What if Half Marathon/Marathon were added to become NCAA events? More guys from 2:15-2:35?

Very very likely yes

I agree that yes is the answer. But would it be good for the sport in our country?

Based on cross country 10ks alone, the ncaa had 234 athletes run the equivalent of 2:35 or better, and 40 at 2:23 or better. Sure its cross country, but given that track 10ks are faster and with marathon training, we could have a ton of guys in that range.

VF Runner wrote:

I agree that yes is the answer. But would it be good for the sport in our country?

I would argue that it would be good for the sport in our country because it would encourage guys to do a lot more mileage, which would help race times even in short distances.

I wish.

It would be cool if they had a half marathon for indoor and marathon for outdoor. You don't really need qualifying times but you could base starting position off of appearance in the ncaa xc meet or other past results. Long story it wont help teams trying to win conference or ncaa meets but will help American distance running.

drinker with a running problem wrote:

It would be cool if they had a half marathon for indoor and marathon for outdoor.

Indoor half marathon = 105.48747 times around a 200m track. Most people would rather shoot themselves rather than running in a circle that many times.

as the OP, i wasnt thinking on a track at all. just traditional road racing but have it be NCAA sponsored.

A marathon championship in December and a HM championship in March-April ... I'm sure there would be a lot more runners in the 2:15-2:20. The 5th man on my college XC team ran 2:17.

the top ones would run 2:08-2:12 and the record would be sub 2:08.

douglas burke wrote:

the top ones would run 2:08-2:12 and the record would be sub 2:08.

Verrrrry unlikely. The Japanese collegiate record is only 2:08:12.

I stepped up the year after finishing uni in UK (3 year course) - had an absolute stunning run on track in last year to run 32:15 for 10k. After leaving and starting marathon training ran 31:38 road 10k, 69:51 HM and then a 2:31:16 marathon (which was very hard work from 17 onwards) - made a huge difference and made me appreciate training on an entirely different level. Wish I had done it sooner.

and the American collegiate marathon record, correct me if im wrong, belongs to LR poster and Brooks Hansons member, our hero and very nice dude, S.Canaday!

mistaken assumption wrote:

douglas burke wrote:

the top ones would run 2:08-2:12 and the record would be sub 2:08.

Verrrrry unlikely. The Japanese collegiate record is only 2:08:12.

and every event that we contest in the mens distance runs 800-10k including the steeple is better than the japanese national records.

Dang, I would love if the half-marathon was a NCAA event. It would definitely be my best event (mile PR is only 4:28 but 5:20's for 13 miles is fairly easy for me).

japan national record

800-1:46.12

1500-3:37.42

3k- 7:41

5k 13:13

10k-27:35

3k steeple-8:18

ncaa records

800- not sure if it is the record but ryun ran 1:44.3 as a freshman.

1500-3:30.69

3k-7:32

5k-13:08

10k-27.08

3k-steeple-8:05

sage canady does not have the NCAA record when salazar ran 2:09.41 he ran a track season at oregon after that so he had eligibility left.

fultz won boston in 2:20 in the hottest temperatures in boston marathon history as a as a georgetown student.

then ran 2:11 at boston the next year.

paul gompers ran a 2:14 marathon as a freshman.

rudy chapa ran 1 marathon ever, right after college and ran 2:11 at new york.

ken martin ran a 2:09 and he was only oregons 3-4th man.

if the NCAA had a marathon, remember all of the top runners in NCAA history would have run a marathon, salazar, virgin, prefontaine, rupp, teg, nyambui, solinsky , rono, chelanga. etc.

yes the top NCAA runner would be 2:08-2:12 most years with the record under 2:08

It would be good for marathoning and road racing in the US by getting talented people into it at a younger age, but I wonder if it would be good for college track and field? Would it dilute the current 10k runners more or would you get a deeper group of distance runners at most schools? Maybe it would be a question of changing the number of scholarships.