Shalane will win Gold

NOP Skeptic wrote:

I'd rather her get Bronze than blow up and get 12th

I'd rather see Americans play to win than play for 3rd.

be serious wrote:

It has nothing to do with her confidence. She's just not fast enough. That's all. She is not fast enough.

this

stupid useless post. way to post on your own thread multiple times.

Marblehead Pride wrote:

If Shalane has the confidence to race to her strength, she will win in Rio. She has proven her fitness level over the past 2 months.

SHE NEEDS TO RACE THE SAME WAY.

If she buries herself in the front pack for the first half of the race, she will lose. She needs to race in the same fashion as she has over the last 2 months. Changing her game will not produce success as she has not been a proven finisher. Go to the front and bury the field like she did to Amy over the past 2 months.

Shalane, Please race with your heart. Be confident in your fitness and take it to the world.

Hey knucklehead, Boston was ONE race. Should we judge you on ONE anything that you've done?

Don't let facts get in the way of your consipracy. Flangan has tried leading majors before. 2014 Boston. It just didn't work out too well.

Brianruns10 wrote:

While I would love to see Shalane on the podium, I'm concerned by her struggle to hold things together in the Olympic Trials. She still managed to qualify, but that just didn't seem to me like the performance of a medal contender. I think Amy Cragg has a shot if she has a great day. But I think Desi could really surprise a lot of people and pull off a Meb. She runs her own races and is skilled at coming from behind in the late stages when others are suffering, which is a good way to sneak onto that medal podium, if not win the race outright.

Regardless, I think this is a wonderful group of marathoners we've fielded, and we have our best shot at a medal since Deena in '04.

Yes, Shalane's trial race wasn't good but she's been great since. She broke the AR on the roads - 30:52.

We are working on our women's marathon preview and spoke to Desi who said this is the best she's ever had for a buildup. Should be exciting.

An AR in the 10k is exactly why she will not be a factor in the marathon.

i said i was in SHAPE,yes my pr is 2h11 but that day i beat the ranked 31 OF THE WORLD THE YEAR BEFORE ,we had windy day in BERLIN ,THAT YEAR I WAS PRACTICING WITH YOBES ONDIEKI ,WAS 1000%CLEAN ,MU BASE TRAINING WAS IN USA ,I KNOW LITTLE BIT THE MOROCCAN TEAM MEMBERS ,concerning elguerouj i saw him once bringing 2 SUVs put them on hill ,he can finish his hills work out ,start to be dark

hhhhhhhhhhhhhh,i remember that day ,i forget my gear ,i used it swim ,in SF indian summer

I read once that a blonde haired runner has never won the Olympic Marathon and likely never will- it's the heat.

This was a long time ago, pre internet, in a running mag.

Marblehead Pride wrote:

Suuure wrote:

Followed by two loses. Appear to be on two different trajectories.

Shalane has beaten Desi when she pushes the pace. She has experimented with other ways to race a marathon and now needs to go back to pressing early.

Do you believe that Desi could have run with Shalane in the San Diego Rock and Roll Half or the BAA 10k? Of course not.

When Shalane runs from the front she is a different runner.

I agree that Desi will beat Shalane if Shalane doesn't set the pace.

That only seems to work for her in the half and shorter races. I'm not so sure she is a good enough marathoner to win with this strategy in the longer distance.

I wish she was and would like to see her push and go for it regardless.

Silly logic wrote:

An AR in the 10k is exactly why she will not be a factor in the marathon.

As much as I hate to, I'm afraid that I agree with this. The posts by Coach Canova rings in the back of my head when I saw Shalane set the 10K record. He has said on these boards that setting PRs at shorter distances does not fare well for the marathon (some gross paraphrasing).

I'd be surprised if any American out right won Gold in the Olympic Marathon. I think all three have a shot of winning a medal, though. Shalane has the best track speed of the three but Desi is the most consistent and easily the smartest racer.

I think Desi will get at least the bronze, if not silver.

Shalane has a decent chance of the bronze.

And Amy has an average chance of the bronze, albeit not quite as good as Shalane.

Tough to compete with others in the field who will obviously be doping.

runn wrote:

I read once that a blonde haired runner has never won the Olympic Marathon and likely never will- it's the heat.

This was a long time ago, pre internet, in a running mag.

Marty Liguori used that in the coverage of the 1984 Olympic Marathon. Not sure if it originated with him.

I don't think it's statistically significant as a very low percentage of the world population has blonde hair, around 2% of adults.

Blonde wrote:

http://img.rasset.ie/0001aa0d-800.jpg

Look at her roots- not blonde.

I learned that from my wife when I commented on another woman's pretty blonde hair.

This is why I always tell my kids : "It does not matter what you choose to do. It does not matter what you choose to be the most important thing in your life. What matters is that when you know what it is you want to do, you do whatever it takes to finish third. If you have to, you hold back. You be tactical and smart. You file a protest, you hope for a positive drug test. Whatever it takes to get that bronze. Because at the end of the day, you want to look at that brown chunk of metal and suspect that it is possible that you finished as high as you could. You want to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you did not risk it all and finish 12th.

Amy Cragg just has not gotten the credit she deserves.

Not sure if she runs better from the front because it is inferior competition and she is more confident or if she just runs better from the front. Her best races have been run when she gets after it alone.