Love it: 2:08 marathoner says if he doesn't qualify for MGC in Tokyo, he's retiring. Why don't Americans do this?

Because 2:14 US guys kid themselves that they are elite and deserve sponsorship.

Some care more about the activity and the process more than competition. I don't get this BS on this board about wanting 2:10-2:15 guys to just quit if they can't go sub 2:05 in two years after their marathon debut. Personally rather or not if I was training for something or not, I would still be training. Because I enjoy training, racing is more of a cherry on top after a good training cycle.

What is the fixation here with having people retire because they aren't running as fast as you'd like? Yes, it would be great to have a bunch of US guys under 2:10 but why should someone doing, say, 2:12 to 2:15 retire if they don't want to? What are they hurting with their 2:12s to 2:15s?

Exactly! Posters are bothered that someone is doing what they enjoy, are good at it, and are better than the OP will ever be. When does it end?

If they did, the sport would go into a rapid decline.

You'd essentially have elites - a vacuum - then fun runners.

That's not sustainable.

People need incentives at every stage of development, until they eventually become elite.

Depth produces the heights of performance. If you got rid of all your sub-elites, the next generation would barely produce an elite performer.

But hey, with this "savage" take, you get to seem super edgy and cool, man.

F*ck off.

Most letsrunners are bitter, immature nobodies, that's why.

Yes, I love it. More Americans should retire, replace them with more doped up Kenyan sub-elites.

Why does this hurt you? Who cares what other people do with their running career/lifestyle. Maybe you’d get faster if you focused more on your own running ability.

I agree.

In regards to the other posters saying they'd still be running even if they weren't quick. Yes, but would you do that at the cost of not being able to develop your professional career and earn more money? Run a bit maybe, but elite like training for a slow time seems silly.

Because the posters had to give up on themselves being any faster, so they want the same for anyone else who claims the little glory that they themselves coveted.

Agree 100 💯 percent with the OP. Same goes for big bellied 50 something balding hobby 🏃‍♀️.

In order for runners of any event to get to the next level, they need runners at their level or below to push them.

If you want mid tier runners to quit, this only hurts those with potential to do better.

Sure, many of us would love to see Americans be more competitive in the marathon. And we’re unsure why the gains the US has made in longer distances on the track don’t seem to be matched by improvements on the road. But convincing guys in the 2:11 to 2:15 range that they’re never going to be in the mix for a big win and should just hang up their shoes is not going to help.

And why are people here so bothered by what other people do? We have entire minor leagues in other sports full of guys still chasing the dream, most of whom aren’t going to make it, and people pay to see them play.

The US is still suck where there aren't many 13:20/27:40 guys running the marathon. That is where most of your sub 2:08 guys are going to come from. Instead we got a bunch of 28-28:30 guys and we get a lot of 2:10-2:13 type times . And most of the 29min college kids just seem to drop out so we don't have that hoard of people running 2:15...

Maybe not everyone wants to develop their professional careers and earn more money and would rather spend a bit of time doing something they like doing.

American runners aren't sponsored by Toyota. They aren't employees of toyota. They have to go get a job if they retire from running, only the best could even afford a year or two with no work. The ones sponsored by shoe companies and those who make content on social media are practically models who can only model if they do a sport - if they quit running, their value goes way down. Nike, nuun, and goodr aren't giving these guys 40 hour a week jobs if they no longer want to run the way japanese corporate runners can go work full time for their corporations - the japanese are employees whereas americans are contractors.

That's a really good point. In the article he says if he doesn't qualify he'll leave the Toyota team. He doesn't really say what he'll do about running. It's logical to think it means he'll retire from serious running but not spelled out. And you're right. It's a very different situation for Japanese runners than for those in every other country.