Nick Symmonds runs 1:24 half

Invariably and as expected, people will put down Nick.But LOOK, it is about time that the crap stops.I have reached my breaking point and I have had it.Those who are built to appear and run like hall, rupp, abdirahman, farah, keflezighi and such deserve all they get, but a 1:24 is NOT slow for someone who focused more on sprint distances.You have this overly contrived sense of perfection that shifts based on who thou like.As a 1:41 Runner at 13.11, I can say that I look up to symmonds for that time,and, secretly, so do many of you.Shut the heck up and stop ridiculing people. Conversely, challenge an elite, geryt beaten and THEN shut up.Whatever it takes. Argue with me, I do not care EF off...Nick did fine.

Jayyyy wrote:

https://twitter.com/NickSymmonds/status/919245659298918400

He's such a bum.

BTW, this was done on my tablet and yes, there are typos. So what...get a life

Stoppit Smith wrote:

Invariably and as expected, people will put down Nick.

But LOOK, it is about time that the crap stops.

I have reached my breaking point and I have had it.

Those who are built to appear and run like hall, rupp, abdirahman, farah, keflezighi and such deserve all they get, but a 1:24 is NOT slow for someone who focused more on sprint distances.

You have this overly contrived sense of perfection that shifts based on who thou like.

As a 1:41 Runner at 13.11, I can say that I look up to symmonds for that time,

and, secretly, so do many of you.

Shut the heck up and stop ridiculing people. Conversely, challenge an elite, geryt beaten and THEN shut up.

Whatever it takes. Argue with me, I do not care EF off...

Nick did fine.

Jayyyy wrote:https://twitter.com/NickSymmonds/status/919245659298918400

He's such a bum.

He just doesn't train, but yeah I'd expect a guy who has been on 50mpw for 10years to be faster. Most club runners run that pace for a long run

I'm a short, fat, slow guy with a 19:15 5k pr, and even I run a 1:28 half...how does Nick run only 4 minutes faster?

You guys do realize he “ran a half” he didn’t race one. Dude was just cruising and getting some social media attention to help stay on the radar for his business.

I promise he could have gone in the 1:16 range if first place was being challenged.

Not bad for a hobby jogger running 30-40mpw.

ChuggsBunny wrote:

He just doesn't train, but yeah I'd expect a guy who has been on 50mpw for 10years to be faster. Most club runners run that pace for a long run

Yes... When I run in my hometown "most" runners do their typical easy Sunday 20 miler at 6:25 miling. It's a pace that everyone can easily run for hours. Because of this most of marathon runners run at least in the 2:40s. Symmonds is so slow. I bet he couldn't even run a sub 4 mile right now. Again... sub 4 is a time, most people can run a mile in.

Muchfaster wrote:

You guys do realize he “ran a half” he didn’t race one. Dude was just cruising and getting some social media attention to help stay on the radar for his business.

I promise he could have gone in the 1:16 range if first place was being challenged.

Not bad for a hobby jogger running 30-40mpw.

Not anymore, he's in 4:50 mile shape

Stoppit Smith wrote:

Invariably and as expected, people will put down Nick.

But LOOK, it is about time that the crap stops.

I have reached my breaking point and I have had it.

Those who are built to appear and run like hall, rupp, abdirahman, farah, keflezighi and such deserve all they get, but a 1:24 is NOT slow for someone who focused more on sprint distances.

Its really really slow, and he can do that in training any day. This was not even close to all out.

Stoppit Smith wrote:

As a 1:41 Runner at 13.11, I can say that I look up to symmonds for that time,

and, secretly, so do many of you.

What does this mean?

What does it mean?Simple.As a 1:41 half runner, I cannot do a 1:24; Accordingly, to me, 1:24 is great.Furthermore, I sense that many here would put down a 1:24 just because they can, yet many who are putting it down likely cannot run a 1:24.So, really, those who are slower than a time they put down should just shut up because they are not entitled.Simple.

Barakus Obama wrote:

Stoppit Smith wrote:

Invariably and as expected, people will put down Nick.

But LOOK, it is about time that the crap stops.

I have reached my breaking point and I have had it.

Those who are built to appear and run like hall, rupp, abdirahman, farah, keflezighi and such deserve all they get, but a 1:24 is NOT slow for someone who focused more on sprint distances.

