. No one will remember or care about who was doing well at mile 20 or 21. A marathon is 26.2 miles and one must plan and race for that. Results are what count. Fauble produced a fine result. And spoke intelligently after the race. Congrats to him.
+1. He passed 15 people after Heartbreak. That’s 15 people who took off with the leaders at a pace they couldn’t sustain for 26.2 miles. You don’t get a participation trophy for “leading” when there are 6 miles to go in a race.
Nice sentiment, but is that actually true? How much do you hear about CJ for going out fast last year compared to the overall top American from last year? No disrespect to Bennie, but I haven’t even seen a single post about him today. I also just found out he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
I was thinking about how much CJ was covered on the race today vs Scott. In cycling riders often want to be in the breakaway even if they have no chance of winning because it gives them air time when they wouldn’t have a chance at winning the overall race.
Running is a much different sport and the American winner matters at Boston, but I wonder who did better for themselves professionally with the way it played out.
No major props for Albertson and the other guy. The goal is to run the best race one could, and, clearly, Scott Fauble did that. He was by far the smartest and best American out there and showed that he knows how to race in a marathon. No one will remember or care about who was doing well at mile 20 or 21. A marathon is 26.2 miles and one must plan and race for that. Results are what count. Fauble produced a fine result. And spoke intelligently after the race. Congrats to him.
+1. He passed 15 people after Heartbreak. That’s 15 people who took off with the leaders at a pace they couldn’t sustain for 26.2 miles. You don’t get a participation trophy for “leading” when there are 6 miles to go in a race.
It speaks volumes about USA marathoning that we are celebrating a sit-and-kick 7th place finish (two whole minutes off first) while many trash a guy who was in contention for 21+ miles and finished 13th.
CJ ran to be the race winner, SF ran to be the top American. They had different goals. IMO, both 7th and 13th are irrelevant - at least one went for it.
+1. He passed 15 people after Heartbreak. That’s 15 people who took off with the leaders at a pace they couldn’t sustain for 26.2 miles. You don’t get a participation trophy for “leading” when there are 6 miles to go in a race.
It speaks volumes about USA marathoning that we are celebrating a sit-and-kick 7th place finish (two whole minutes off first) while many trash a guy who was in contention for 21+ miles and finished 13th.
CJ ran to be the race winner, SF ran to be the top American. They had different goals. IMO, both 7th and 13th are irrelevant - at least one went for it.
What Fauble did was not a sit-and-kick. It was super-smart pacing in a sport that requires super-smart pacing. Look at the women's race. Crazy, crazy fast early miles led to chaos in the final placings. Fauble ran smart, and smart is the best way to race the marathon. Just because Eliud Kipchoge can run a 58-minute half doesn't mean he should run the first half of a marathon that quickly.
Fauble is like "I don't know about the future of US distance runners, I just know that in the last 4 miles I wanted to beat them and be the top American."
We need more discussion on competition and matchups to grow the sport. This is also as important as times in the super shoe era become hard to compare. Watch all the pre-race videos on here. When asked what their goal was for race day, they were all bland and cryptic. You never hear Tom Brady say, “I’m going to go out there and see what happens.”
I saw that interview and his response sucked. He's a total bore and has no charisma.
+1. He passed 15 people after Heartbreak. That’s 15 people who took off with the leaders at a pace they couldn’t sustain for 26.2 miles. You don’t get a participation trophy for “leading” when there are 6 miles to go in a race.
It speaks volumes about USA marathoning that we are celebrating a sit-and-kick 7th place finish (two whole minutes off first) while many trash a guy who was in contention for 21+ miles and finished 13th.
CJ ran to be the race winner, SF ran to be the top American. They had different goals. IMO, both 7th and 13th are irrelevant - at least one went for it.
Fauble didn't sit and kick, he kept basically the exact same pace for the entire race. It's smart running. If he ran out like CJ, I guarantee he doesn't get 7th.
Also, in an interview CJ said he thought he would be able to sustain that pace. The guy is delusional and needs a coach who can bring him down to earth. It was so obvious to everyone, except him apparently, that he wasn't going to keep that pace.