This board is often viewed as a place to bring out the worst of the worst but this post is to try to make an honest change in the trials course.
I talked with several athletes, coaches, and agents about the silly out and back turn arounds at on the trials course. I could not find one that thought it was a good thing.
Lets use this board to show our dissatisfaction in the course and maybe we can get a change.
They are trying to copy the proposed 2012 olympic course. Here is a link with an article and pdf of the proposed course. It has one 180deg Uturn (per lap) and a ton of really tight and sharper than 90deg turns in each lap.
This is why Houston is going to be so tough. To get the athletes ready for the decelerating and accelerating throughout the race. I am not saying it is the right idea, but thats where is came from.
That article is from October 5th and I believe that the Olympic Course has already been altered from that.
Designing the trials course to copy as much as possible the Olympics course seems too clever by 12%. Running one race with those turns seven months earlier isn't going to be the make-or-break matter for American success in London.
smd wrote:
Designing the trials course to copy as much as possible the Olympics course seems too clever by 12%. Running one race with those turns seven months earlier isn't going to be the make-or-break matter for American success in London.
But it would be much better than running a course that is nothing like the Olympic marathon course. US trials courses should be difficult to help break things up. Otherwise, the race can get super tactical.
The complaints were not that it was too hilly or too flat. It was the turns were ridiculous. Much tighter than the Boston Course in 2008. This led to blister problems that were not normal in a half marathon. This will be a survivor course.
I think the idea is that if someone is so bad at running that type of course, they aren't likely to have a lot of success in London, either. You don't want to send guys that are completely thrown off rhythm by that type of course to the games, any more than you'd want to send someone who is terrible on hills to a hilly course, or send someone who sucks in hot weather to a hot and muggy course.
The course will change. They will keep the initial turnaround (at 1.1 miles) and then have only 1 out and back per lap. I got this from an insider.
i've never had so many blisters on my left foot.
that course is brutal on the feet - particullarly the left foot, like running a distance race on a tiny non-banked indoor track.
each of the miles 2 to 3, 7 to 8, and 8 to 9 with the 180 degree turns averaged 11 seconds slower than the other 10 miles----4:42 to 4:53----70 seconds slower for the complete marathon (3 loops and initial turnaround at 1.1 M)