Well Buchanan is an odd case. Nothing really tells you he is going to run 2:06. It doesn’t make sense. Except maybe the super shoes. On the roads he cannot seem to break 29. He did run 1:01:42 in October, but then he essentially runs 1:03:11 twice in a row for his 2:06:22, when he had a best of 1:02:50 before this year, and he is 33. Is he like a Dick Beardsley in super shoes? Maybe so.
no idea who this guy is but usually when guys are running fast marathons but 'slow' 10ks it's because they aren't racing 10ks or they are racing them but infrequently and in slower fields i.e. no super fast guys to drag them along.
lots of japanese runners in a similar boat. doing high mileage and relatively little speedwork.
The marathon shoes must just lend so much advantage that the track times don't compare. Why American-born athletes can't do this every weekend, I do not know. Simbassa and Cheserek (resident since 2009) just ran 2:05/6.
Well Buchanan is an odd case. Nothing really tells you he is going to run 2:06. It doesn’t make sense. Except maybe the super shoes. On the roads he cannot seem to break 29. He did run 1:01:42 in October, but then he essentially runs 1:03:11 twice in a row for his 2:06:22, when he had a best of 1:02:50 before this year, and he is 33. Is he like a Dick Beardsley in super shoes? Maybe so.
He has a 23 flat 200m PB which suggests he has the foundations of a world class 1500m runner. Take that raw speed talent and apply it into a long race like the marathon and who knows what might come out of it. Now we know.
Andy is on Strava….nothing crazy mileage wise…does seem like he got exponentially better this year though…at 33….seems like a down to earth guy…don’t know what to make of it….2.06 is serious running for a white guy let’s be honest!
It's our college system and too much emphasis on workouts for shorter distances, XC, indoor and outdoor instead of putting in the distance. If there was the incentive to race at longer distances we'd have a bigger pool of guys who would run faster marathons. Maybe with upcoming roster cut's more STUDENTS will join school clubs and those clubs could focus on half and above. Also we need to stop talking about Grant being our great hope for a fast marathon
I have said this before, the US will continue to suck at marathon running because we have no health care.
Very few can find a way to keep running post college because American society forces you to work full time to receive insurance. Without insurance one thing can happen and you’ll be broke for life.
Over the next 5 year I bet over 50-60 NCAA Americans will break 28:30 and by 28 90% will have jobs that aren’t running
It's our college system and too much emphasis on workouts for shorter distances, XC, indoor and outdoor instead of putting in the distance. If there was the incentive to race at longer distances we'd have a bigger pool of guys who would run faster marathons. Maybe with upcoming roster cut's more STUDENTS will join school clubs and those clubs could focus on half and above. Also we need to stop talking about Grant being our great hope for a fast marathon
I agree and have said the same sort of thing on these "why Americans suck at the marathon" threads. It's not a priority for our absolute top people. They get college scholarships by running well at one and two miles in high school and get shoe contracts for running well at 1500 to 10,000 meters in college and generally maintain those contracts by continuing to run well at those distances. The marathon either comes later in their careers when they think they've done as well at track distances or not at all. Our marathoners are generally "second tier" people who didn't have the collegiate success the former group had.
I don't see this as necessarily a bad thing. Yes, we'll frequently moan when we see a dozen Japanese guys under 2:08 in a marathon and now maybe we'll moan when an Australian does the same. But how does the combined medal count of Japan and Australia from the last Olympics compare to ours?
My theory on why America can't produce fast marathoners is that there are no warm weather high altitude locations in the US. Don't care how elite you are, the cold wind, snow, flu, etc.. will have a negative impact on your training (and especially marathon) and therefore hinder your performances in the warmer months.
Flagstaff gets 100"+ of snow. Mammoth Lakes...400"!!! How much tread-milling are you really going to do?
Most Americans are unwilling to go train in East African altitude locations in the winter -- where the conditions are darn near perfect.