Now tha t Rupp is in. Who has the balls to break him?

make a list of the runners in the race that can run even run 2:09 on a good day. (hint, it's super short list)Go!

Nope!! wrote:

Rupp's first marathon wrote:

It's obviously all or nothing for Rupp. Time is irrelevant. The U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon is Rupp's best shot at winning a prestigous marathon especially in his debut. Think about it. Rupp is in another class compared to just about every other American distance runner and he's coached by a 3x NYC and 1x Boston champ. The marathon has always been their end game. All of those people who think he's eschewing a debut appearance payout...imagine what the big races will pay him if he's already the Trials champ. If he were to debut at NYC or London he'd get a decent appearance fee but would in all likelihood end up finishing anonymously in 5th - 10th place.

Al Sal hasn´t shown any sign of greatness in marathon coaching so far.

Excluding Rupp, Ritz and Farah, how many legitimately world class male distance runners has Salazar coached to race the marathon distance? Everyone else he's coached was national class and ran national class marathon times.

His national class runners have all run less than national level times in the marathon.

Is Abdi still running? He likes to make the race interesting.

I could see Puskedra, Ritz, and Rupp working together. In some form or fashion, they have all been teammates at different times via Oregon and NOP. regardless of the goal, having some familiar faces around makes an effort like that easier. Maybe they agree to work off each other like the good old days in Park City and that would suddenly be a very formidable trio.

Pennel will shock the field!

Okey wrote:

Pennel will shock the field!

From the front? I doubt it. He will sit like he did in Twin Cities and try to outrun the field over the last 10k.

Is Puskedra still in the NOP?

345elmore wrote:

Is Puskedra still in the NOP?

No. Try to catch up.

Ryan Hall should start it just so he can set a blistering pace ala LA Marathon 2015.... Start at WR pace !! LOL

Here's the deal: Alberto Salazar nailed his marathon debut. I think Rupp is going to nail this race as well. He may be solo after 25km.

A vision has: 1. Ritz, then Rupp and Estrada in 2-3 (order doesn't matter for 2-3).

Ritz is still smarting from 2012 OT. Therefore, I see him break away at some point between mile 16 and 20, with no one choosing to follow. The chase pack then dwindles down to Meb, Rupp, Luke, Estrada, and maybe 2-3 others (depending on how reasonable the pace is given the weather conditions). With 1600m or 800m to go, Rupp and Estrada just have too much kick for the others and finish 2-3. Ritz will have won comfortably about a minute earlier.

More like no one has the strength or talent to keep Galen at bay. Galen for the win all over the likes of Ritz, Meb, etc.

My prediction is that immediately ritz will have some lame excuse as per the usual about why things didn't go his way. Maybe blisters, but we'll have to see.

Kibet will turn up the pace. Not interested in slow and courageous enough to go solo from a long way out.

Riddle me this one wrote:

So you are predicting jog fest?

He must be. Hopefully they can break 3 hours. If Rupp wins he won't make the Olympics unless he meets the standard.

yellow house wrote:

I think the more important question is not who will "have the the balls" to break Rupp, but what pace would be needed to drop him? 2:06 pace? 2:08? 2:10?

Any pace sub 2:15ish will limit a kickers ability to kick.

dc wonk wrote:

Now that everyone knows Rupp is running, they also know that he only needs to be top 3

And meet the standard. Too slow, no Olympics.

Why hasn't anybody mentioned G. Dibaba yet? She is obviously the only runner in the world with the balls to break him.

You dont need to be an idiot about it.