2016 Olympic Marathon Trials Athlete Review

From a television standpoint, it was a great race. You had drama, the good guys made the team, the winners wore Nike, and the USATF/USOC sponsors got the proper amount of logo exposure on TV...and oh yeah, you had Kara Goucher whining afterwards about the NOP like Kanye West trying to diss on Taylor Swift at the MTV Music awards a few years ago!

If marathoning is to be treated as a big boy sport in the eyes of the television execs, it had better be able to give some things up. I liked the 10 am west coast time start for east coast TV viewers.

If athletes had a problem with the way they were treated, maybe they need to speak up to Dwight Phillips and the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee...aren't they supposed to be advocating for the athletes?

meowzer wrote:

If athletes had a problem with the way they were treated, maybe they need to speak up to Dwight Phillips and the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee...aren't they supposed to be advocating for the athletes?

Yes, athletes should absolutely be sharing their feelings with their event leaders and with Dwight.

polevaultpower wrote:

meowzer wrote:

If athletes had a problem with the way they were treated, maybe they need to speak up to Dwight Phillips and the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee...aren't they supposed to be advocating for the athletes?

Yes, athletes should absolutely be sharing their feelings with their event leaders and with Dwight.

I had no idea this was an option? I would bet 99% of the field doesn't know either. Also part of the problem is that the USATF does not seem to take criticism well. Speaking out could potentially hurt you some where else down the line. My intent with my review was to start a dialogue on the subject, so hopefully in the future things will be better. I think I was fair in my assessment and if I was part of the USATF I would welcome athlete feedback.

D. A warmer climate helps, but isn't needed. On the tv commentary, they said Meb heat trained on a treadmill with several pounds of clothing in Mammoth. How many athletes are willing to do that?

USATF got LA to move the marathon date to February because of the weather. If the idea was to simulate Rio weather, they should have just had the race in Miami. Everyone wanted Houston to host again because the conditions are reliably good (would have been 40s-50s) and Houston received rave reviews from athletes who ran 2012 and at all the half championships.

USATF clearly put image ahead of athletes in LA. Starting at 10 am guaranteed runners that there would at least be warm conditions at the finish. Average highs in LA this time of year are in the 70s. Best conditions would have been upper 50s at the start and hitting 70 by the finish.

LA did not want to host the trials as much as USATF brass wanted to get to party in LA instead of Houston. Skimping on gear, food and transportation is just bad form.

Houston really cared about the runners. The original course design in Houston intentionally included extra turns and uturns to simulate London. After complaints from athletes and coaches, the course was toned down. I wonder whether anyone complained about the 10 am start time during the planning stages?

The best runners made the team. It was a good race, but the heat narrowed down the competition too quickly. Pennel and Taylor would probably have been able to hold on longer and put up more of a fight if the heat had not gotten to them. A lot of up and coming runners were in shape for big PRs and a chance to be noticed by sponsors and race directors but ended up dnf or bonking hard. The 2008 trials in Boston were a big springboard for Desi when she ran a solid 2:37. Houston saw a bunch of guys break 2:12. Next time out, we need to have trials that help build up our athletes not break them down.

First of, the Fuller guy is an @ss. Good points in theory from someone who wasn't there. It was disorganized and the athletes were mistreated. Period. I think you'll find a different reason from every runner who was there.

Second, the LIVE broadcast doesn't mean crap. It could have been put on a two hour tape delay and it would not affect the coverage one bit.

Combining those points ... I don't think the USATF or the USOC or the LA organizers had the leadership, experience, or inclination to move the start time, even knowing the forecast weeks in advance. At the technical meeting the duuude in charge mentioned TV coverage repeatedly ... "Doing this for the broadcast", things will be on time for the broadcast ....

It shows you where their priorities were.

PS - The people directly affected by the race conditions were in the race. Not on the sidelines or watching from the couch.

2020 qualifying times 2:13 A. 2:16 B. 62:00 for HM (also B)

Treat the A like royalty and let the B find their own way.

Limit the qualifying window to 12 months before the event.

This would of brought in Estrada and Chelenga and Rupp and they were the only HM that added any excitement to the field.

It would be easier for the LOC to provide services to the 15 A athletes and limit the field to 50-75 athletes. A reasonable number to take care of properly and still provide for all.

USATF faced this same problem in 2007 in New York and found that the whiners came from those that were the back qualifiers. They eliminated the B qualifying standard in 2012.

Blame the source wrote:

2020 qualifying times 2:13 A. 2:16 B. 62:00 for HM (also B)

Treat the A like royalty and let the B find their own way.

Limit the qualifying window to 12 months before the event.

This would of brought in Estrada and Chelenga and Rupp and they were the only HM that added any excitement to the field.

It would be easier for the LOC to provide services to the 15 A athletes and limit the field to 50-75 athletes. A reasonable number to take care of properly and still provide for all.

USATF faced this same problem in 2007 in New York and found that the whiners came from those that were the back qualifiers. They eliminated the B qualifying standard in 2012.

Again USATF bylaws say they can not have a standard faster than the IOC A standard. That is why the men's standard went from 2:18 to 2:19.

Blame the source wrote:

2020 qualifying times 2:13 A. 2:16 B. 62:00 for HM (also B)

Treat the A like royalty and let the B find their own way.

