DavidSHM wrote:
2:16:59, unless there was A LOT of downhill is still a decent time.
I've always called it no man's land, as unfortunately, that's what it is.
Would I like to run it, absolutely.
To me, if you can run 2:16:59 and get any kind of help financially, by all means go for it! Shoes, travel, hotel, running apparel, etc... If you're that good and like to run anyways, why not get what you can get?
If you train hard and don't improve on that 2:16:59, then I guess that's your full potential and you have to accept it for what it is...a net downhill 2:16:59 pr for 26.2 miles, nothing wrong with that.
Sage seems to be a pretty decent guy and he's doing what any of us would do, pushing his sponsor's product. If the product sucked and he got injured or had any serious issues with the product, I don't think he'd be using them;) So then, the shoes work for him.
Totally OFF TOPIC, but not really:)
Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Frank Shorter, Tony Sandoval, Garry Bjorklund, Dathan Ritzenhein, Greg Meyer, Craig Virgin, Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, etc...and the list goes on and on. All had one thing in common: They were all state champions in high school AND all have run 2:10:30 or faster for the marathon.
Yes, of course there are state champions that have run the marathon and not run that fast, but my point is the runners who have run 2:10:30 or faster actually were all state champions.
Many other great runners were in the top 3 as high schoolers. There are dozens of other examples and of course, the rare exception as there are in almost all things in life (Brian Sell).
The guys running for HOKA are being given a chance to give it their best shot and get some compensation while they're at it. They aren't going to run 2:10 or faster for a marathon or that would have already happened.
Dick Beardsley is an extreme example of someone who kept dropping his marathon times each race running 13 consecutive pr's starting from 2:47:14 to 2:08:53...that is rare enough to be a Guinness World Record.
Although I wish him well and hope I'm wrong, Tyler Andrews is more than likely not going to go from 2:16 to 2:10. Sage ran for about 2 and half years with Hanson's, and has a marathon pr of 2:16:52. Heck, Verran ran 2:14:17 in 2002 and never got faster after several marathons attempts. At those times, get whatever support you can and hold onto it for as long as you can because it won't last forever.
Now, disagree and argue away telling me that my facts are all garbage. I'm going out for a long run:)
A little mo perspec wrote:That was at the trials my friend which was run on a legit course. This guy ran 2:16:59 which is not really worth saying 2:16. Kinda important to add the 59 seconds unless you run 2:16 low. Make sense? 2:16:59 on a net downhill is "ok" but that would probably give him closer to 2:18:30 at the trials which is run like a Championship not a time trial usually.