Its really really slow, and he can do that in training any day. This was not even close to all out.

Stoppit Smith wrote:

As a 1:41 Runner at 13.11, I can say that I look up to symmonds for that time,

and, secretly, so do many of you.

What does this mean?

He made it a point in his retirement video that he would keep running but keep that more or less as an extra in his life.

The guy is 33-34 years old and has repeatedly said in interviews he wants to make sure he is contributing to other aspects first.

- being a good boyfriend

- potentially starting a family

- focusing on his businesses

But emphasis on his competitive running chapter of life coming to an end. I respect him a lot for recognizing what he wants to do and work on moving forward. The Nick Symmonds of yesterday was a fearless competitor on the track. The Nick Symmonds of today wants to be viewed in a different lens. Perhaps that corporate-like runner who ran competitively at one point in life that shows up on a given weekend to be a part of the racing scene, looks good in his new attire while racing halfway decent times near the top locally but not be absorbed by the entire scene itself. Guy wants to live life now so just best to leave him do that.

Maybe he was marathon pacing......I still stand by my prediction from months ago that Nick will not break 3.

How does 1:24 win a half marathon?

Just wow... wrote:

Don't most guys of his ability and much less ability, for that matter, run 20 milers at that pace or faster routinely in their training? I know I did a quite a bunch when I was in HS and college, and I pretty much sucked.

no one runs 20 miles routinely in training.

oboesausage wrote:

Just wow... wrote:

Don't most guys of his ability and much less ability, for that matter, run 20 milers at that pace or faster routinely in their training? I know I did a quite a bunch when I was in HS and college, and I pretty much sucked.

no one runs 20 miles routinely in training.

Especially not good half milers.

I'd be willing to bet that not a single man in any international level 800 stage Symmonds raced in had ever done a 20+ mile run.

Look at the course map in Newport.Certainly there are no La Jolla sized hills but it has more ant hills than a miniature golf course.I can easily see 1:24 for a winning time.

Prof Tony Martins wrote:

How does 1:24 win a half marathon?

We are all different runners. I like to do statistical analysis of sub-1:44 800m runners because there are over 125 men to analyze. I believe three sub-1:44 800m runners have a sub-45 400m PB. Some sub-1:44 800m men never broke 3:50 for 1500m. People have different abilities. I had a 2:01+ high school teammate 800m runner who couldn't break 18:30 for 5000m XC. Other 2:01+ 800m guys can race sub-4:20 for 1600m. People are different.

Yes, it seems many on this site really have no concept of what kind of training a middle distance/sprint runner does.

Sure back in college (over 12 years ago), Nick did okay at D3 XC running, so he's likely done a little bit of distance over his life. But even in college he was till focused on the 800/1500. I can't find a single reference to him racing anything over 1500 as an elite, and let's recognize that the 1500 was often a stretch for him.

He was training very hard for years, but he was specifically training for much shorter/faster races.

Given that he's now retired, just doing this for fun, has a daytime job, and doesn't have much of a track record in anything over a mile, I don't get why people are so shocked that he's not running a sub-1:10 half.

california dreamin' wrote:

oboesausage wrote:

no one runs 20 miles routinely in training.

Especially not good half milers.

I'd be willing to bet that not a single man in any international level 800 stage Symmonds raced in had ever done a 20+ mile run.

You're not understanding what I'm saying. When they do run a twenty (as some do), it's routinely at a faster pace. But we did 20 milers on many Sundays during our buildup for XC in H.S. wiith Wetmore (back in his Mine Mt. and Bernards days) and in college. Sure you can argue it burned us out, but that's what we did, and we typically often ran them at that kind of pace or faster, especially the better guys, and that was on pretty hilly courses. The group included plenty of 800/1500 type guys.

So much hate on here which isn't surprising. Nick is training for the Honolulu Marathon as part of a run gum promotion. He's said he wants to break 3 hours and tackle a different challenge in his retirement from T&F. The tweet seemed like more of a joke than a brag. He knows how fast people can run a half in. He won a local race and is on his way for sub-3 hours. BTW he was a pretty decent cross runner in college and often did workouts like 8 x 1km hitting fast splits. He can probably go a lot faster but he's just enjoying himself. Ya'll need new hobbies if you want to analyze this any further.