Limit the qualifying window to 12 months before the event.

This would of brought in Estrada and Chelenga and Rupp and they were the only HM that added any excitement to the field.

It would be easier for the LOC to provide services to the 15 A athletes and limit the field to 50-75 athletes. A reasonable number to take care of properly and still provide for all.

USATF faced this same problem in 2007 in New York and found that the whiners came from those that were the back qualifiers. They eliminated the B qualifying standard in 2012.

you realize by the standards you have proposed there would have been only 4 A standard athletes in your 12 month window and that includes Meb who made the team... oh yea your B standard guys would only be 3 more from the marathon in your window and only galen rupp broke 62 within a year so your trials would be 8 people, without a guy that qualified for the team. While I agree that the half needs to go down to at least sub 64, I feel like the A and B standards and qualifying windows are appropriate.

doesn't* include Meb

I was a volunteer Course Marshall on Saturday and it was my 3rd time volunteering. Yes, we got a nice t-shirt which surprised me as in both Boston and Houston we only got large cotton tees. No jackets though as reported - maybe those went to the USATF folks.

As a runner (although not as competitive as I once was, I did just miss qualfying (by 46 sec) in 1987), I was very concerned with the warm conditions and although I am sure they wanted to "mimic" Rio (as they tried with Columbia, SC years ago for Atlanta), I am worried that those affected (like Shalane) may not recover well enough. I know there is time, but heat is a nasty animal. So what about TV, those who couldn't get u to watch live (on the west coast) could just have recorded it. NYC Marathon is broadcast live and that is early for the west coast.

I was also very upset to find that there were no contingency plans for runners who dropped. We had four women drop near me on the course (just past mile 23) and two were in pretty bad shape - one from the heat and one with a foot injury. I escorted them off the course to a place where they could sit in the shade and had to give them our water and water from spectators. We called medical who came and declared the women ok, but they had no way of getting them to the finish. Ultimately after lending them my phone to text family members to let them know they were ok, they had to walk to the finish area. I walked along the edge of the course with the woman with the hurt foot until her Mom met us around 24.5 (the course made a loop after 23+ and came back on itself just passed that point where she met us).

I was honored as were all of the volunteers I talked to to be part of the experience and I hope that you participants (who are all rock stars no matter what) appreciated our efforts. Not every volunteer was a runner and we were provided no training, pep talk, etc. other than don't give the runners water as they will be DQ'd.

Congrats to all of you who ran! And I hope you are there again in 4 yrs!

Great point about dropping out.

The duuuude at the technical meeting advised people to try to drop out near the finish line.

Seriously. Much gaping of the jaws was had.

kvothe wrote:

D. A warmer climate helps, but isn't needed. On the tv commentary, they said Meb heat trained on a treadmill with several pounds of clothing in Mammoth. How many athletes are willing to do that?

Hi kvothe. Just to let you know I did a fair amount of treadmill heat training with several pounds of clothing (including a 24-miler drinking almost nothing, lost pounds of sweat). However, I still dropped out of Saturday's race from overheating. I think I wasn't ready for the direct sun and rate of sweat evaporation, but I'm not sure.

If you read my review you know I am not complaining about the conditions. I didn't have it and that's that. But I do want to let people know that even if you tried hard to prepare it didn't always work.

Did you qualify through the Half?

Precious Roy wrote:

LA did not want to host the trials as much as USATF brass wanted to get to party in LA instead of Houston. Skimping on gear, food and transportation is just bad form. .

?? Mccourt and friends want to host an Olympics and needed to do a trial event to prove they can handle it.

They certainly could not handle timing...

Did you qualify through the Half? Yep.

peopleoffuller wrote: Do you have any idea of the cost to closed down part of LA

Don't assume USATF paid for it. This was Mccourt's project. The mayor appears to be supporting the Olympic bid too, so, we don't know what was provided at no cost to Mccourt.

Oh while I'm posting I want to say again that my overall experience was great and the people at LA obviously worked hard and cared a lot about our experience. I am not saying all the criticisms are unwarranted but personally my expectations were exceeded in most areas, especially by the volunteers and fans.

fellow Q wrote:

kvothe wrote:

D. A warmer climate helps, but isn't needed. On the tv commentary, they said Meb heat trained on a treadmill with several pounds of clothing in Mammoth. How many athletes are willing to do that?

Hi kvothe. Just to let you know I did a fair amount of treadmill heat training with several pounds of clothing (including a 24-miler drinking almost nothing, lost pounds of sweat). However, I still dropped out of Saturday's race from overheating. I think I wasn't ready for the direct sun and rate of sweat evaporation, but I'm not sure.

If you read my review you know I am not complaining about the conditions. I didn't have it and that's that. But I do want to let people know that even if you tried hard to prepare it didn't always work.

yea even if the air temp wasn't extreme, the sun just seemed like it was blasting. It had gotten a little uncomfortable running during the week leading up to the race especially since the weather has been so much nicer lately.

I thought it was cool as hell when I saw the athletes all walking past the Staples Center towards the starting line, kind of like "the show has arrived" kind of feeling. As a spectator, I also thought it was cool to see the athletes just warming up and down Fig by the Staples center pretty much in the middle of all the action.