Pull a "Glenn Randall" (GR)

I have no problem with how he ran. I've run plenty of races where I had no business running with the company I was with or ahead of. It was actually that godawful outfit he had on that, well, I'm not sure what to make of it. Aside from looking like a fat, aged triathlete who just made the bike->run transition, he simply underscored that on the rare occasion that a white man fronts a major marathon, they cant do it without looking like a complete tool. Most chicks cant pull off spandex. The only thing uglier at the front of that pack was Hartmann's left leg only knee high but if you finish 4th you can wear whatever the hell you want.

ifonly wrote:

buggers wrote:

Difference there is that Wardian just went out and ran his marathon goal pace, while the favorites were twiddling their thumbs and jogging. It wasn't a stunt, he was just running his race.

Both are going after the attention. GR knows way better than to go out in 15:0x for the first 5k in hot weather if he wanted to actually place well. It wasn't a display of guts or "going for it." And what was he wearing? Last I checked, the Boston marathon wasn't a triathlon.

Wardian pulls all sorts of stunts. Didn't he try to get a world record treadmill marathon at the expo this weekend? What a freaking joke.

Sure it may be good for sponsorship, but both these guys should respect the other much, much faster runners in the race and not take up camera time/get in the way.

wow dude. you care way too much about what other people do

cenotaph wrote:

ifonly wrote:

Both are going after the attention. GR knows way better than to go out in 15:0x for the first 5k in hot weather if he wanted to actually place well. It wasn't a display of guts or "going for it." And what was he wearing? Last I checked, the Boston marathon wasn't a triathlon.

Wardian pulls all sorts of stunts. Didn't he try to get a world record treadmill marathon at the expo this weekend? What a freaking joke.

Sure it may be good for sponsorship, but both these guys should respect the other much, much faster runners in the race and not take up camera time/get in the way.

wow dude. you care way too much about what other people do

Never argue that no one takes our sport seriously. Applaud the lack of positive attention and respect the sport gets. You are a Champ. Go buy Glenn a beer and have your jollies in the pub.

I'm not going to comment on the importance/validity of Wardian's treadmill running and other stunts, but him running the first 5k of the '08 trials, in beautiful, cold, ideal conditions in 16:30 or whatever, is NOT the same thing as some guy running 15:02 for the first 5k of Boston on a horrible hot day. Sure, Wardian wasn't going to win, but it's conceivable his best chance of placing highly was to run evenly at 2:18-2:20 pace. There is no way GR's best chance of placing well at Boston was to go out at 2:06 pace. Yes, I know it was downhill.

I have no problem with him collecting money for publicity if that's the case. But please quit acting like he was just "going for it". That's ridiculous.

A friend of mine sort of "pulled a GR" in the late 60s at a major European marathon. There was a TV truck at the front and he decided he'd like to be on TV for a while so he ran at the front for as long as he could and just expected to die at some point. Turns out he was able to stay in the lead for the entire distance, won the race, set a six minute PR, and took down Mamo Wolde.

Anyway, why does anyone care? If someone thinks it's a stupid thing to do then they shouldn't do it.

Props to Glenn. At least he didn't get KIPPED (kip litton) during the race.

innoecent bystander wrote:

Wardian did a little bit of GRing in beginning of the '08 Trails if I remember correctly.

Not even close to comparable. Wardian was running his correct pace, everyone else was just farting around. Randall was running at a pace 10-15 minutes faster than his PR when it was 80 something degrees out.

innoecent bystander wrote:

Wardian did a little bit of GRing in beginning of the '08 Trails if I remember correctly.

I missed it again?! I love watching races in the woods, damn it!

Glenn is a silly Mzungo. Many laughs Wes and I have behind him.

Does anyone remember the Boston runner that ran with the lead women, wearing the Anarchy t-shirt, a few years ago? Pretty good runner and got some good face time with the leaders.

well wrote:

asdfsdfadfsa wrote:

I don't know if it works this way for running, but I think it's somewhat common for pro cyclists to ride in the front of the pack in the Grand Tours (TDF, etc.) to get their sponsors some TV time (even if they don't "belong" in the front of the pack).

This is not common because finishing grand tours is so physically arduous that you can't just goof around like that. Because of wind resistance breaking from a peloton is way harder than just pulling out in front of the lead pack in a running race.

Actually, it's pretty common. It's called 'taking a flyer', which is exactly what Glenn did. In bike racing, tthere is a lot of pressure on the smaller teams to get someone in the break heading into the last hour of the race so that the sponsor gets TV time. Look at any of the classics and dyou'll see second tier guys striking out after 20 of 260+ kilos. They ride out there for hours, getting sponsorship time, and then the big guns come alon in the last 1-2 hours and that is the end of the break.

