Official 2014 Boston Marathon Race Discussion Thread

I say congrats to Ryan Hall for toughing it out and finishing the race. The easy thing would have been to step off the course.

It was not a great race for Ryan to say the least, but man it showed a lot of heart to run the whole race. A classy move. My hat is off to you Ryan. You are a total bad ass.

V1per41 wrote:

Did anyone notice that Joan Samuelson, Female winner in 1979 & 1983, ran a 2:52:11 at age 56. Good for an age grade of 100.64%

Faster than the WR for W55. (Rae Baymiller 2:52:14, 1998 Chicago.)

Christine Kennedy was right behind with 2:57:44. At age 59, I think she is the oldest woman ever to run a sub-3.

akaaaaaaaaaa wrote:

Recognizer of Brilliance? wrote:Nope. Meb came in 4th at the 2012 Olympics for crying out loud. There is no chance that these guys would just write him off. None.

So you think it's more likely that there was a massive bribery conspiracy where a dozen top runners and their agents were bribed to throw the race instead of the top runners underestimating a 38-year old with the 15th slowest PR in the field who last ran a 2:23 marathon?

I do like your use of the word "massive". Makes your argument much more convincing.

In fact I cannot be sure of the truth. Neither can you. The race did look incredibly suspicious the way it played out. And the timing for this was absolutely perfect. If there was a conspiracy it would have been a small one - quite easy to hide. And with quite a substantial upside for the media and corresponding ad dollars.

Seriously, I hope you are realizing what a huge fvcking idiot and dooooshbag you look like. No one who watched that race play out would think of the flat out stupid things you did. I really hope you are on drugs, because that is the only valid excuse for your posts.

Recognizer of Brilliance? wrote:

akaaaaaaaaaa wrote:

So you think it's more likely that there was a massive bribery conspiracy where a dozen top runners and their agents were bribed to throw the race instead of the top runners underestimating a 38-year old with the 15th slowest PR in the field who last ran a 2:23 marathon?

I do like your use of the word "massive". Makes your argument much more convincing.

In fact I cannot be sure of the truth. Neither can you. The race did look incredibly suspicious the way it played out. And the timing for this was absolutely perfect. If there was a conspiracy it would have been a small one - quite easy to hide. And with quite a substantial upside for the media and corresponding ad dollars.

Ugh, so insufferable. Someone gag her with an Oiselle singlet.

Kara tweeted this an hour ago:

So excited for meb, but just a quick correction. The last American winner was not Greg Meyer in 1983, it was Lisa Rainsberger in 1985.

I really hope she was tweeting from a kitchen.

Recognizer of Brilliance? wrote:

Nope. Meb came in 4th at the 2012 Olympics for crying out loud. There is no chance that these guys would just write him off. None.

This. And he is still strong and absolutely focussed. Great, great performance.

On the other hand: is it unfair to think that sympathy and pity had a say in the movie script of the day, considering all circumstances?

It was a fast day and not just for Meb.

Jeptoo sub 2:19.

Sharlane went from 2:25 to 2:22 (and almost 2:21).

Desi ran her fastest time outside that wind aided 2011 race.

I'm thinking that Meb could run 2:08 low on a time trail course and Jeptoo could run 2:18 (but not 2:15).

Recognizer of Brilliance? wrote:

Not too bright, are you?

...this happens to be the anniversary of the Boston bombings. What a coincidence.

Look up "anniversary," you laughingstock of an Internet screechbag. The bombings took place on 4/15/2013. Yesterday was April 21nd.

Where did they go? wrote:

akaaaaaaaaaa wrote:

Of course it makes sense. The rest of the lead pack underestimated an old guy whose with a slower PR who last finished the NYCM in 2:23. You don't chase a recent 2:23 guy and they figured Meb would come back to them. If Kimetto or Deisisa had gone, the other top guys would would have gone with them. They didn't give Meb the respect he deserved and it cost the.

This would make sense if Meb picked up the pace or put in a surge. The point being made is that Meb was running a steady effort and the pack of elites decided to slow down before halfway while running a pace that the majority of them should have been able to hold for several more miles.

Actually, Meb did surge from 20k to 30k.

Meb Chebet

5k 15:09 15:11

10k 15:20 15:20

15k 15:18 15:27

20k 15:18 15:40

25k 14:55 15:20

30k 15:10 15:33

35k 15:27 14:57

40k 15:12 14:29

42.2k 6:48 6:51

Chebet started cranking after 30k, but at that point he was 81 seconds behind Meb, and trying to make up time over heartbreak hill. It looked to me as if that little dip and rise through the underpass with 1000m to go did Chebet in.

I'm not convinced that the rest of the pack underrated Mab as much as others think. Most of the major marathons now unfold like track races; everyone rolls along until 30k or so, then someone starts to hammer and the race is on, not unlike a track race. So the pack collectively figured that they would run Meb down.

But Boston is different, and Meb ran a great race for that course. It was as if he asked himself WWBD, or maybe he actually asked Bill.

Thank you so much for the coverage of the Boston Marathon. Even the trolls and the big heads didn't spoil it.

It was great to read the build up, the live message thread and the post-race analysis. Props (whatever that means) to Shalane and Meb and you two.

I am British, live in England and haven't been to Boston since I ran there about 30 years ago and I really felt I was there on Monday.

Keep up the good work!