Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
Pretty sure their bank accounts disagree with you right now. Bryant ran incredibly on a fast course in perfect conditions but remind me how he did at the olympics.
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
They aren’t hobby joggers trying to qualify for Boston. Running a PR isn’t their goal. This is their job. They’re not skipping a payday to go run “a little faster”.
Plenty of time to do Valencia. I think it made more sense to run New York, I imagine a lot of the training from Paris block would have carried over being a hillier course. Taking advantage of the increased exposure in a home marathon after a successful Olympics probably allowed them to grow their profile (and bank balance) more than a quicker, non-major in Europe.
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
I don’t think national records in road races mean all that much. New York has a course that doesn’t produce fast times, and Valencia produces very fast times. There’s plenty of elite competition at New York. I don’t think comparing times across courses like this is healthy for marathon running.
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
But they can't run 2:06, which is why they didn't Valencia. NYC is a harder course and it was closer to the olympics so it gave them another excuse for running slow
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
But they can't run 2:06, which is why they didn't Valencia. NYC is a harder course and it was closer to the olympics so it gave them another excuse for running slow
Simbassa was 11th at the US Olympic trials. There is no real reason to believe he is a better runner than Mantz or Young.
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
It just depends on their goals.
If their goal was a fast time, you are right: Valencia would have been the smarter race.
If their goal was a hefty payday: a major domestic race such as New York would have been the more lucrative race.
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
It just depends on their goals.
If their goal was a fast time, you are right: Valencia would have been the smarter race.
If their goal was a hefty payday: a major domestic race such as New York would have been the more lucrative race.
They both ran 2:09 at NY. No reason I think they can run 2:06.
But they can't run 2:06, which is why they didn't Valencia. NYC is a harder course and it was closer to the olympics so it gave them another excuse for running slow
Simbassa was 11th at the US Olympic trials. There is no real reason to believe he is a better runner than Mantz or Young.
The 11th place guy at the Olympic Trials running 2:06 is crazy to me. I hope we can see how fast Mantz and Young can really run in more ideal conditions at some point
Biya Simbassa ran 2:06 in Valencia. He is the #4 all-time on the US list. I've already forgotten what Mantz and Young ran in New York, but it wasn't anything special.
I believe they are capable of running faster than the American record, 2:05:38. But not in New York.
My initial response was to agree with you and I still think you have a point.
But reading through the responses I'm actually gaining hope that more and more people are seeing things in the "race mode" rather than "time trial mode".
We have too much reliance on times- how do you get auto qualifiers for Olympics?
Look at the crap we went through wondering who our 3rd Olympian was going to be or if we were going to have one.
Many people responded with- they just should have run faster. Well, maybe not a NY and Boston!
IMHO auto spots should be given for top 10 (at least) at major marathons. Then the National Federation has the choice of 3.
I love Boston and NY and the tradition, especially for Americans. But if they have to chase times they'd be wise to choose Valencia, Tokyo, London, Berlin ... Rotterdam ...
If their goal was a fast time, you are right: Valencia would have been the smarter race.
If their goal was a hefty payday: a major domestic race such as New York would have been the more lucrative race.
This is a great point. We often have discussion on this board about what we think athletes should do, such as where to go to college, going to / staying in college vs turning pro, which training group to join, whether to move up in events, which races to enter, etc. The goals of the athletes themselves are often missing from the discussion. We need to recognize that athletes may have goals and priorities that are different than our own. I trust that Mantz and Young are able to make well-informed decisions that align with their career goals.
If their goal was a fast time, you are right: Valencia would have been the smarter race.
If their goal was a hefty payday: a major domestic race such as New York would have been the more lucrative race.
They both ran 2:09 at NY. No reason I think they can run 2:06.
It doesn’t matter at all if they can run 2:06. Mantz was 8th and Young was 8th at the Olympics. Mantz was 6th and Young was 7th at New York. Mantz was 1st and Young was 2nd at the US Trials.
Simbassa was 11th at US trials and 17th at Valencia. A time on a fast course means nothing.
They both ran 2:09 at NY. No reason I think they can run 2:06.
It doesn’t matter at all if they can run 2:06. Mantz was 8th and Young was 8th at the Olympics. Mantz was 6th and Young was 7th at New York. Mantz was 1st and Young was 2nd at the US Trials.
Simbassa was 11th at US trials and 17th at Valencia. A time on a fast course means nothing.