In the Grand Tours there is a whole class of 'rouleurs' who specialize in the long break. Jacky Durand and Eddy Seigneur are two examples of this type of rider - they attack at the gun and sometimes make it the whole way without being caught. Usually in a GT it's because the GC men let them go for one reason or another, but there are times when a single rider holds off an entire, motivated, peleton. When they do, they become instant legend.

So what Glenn did was, IMHO, really cool. You know for darn sure that if you don't try something like that, you will never ever be at the front, so why not, as they say in cycle racing, 'take your chance, and take the pain as it hits you'.

You will forever be known as "that douche who led the Boston marathon for a few miles looking like a moron".

Glad you're happy with that "notoriety".

Glenn Randall wrote:

I find it funny that 90% of the people cant run my 5k split. Heck they probably can't run my average 5k pace for a 5k. Yet they come on here and bash me. Look I knew I had no shot in running a 2:20 with the heat. To me there's no difference in running a 2:25 to a 2:35 not when your mindset is on 2:20. I dind't think I'd blow up as much as I did but like I said before I don't regret it. Next year you guys will be talking about me, asking who will pull a GR and the next year, and the year after that. I've gained more noteriety by leading the first few miles at Boston than I would have running a 2:25.

You know, no one can kill people like Mao, but somehow, people have found themselves qualified to point out his poor decision making skills.

What kind of an argument is this? If GR really wanted notoriety rather than to run well, he should have worn a Borat suit and Vibrams.

Mr. Mister wrote:

Does anyone remember the Boston runner that ran with the lead women, wearing the Anarchy t-shirt, a few years ago? Pretty good runner and got some good face time with the leaders.

I remember Dan Feldman, then an MIT student, wearing a shirt like that at Boston about a decade ago. He went out in 1:11-ish and people nearby were laughing at him and waiting for him to die. He did fade, but still ran around 2:31, and then ran 2:23 the next year.

Glenn Randall went out like a bat out of shit at the Rocky Mountain Shootout last year as well. He faded, but still placed 4th or 5th. He's the most unlikely-looking elite mountain runner there is -- he makes Solinsky (who is admittedly at a much higher level) look like Calista Flockhart after a protracted crack binge.

In the world of hill stomping, Glen Randall is a major player -- although with a reputation of both front running and marching to his own drummer. Between his pacing strategy and his outfit I'd say he did both at Boston. He won the Pike's Peak Ascent using the exact same strategy, astonishing the competition in the process.

Check out this link about him "breaking the golden rule" in winning Pike's Peak:

http://www.pikespeaksports.us/group/roadtrailrunning/forum/topics/randall-breaks-the-golden-rule

I had the sound turned down at first and I said to my wife, "there's a guy leading in a triathlon suit and a stride that's built for six minute miles." I guess I was wrong about the six minute mile part, but he clearly runs like a guy who has musculature from something other than running. I find it fun, and knowing his name from trail running (where he's also considered an outsider-type personality) I was amused, not annoyed.

90% can't run 15:00??? Try 99.9% Have you people been to a school fundraiser 5K in the last 20 years-as often as not 19 and change wins it. Even the citizens division of the BolderBoulder-a 10k run in one of the country's running hotbeds-31:02 (Randall's 10K split) will place in the top three pretty much every year-this in a race with 40 or 50 thousand people. Criticizing Randall's performance is a little like criticizing Kyle Orton's quarterbacking-sure he's not John Elway or Joe Montana-but even a journeyman at that level is better than virtually everyone else who toes the line. I'm sure even the vast majority of the posters here-collegiate runners or not-are lying if they say they can or ever did crack a 31:02 10K let alone followed it up with a 20 mile fun-run.

Glenn Randall wrote:

I find it funny that 90% of the people cant run my 5k split. Heck they probably can't run my average 5k pace for a 5k. Yet they come on here and bash me. Look I knew I had no shot in running a 2:20 with the heat. To me there's no difference in running a 2:25 to a 2:35 not when your mindset is on 2:20. I dind't think I'd blow up as much as I did but like I said before I don't regret it. Next year you guys will be talking about me, asking who will pull a GR and the next year, and the year after that. I've gained more noteriety by leading the first few miles at Boston than I would have running a 2:25.

@Glenn Randall:

Glenn, if that is really you and you would like your side of the story heard, please email me and I will write an article for letsrun.

Thanks,

Zeb Lang

Better to be a Glenn Randall and not a Kip Litton. Btw, did the Kipster show up?

Realistically, running 15:00 for the first 5K and 31:00 for the first 10K on that course is like running 15:45/32:00, at best, on the flats. So while it was hot yesterday, what Randall did was, while still far too ambitious for his abilities, not out of range of a decent local-class runner. That's another way of saying that there are in fact quite a few people on this board who could have done what Randall did yesterday; for various and mostly obvious reasons, they don't choose to.

As for the poster interested in Randall's "side of the story," is there some mystery here that eludes me and needs to be brought to the light of day by an unusually insightful journalist?