Pan-Am Games Marathon

Some photos:
http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/album/070729maratona_album.jhtm

The craziest thing is that ESPN actually showed a clip of the finish on Sportscenter last night.

At the time, I didn't know there were only 13 finishers. Of course, they had a vested interest since they were broadcasting the Pan Am games... and in Spanish of all things (main channel, not ESPN deportees). Think of all the great marathons they never mention (London, Berlin, Chicago, etc) but they actually showed a clip of this one. Yet another reason to hate ESPN.

I don't post on this forum much anymore, but I'll post today to say Great Job to Jacob Frey! I remember him when he was a top high school runner from Oakton High School and helped the team win the Mens Virginia AAA state xc championships in a race where Alan Webb(then a sophomore) came out of nowhere at the end of the race and totally killed everybody off. I still remember Oakton's dominance in the 1998 season. I haven't talked to Jacob recently but it's very great to see that he is still doing very well. Jacob if you read this try emailing me using my website. Go Jacob Frey! :D

Tilastopaja.net race history for Jacob Frey

2007
Marathon
2:16:44 PB (340) 4 PAG Rio de Janeiro 29 Jul

2006
10 miles
49:38 PB (54) 12 Washington DC 2 Apr
10 km
29:38 PB (418) 3 Rockville MD 24 Apr
20 km
62:17 PB (120) 15 NC New Haven CT 4 Sep
25 km
PB (16) 11 NC Grand Rapids MI 13 May
Marathon
2:20:09 SB (883) 8 Twin Cities St. Paul MN 1 Oct

It doesn't list results for 2005 and 2004

2003
10000 m
29:40.41 PB (0) 5r1 PennR Philadelphia PA 24 Apr

He graduated from Oakton high school in 1999 I believe and then went to a nearby Washington DC area college, maybe William and Mary or Georgetown or American University. He focuses on Road Races recently.

Jacob Frey United States 23 July 1981
Age: 26 years 8 days

PERSONAL BESTS:
10000 m
Outdoor 29:40.41 5r1 PennR Philadelphia PA 24 Apr 2003
10 miles
Outdoor 49:38 12 Washington DC 2 Apr 2006
10 km
Outdoor 29:38 3 Rockville MD 24 Apr 2006
20 km
Outdoor 62:17 15 NC New Haven CT 4 Sep 2006
25 km
Outdoor 11 NC Grand Rapids MI 13 May 2006
Marathon
Outdoor 2:16:44 4 PAG Rio de Janeiro 29 Jul 2007

Progression:
10000 m
Outdoor Alltime
2003 29:40.41 5r1 PennR Philadelphia PA 24 Apr
10 miles
Outdoor Alltime
2006 49:38 12 Washington DC 2 Apr
10 km
Outdoor Alltime
2006 29:38 3 Rockville MD 24 Apr
20 km
Outdoor Alltime
2006 62:17 15 NC New Haven CT 4 Sep
25 km
Outdoor Alltime
2006 11 NC Grand Rapids MI 13 May
Marathon
Outdoor Alltime
2006 2:20:09 8 Twin Cities St. Paul MN 1 Oct
2007 2:16:44 4 PAG Rio de Janeiro 29 Jul

In major events:
Outdoor
Marathon
PAG 2007: 4 2:16:44

Jacob ran so fast because he drank Heeb Quench and ate the cereal off his face from the day before at mile 23. Ohhh hiya!!

I don't follow the mens marathon that close but isn't it a dissappointment for the USA not to be able to medal in an event as weak as this. Most countries are sending their best 5 to the WC. This race is the Junior Varsity. How many of these athletes have broken 2:11 in the last year and a half? NONE. We see better fields in minor league marathons like Philly and Twin Cities. I would hope that our JV is better than Mexico or Brazil ot any country that is included in the PanAm.

The South Americans take the Pan Am Games extremely sersiously. They sent their A guys to the games, and in some cases are sending nobody to the WC's. Several of the runners in the field were 2:10-2:11 performers. While Frey and Lundstrom are not the best the USA has, they competed very well in less than ideal conditions.

I am going to guess that a lot of the top US marathoners don't want to run this race and then less than 3 months later run the Olympic Trials. I am going out on a limb here though.

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We suck wrote:

I don't follow the mens marathon that close but isn't it a dissappointment for the USA not to be able to medal in an event as weak as this. Most countries are sending their best 5 to the WC. This race is the Junior Varsity. How many of these athletes have broken 2:11 in the last year and a half? NONE. We see better fields in minor league marathons like Philly and Twin Cities. I would hope that our JV is better than Mexico or Brazil ot any country that is included in the PanAm.

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Jacob Frey went to William & Mary.

http://www.runningnetwork.com/news/rrcascholars2006.html

Great race, Jacob. You did the DC area proud.

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Brazilian Spectator wrote:

Some photos:
http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/album/070729maratona_album.jhtm

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Interesting photo, because I believe he is one of four Cubans that defected... and he defected during the race!

I hear Frey is training with Mr. Webb. If this is so has Webbs newfound final gear somehow been derived from the phenomenon known as Frey Speed.

If Jacob had been anywhere near the leaders with 400meters to go, Freyspeed would have no doubt been such a spectacle that it would have made Sportscenter's Plays of the Week!

Yes, the cuban marathoner is holding a photo of him and Castro. But he wasn't one of the four that defected. According to brazilian media, they were two boxers, one handball player and one gymnastics coach.

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Well... wrote:

The South Americans take the Pan Am Games extremely sersiously. They sent their A guys to the games, and in some cases are sending nobody to the WC's. Several of the runners in the field were 2:10-2:11 performers.

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I remember being asked by a neighbor (then a young woman in high school) to attend her district track meet because her parents were lukewarm to the sport and she really wanted my wife and I to watch her run (a very 200/400 meter runner who ended up running on Division 1 scholarship). Never as an adult underestimate how happy one can make a kid feel just by showing up and watching them compete - even if it just means acting like unhip, uncool old persons sitting in the stands (an accurate description then and now). Well, it made me happy and it still does that I encouraged her to start running, and happier still now that she is married to a fellow runner she met in college and that they are starting a life together.

In any event, I had not been to a track meet in a few years, and ended up watching a great boys two mile race unfold, with Jacob Frey already showing a toughness admirable in any runner, but particularly one in high school. He pushed the pace, and looked like he was going to win, until an uncertain, but incredibly strong 9th grader went flying by him with about 50 meters to go - running about 9:30. Having run a 9:24 two mile in 9th grade myself (years, years ago), I was obviously impressed, particularly since in my ninth grade days a ferocious kick at 5"3 105 pounds meant a 67 last 400, and not the 62 that I just observed Alan Webb ripping in one of his first high school races. So it is really great to see Jacob Frey doing well and representing his country in the Pan Am games, and is equally great of course to see Webb in his fabulous performances. And it is also appropriate to thank all of the high school coaches and supporters that get these young people started and interested in the sport - even if they don't go on to the levels of a Jacob Frey or the rarefied level of an Alan Webb.

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We suck wrote:

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Well... wrote:

The South Americans take the Pan Am Games extremely sersiously. They sent their A guys to the games, and in some cases are sending nobody to the WC's. Several of the runners in the field were 2:10-2:11 performers.

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Was the Brazilian guy that won New York there? HELL NO.

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Actually, he stuffed his mouth so full of cereal that he was able to store it in his cheeks for a couple days and used it late in the race for a pick me up.

Actually Frey suffocated each runner he passed by blocking their airways with one of his rhino sized quads.

He then talked his way out of disqualification by pretending he was a dutchman named Hans and didnt know any better.
Anyone got any other good Frey stories?