Hansons--Why London and not Boston?

I think that it is fairly obvious. The Hanson's are fans of the marathon and they probably want to be in London for this great race.

Because every marathon in the world, outside of the olympics, is now totally irrelevant next to London.

Are you saying that it is a mistake to go to London over Boston?

.......because Hansons have done Boston, and you cannot guarrantee decent weather up there.........why prepare for months for a great marathon and then have to run at lunchtime in 80 degree weather?

At least London is always going to be relatively cool and the field will be top notch, both at the sharp end and in depth. All top marathoners should experience London at least once and I'm sure the Hansons boys will run great over there, as well as having a good time in the City after the race. Good luck over there lads. Perhaps Mr Sell and Mr Verran will finally post a quick time over there, they may never get a better chance.

I doubt that the Hansons get appearance fee, they might get the travel money and accomodation for Briney,Sell and Verran as someother 2:12-2:14 runners get in London and that's it.The Hansons Bros have enough money they don't need Bedfords or the BAAs cash, they want to take their athletes part in probably the greatest Marathon race of all-time although it's questionable if you can say that the Hansons are in the same race as the Elite-Runners.

What or where is a micigan?

Perhaps because the best of the best are in London? Just a guess...

Boston is just for us recreational runners. Even that has been watered down to the point where people can run Boston that have not sniffed a qualifying time.

Londoner wrote:

Because every marathon in the world, outside of the olympics, is now totally irrelevant next to London.

I'll argue with you on this one. By the way, if you live in Michigan and you have an opportunity to travel to either Boston or London, where do you go?

I dont know anything about the deal they got with london, but boston is a nightmare for American runners. Boston wants to be on the same level as NY, but they dont look out for american runners, dont pay appearance fees that are even close, and dont really treat people well. Their attitude is that we are boston and you should come to us. This isnt to say that the marathon should come chasing after athletes, but a two way street of respect would be nice. Boston just isnt where it is at anymore.

A question along these lines does Khalid Khannouchi even get a comped entry anymore?

denishdynamite wrote:

I doubt that the Hansons get appearance fee,

Its a shame that Boston has let the Hansons slip through their fingers. I understand that London has the deep pockets, but c'mon. You'd think a American classic like Boston would fight hard to get the Hansons. Maybe Bedford is just doing his buddy from Chicago a favor by bringinh the American boys in. Then again, Sell was 9th in the world this year...that's gotta mean something to London.

I compare the Boston Marathon to the Pittsburg Steelers. They both look fondly back on the 70's and think that what happend back then is still relevant today.

They are resting on those laurals.

Finally, I been thinking this for a while whats the point of going to Boston every year to get you ass handed to you by a bunch of Kenyans, and still run 2:15ish.

Now they get to go to London and get totally trashed and possibly run huge PB's(I am not ripping on the Hanson's). I would rathergo to London and run fast and not make a dime. Whereas Boston you might get wined and dined but all you do is run anouther 2:15 marathon.

Finally they have stepped up...Congrats and Good Luck!!!!

I dont see why they would go to London. I mean all the guys have PR's at least 5min ahead of them. And Sell is the only one who has PR's recently. Verran is going to be lucky to beat Radcliffe the way he is going. And let's not get started on Briney.

The olympics is something the white man came up to feel good about his over-evolved neocortex. The olympics aren't that old when you compared to running races in the Western Hemisphere by the Native Americans.

boston will always be the worlds greatest/most prestigious marathon as far as I'm concerned, and all the money in the world will never make London equal to Boston.

the hansons sucked it up at boston and they want to go elsewhere so they don't have a repeat performance.

you are crazy. Everyone knows London is the World's #1 marathon, closely followed by Chicago, Berlin, Rotterdam and New York. Boston does not make the top 5 anymore. Boston is still the marathon that is talked about by coach potato Joe in the USA...........to the rest of the World it is well down the pecking order, just another road-race on the 'B' string Kenyan circuit to go with races like Peachtree, Bloomsday, Crim etc.

Very good decision by the Hanson brothers to send the guys to London

If you're somebody like Brian Sell and you want to be the best, you need to race against the best. If you're a miler, you go to the Pre Classic. If your're doing 10K, you go to Stanford. And if you're a marathoner, you go to London. I give Hanson's a lot of credit for making it possible cor their guys to race against the best. They'll get their butts kicked--like Bob Kennedy did in the beginning--but they'll be better in the long run. One problem US disance runners have is that they don't do enough of that kind of thing.

As for what happened to Boston, they did it to themselves through their own arrogance, so now they're a receational race that nobody else much cares about, and let that be a warning to anyone (Stanford?) who thinks they're bigger than the sport. Stick a fork in it.