Michael MF Shelley -- Commonwealth Marathon Champion

2:11:15

great stuff and Steve Way 2:15:16 at age 40 beating Ron Hill's UK Vet40 record

For us non Commonwealth types, what country is he from?

Hes from Australia, Ran one hell of a race with a whole lot of guts.

Very inspirational run

Australia

Awesome run, dropped twice and came back for the win

Respect. Bid his time while others were making unnecessary surges earlier on; was the only one able to stick with pre-race fave Stephen Chemlany when he made his move then laid his own hammer down to break Chemlany for a very comfortable win.

23 Finishers. Intimate race.

This lad will never forget this day. His gamble paid off. He'll be the champion for the next four years. NIce job.

Shelley's progression shows us how it's done - consistent, solid work over the years with the focus on marathons fairly early on. Modest PRs at shorter distances. Only one injury.

1500 m 3:39

5000 m 13:38

10000 m 27:59

HM 1:01:27

M 2:11:15

CG - 1 gold, 1 silver

OG - 16th

For those in the Commonwealth, how weak is the CG Marathon considered? For a dude to place 16th in the Olympics in between two CG with a Silver and Gold is quite telling of the level of competition. Not taking anything away from Shelley, I am sure this win will be life-changing, as it should be for those in the Commonwealth. Kudos.

fsdjhc wrote:

Shelley's progression shows us how it's done - consistent, solid work over the years with the focus on marathons fairly early on. Modest PRs at shorter distances. Only one injury.

1500 m 3:39

5000 m 13:38

10000 m 27:59

HM 1:01:27

M 2:11:15

CG - 1 gold, 1 silver

OG - 16th

You call those PRs "modest" but, really, how many Americans could step on a track right now and run both 3:39 and 27:59.

Rupp, sure. Derrick and True, probably. After that you're talking about a few guys with the capability but nobody I would bet more than 50/50 on right now.

3:39/27:59 is no joke.

T;lw wrote:

For those in the Commonwealth, how weak is the CG Marathon considered?

This is one of the problems our sport suffers from. If I watch the Baltimore Orioles Game today and they win, I dont think, "Yeah but we didn't beat Claython Kershaw."

That being, some of the guys had strong credentials.

Silver went to Chemlany who has a 2:06:24 pb.

3rd place Kiplimo is a 2:09 guy.

4th was Solomon Mutai - a guy making his debut (13:33 pb)

5th was defending champ Kelai s 2:09:09 guy.

6th was Eric Ndiema - just 21 and the former world junior record holder at 2:06:07.

So at least two 2:06 guys

We were watching today...decent spectator course you could see them pretty easily 3-4 times each loop...impressed he PRd....tough course on the legs. Wet slick Cobblestones with a lot of gaps in places...plus the weather was Wacky. Went from rainy headwind to hot and sunny to back to wind and colds great race to watch though. Very impressive running even if it wasn't WR pace.

rojo, what I was asking was where does someone from the Commonwealth rank this victory in one's career?

Would it be Olympics, London, World Champs? Or is the CG on par with like winning Berlin or Rotterdam or above the World Championships?

Africans run like crap (relatively speaking) in the rain. I think they aren't used to it and it tightens them up big time. Good on Shelley, though.

T;lw wrote:

rojo, what I was asking was where does someone from the Commonwealth rank this victory in one's career?

Would it be Olympics, London, World Champs? Or is the CG on par with like winning Berlin or Rotterdam or above the World Championships?

It is a little under the level of winning a major marathon like NY, Chicago, Tokyo, Berlin, or Boston, but above winning something like Ottawa, Houston, Honolulu, or Gold Coast.

Thanks. Can't wait to see the video. Does anyone have footage yet of the last 5km?

blt wrote:

great stuff and Steve Way 2:15:16 at age 40 beating Ron Hill's UK Vet40 record

Seriously, great run for Steven Way, who used to weigh 230 lbs and smoked 20/day.

He [Steven Way] crossed the line after 42 kilometers in a personal best of two hours 15 minutes 16 seconds and still with a smile on his face despite toiling on a tough course around Glasgow in rainy conditions.

"Best day ever," Way said. "I normally say it's second best to my wedding day but this one matches it. Sarah (his wife) won't mind I think.

"All my top goals -- top 10, PB, British vet record (for athletes over 40 years of age) -- and I've managed all three. I couldn't have wished for a better day."

Way, who is specializing in longer races of 100km, finished a minute faster than his performance in London, where he was third British finisher behind Mo Farah and Chris Thompson and 15th overall.