For the 1st time in 15+ years, an American is favored to win a major marathon? Will Keira D'Amato pull it off?

Don't believe the hype

No and no.

2:18.43 American Record, but does not Win.

Is the American only favourite because the field is of relatively poor quality?

Maureen Chepkemoi is the class of the field

2:18:10

I am not debating the merits of having a healthy dose of skepticism about these things but another way to look at it is that taking multiple years off (or starting late) for distance (i.e. half & marathon) is in fact beneficial because it spares the years of wear and tear on your body. We already know that many elite marathoners try to do much of their training on unpaved surfaces (Kipchoge is one example. Meb Keflezighi is/was another). Sinead Diver (44), who recently won a half (and I think placed 4th in Commonwealth mara.) has attributed her longevity to getting a late start.

About the "returning completely out of the scope of testing" remark - what does that even mean? She's racing and competing "completely in the scope of testing" now.

Anyway, for a talented marathoner, "taking multiple years off" may actually turn out to be smart.

they mean when they weren't competing they weren't being tested. i don't know if that's true or not. i know when you are banned for doping you are still tested even though you aren't competing, and if you deregister as an athlete or whatever the correct term is, they suspend the ban until you reregister again, so there's no way around it. perhaps if you are not banned and you just stop competing, you are not tested at all.

Has she got pocket pacers like she had in Houston? If she has, she could go sub-2:19. If she has to rely on pavers provided by Berlin organizers then it could be more of a problem. I don't think she'll win just because sub-2:19 seems to be in the reach of so many Kenyans and Ethiopians.

I'd really like to see her win and take down the AR even more. I will choose to believe she is innocent until proven guilty in terms of doping, but that's just my stance. I am surprised though at her training based on Strava, because she doesn't seem to be doing super high mileage or crazy workouts one would expect from someone dominating road races of all lengths. I do think she will do well in Berlin, but Houston did have 2 pacers with her blocking the wind and helping with tangents, etc. I could see her winning but unsure about lowering her AR.

i don't understand the suspicion of people on here. her success makes sense if u understand very basic principles of long distance training. the knee jerk doping allegations are ridiculous. hope she wins

There are quite a few questions that need to be asked of her that I haven't seen asked yet. Maybe she'll do a Letsrun Q&A one day.

She's been in the testing pool for well over a year now, no? She's improved a lot in the last 18 months. I don't think she'd dope to 2:30 shape, then stop and get into 2:19 shape.

Yes, exact same pair from Houston pacing again, I believe. Go KD!

I don't care if she wins. I have no interest in that.

It's just awful and embarrassing and sad for the sport to see this.

I'm not sure why half the people on here even watch/follow running. Don't like doping + anyone who runs fast must be doping = follow a different sport.

Not ready for prime time. Much like Sara Hall.