Slow male marathon joggers (2:17) thinking they're sub-elite

They are good runners. They just aren’t world class. But make no mistake, they are good runners. And more than likely clean.

2:17 is absolutely sub-elite.. lol

Anything below elite is sub elite by definition

2:17 is pretty incredible. Why are you so rude?

2:17 is just another runner.

They aren't pretending they're good, they are good. If we put it in chess terms, a male 2:17 marathoner would be equal to about national master or fide master in chess. To follow along with my apology, they're not grand masters or even international masters. But they are good and are faster than 99.99% of the population. Most years for NYC or Boston, running 2:17 will put you as the fastest hobby jogger/amateur (however you want to phrase it)

They are 8 minutes behind the top woman. It used to be really fast and I still find it impressive, but on a relative basis it lacks the gravitas it once had. 217 did qualify one for the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials which is still a major accomplishment and certainly places one in a rare air category. Thus, sub-elite is not a bad description.

It's the insecurity of a 5k guy who probably will never finish a Marathon because he doesn't want to be seen as sub elite.

0/10

Agreed, as a 1:30 half guy I dominate 217 half guys

Actually fine most people who are able to run into 2:15 to 2:20 range to absolutely know where they fit in the running world.

They are obviously quite talented and dedicated to the sport so they would know that they are not quite there yet.

It’s actually people who are in my time range. We think they are special because they can run under 240 without realizing that that’s no big deal.

2:17 felt fast when I first ran it. The last year of pro marathon results genuinely makes me feel otherwise.

I doubt you could run one 5:13 mile, let alone 26 of them in a row.

They’re great runners, easily in the top 1%. It’s just that a 217 Marathon has zero market value. So, from that standpoint it’s no different from a 317.

And yes OP is obviously trolling.

Do less OP. 2:17 is in the 99.99% of marathon runners. That time is fast enough to get into races & OTQ. Honestly I would consider that elite if our sport worked like other sports. There's just no money for those runners so call them whatever you want. Often times, they're more inspiring than other athletes. Lots of clean athletes grinding & chasing their dreams. Not everyone has the potential to run 2:0x. Some of these runners are putting in the work to get to their potentials. Why hate on that? It would be cool if this was a thread about how prize money could go deeper. Why can't Boston pay 50 deep? Instead we're going to trash the runner who finishes 22nd & say they're not good enough. In lots of sports, that caliber of athlete gets paid.

Professional sport is entertainment. The business model is to put asses in seats and eyes in front of screens. 217 Marathoners do neither. Thus the necessity for a day job.

This is where the sport has completely missed something regarding it's current state and who really follows it. I am not interested at all in how fast some (likely doping or soon to be busted) African or elite athlete runs these days. However, I am much more interested in how fast some 2:17 amateur type performs in a major marathon, the training they do, the lifestyle etc. And I am sure that a lot of people think like me - look how many posts the Sirpoc/Norwegian low mileage thread generated and the interest around it with Strava groups etc.

When the highest performing (in terms of race times) competitors of your sport are no longer identifiable to the majority of its followers, then you have a major problem as a professional sport.

There's a lot of runners in that 2:17-2:25 marathon range that now run professionally now in the ultra mountain world. Not many 5 hour marathoners can do the same.