American Performances at Berlin

Not sure what you are getting at here. We did not send a National team to this race. Most of our good marathoners won't race again until the Olympic trials in Jan, with notable exceptions of Hall (Chicago) and Meb (NYC). One American did run a trials qualifer » Crabill, Alex (USA)

02:17:42, so good for him. Sure it would have been great if some of our better runners showed up at Berlin, but none of them did.

Hey 'horrible'. Let me ask you. Have you run faster than 2.29.14-2.36.33 for a marathon? If you haven't, you need to still respect the men who ran the times you listed regardless. They deserve respect instead of being demoralized because they didn't run a 2.04-10 time. Educate yourself.

So if he (or she) has run faster than 2:29 they are allowed to not respect these people?

I have not moved up to marathons at this point in my career yet, i figured ill move up when i lose my 5k speed, but ill prob be amazing at them.

I just think that in one of the biggest marathons in the world, our top marathoners that we send should be a little more competitive. How could we not have one american capable of running under 2:29?

Horrible wrote:

I have not moved up to marathons at this point in my career yet, i figured ill move up when i lose my 5k speed, but ill prob be amazing at them.

Ha, you must be one of those college guys taking your 5K PR, using a calculator to predict your marathon time, and thinking you'll be great. Easier said than done, buddy.

You keep saying "that we send". I have a strong feeling that none of the guys you listed were sent to run that marathon, but rather paid their own expenses for travel and race entry just like everyone else. You're basically picking random people from the results and saying they ran horribly.

Horrible wrote:

How could we not have one american capable of running under 2:29?

Check # 19

Well, first off we have sent a team/contingent to an actual world/region games... Rizzo/Eggleston and Westover/Ely

http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/PanAmericanGames/roster.asp

Also costs a lot to run abroad, esp when we have top quality races that our athletes would much rather run.

Is this 2:29 for a 65 yo? What is the world best for a 65 yo?

Elite Americans run Chicago and New York in the fall. (Maybe a few others like Twin Cities, Columbus, Phili, Detroit, etc.) Unless you're combining a vacation with your marathon, why bear the expense and jet lag of a Euro marathon when you have what you need to get a qualifier here?

FYI_AGNES KAY EPPERS(Reynders) is a Bolivian cyclist not an American runner.

Any American who can run 2:20 or under is training for

Houston January right now. Except for Hall and Meb, like the other poster said. Time will tell whether their decision to run a Fall marathon was a wise one. I have my doubts.

John Tanis does seem to be indeed registered in the 65 yo age category. His chip time is 2:52 and his actual is 2:29. This would mean that not only did he beat the 65 yo world best by over 12 min (and is below the 60 yo world best by 7 min), but he did that by navigating his way through 3000 joggers.

Yeah I saw that then M60 next to the time and had to wonder if it was a record. Christ, even Yuri Laptev barely runs sub 3 now and he was a 2:12 marathoner in his heyday. He runs Boston each yr after spending a month or so training at altitude in Kyrgystan.

A 65yo Professor ran 2:29?

Respect

Kenya has several men who are capable of running 2:05 or faster for the marathon. How is it possible that the best Americans out there can only run 2:29? Unbelievable. I can't wait til the olympics when our first runner goes 2:29 and gets 264252th place. Would a finish like that be something you might be interested in?

Odds of this being true is 1/google. He is not listed as one of the top30 all time in the 55, 60 or 65 age groups. This would then probably be his 1st marathon ever.

Most likely to be true = he dropped out, took the metro to the finish line and saw that the best way to get to pick up his stuff was to walk through the finish line. He then got a chip time by accident. He probably didn't realize the repercussion.

Second most likely to be true = he is 25 and not 65. However his bib number was way too high. He finished top 70 out of over 25,000 participants. If you consider that he had to make his way through the field, he could have probably been in the top 50. If he was that fast, he would have been able to get a better bib number.

Tftftft wrote: Second most likely to be true = he is 25 and not 65.

This could be possible. A handwritten 2 could appear to be a 6.