NotAustin18 wrote:
What is it? wrote:Question is - why are more runners stopping comp running after College? It seems in the 70s/80s there were a lot more who did the full time job + running thing. Is it that there are more activities (like crossfit and mudruns) that diluting the pool of future marathoners?
The main reason is that society has evolved. In the 70s you could live pretty cheaply, so you didn't have to commit too fully to a job. Now, you work after college. Also, now that running is a professional sport, those of us who aren't good enough to get a sponsor are discouraged from training hard after college as "Wasting our lives" running since it isn't an actual job.
Ok, guys, let's be honest: it would have taken a 2:05-2:07 marathoner in Berlinesque conditions to run 2:10 today in NYC. So looking at this way, there were no American guys who could do it in the 70s. Today, Hall and Ritz are borderline capable. By the same token, Ryan Vail's 2:13 today is really a 2:10 if not a 2:09 in Berlin (or another fast course with no headwind), so on the elite level, it's incremental progress from decade to decade if anything. As to sub-elite, there are a lot more marathons now, so that might explain why 2:15+ guys are more spread out (nationally and internationally), and so wherever one runs with such a time they are more likely to place relatively well. Am I off-base?