The Official Sage Canaday Boston Marathon OTQ Thread

A DNF is always weak (unless you're injured). In these tough conditions, it was clear that he wasn't going to get is qualifier, but he could have placed much much better than in good conditions. He probably weighs a bit more than the elites and should be able to tough it out with his ultra experience. I think by DNF'ing today he gave away his only ever shot at a Boston top 10.

Grandmas is only a couple months away. He should rally and go for it there. Good field and usually quite a few OTC times. As that is his main goal, the DNF makes sense.

But I also agree with those saying it was weak. Like Rupp and many others, I just think you should finish the races you start. Kudos to Shalane and Molly and many others we saw on TV going on at a shuffling pace. It is why they are some of my favorite runners of all time. They all could have dropped. It was cold and miserable, the win was way up the road and they had no chance. But they didn't. They kept running.

Dropping out was the absolute smartest move. He could have grinded it out but that would have served no purpose except wasting an excellent build up he's had. With this basically being a long workout run, he can easily be ready for another marathon in the near term.

Weird how the guy has such a following despite his consistent crashes and burns in high profile races

Couldn't even finish Boston Marathon... and then places in 50th place at UTMB (got smoked by lots of non-pros who have full time jobs & families, etc..

A lot of professional runners crashed and burned; he mentioned he was feeling the onset of hypothermia as well; you'd have to be a complete fu$%#ng idiot to finish because it's the tough, manly right thing to do. If his purpose is to simply OTQ, he did the right thing dropping out

Weird1 wrote:

Weird how the guy has such a following despite his consistent crashes and burns in high profile races

Couldn't even finish Boston Marathon... and then places in 50th place at UTMB (got smoked by lots of non-pros who have full time jobs & families, etc..

He's not a top marathoner nor a top ultra runner. He should plunder short trail races and be happy but he craves sponsors and clicks...

I ran the first 10k+ with him today. I'm also trying for the standard and gave it a crack early on in the race. With a 2:21 PR marathon last fall, running an OTQ is the only goal from now forward when I race a marathon- why waste 6 months of training to not even attempt it?

Sage seemed frustrated that no one else in the pack wanted to do the work the first couple miles and were happy to just follow and draft (guilty early on here). I tried to tuck in behind him a few times, but he seemed to play games that made it hard to do, and no one else seemed to get the memo that he wasn't about it. So I took the hint and got up next to him to help share the load for a while. He and I were side-by-side for several miles taking the brunt of the wind for the rest of the pack. I eventually broke away from the group and ran a pretty decent section through half marathon, but some of those guys eventually came back to pass me (70-80 first/second half splits- oof). Today was certainly not the day to get the trials standard for us mere mortals, but it was cool running with Sage for a few miles and seeing all the carnage out there (I include myself in those ranks).

Weird1 wrote:

Weird how the guy has such a following despite his consistent crashes and burns in high profile races

Couldn't even finish Boston Marathon... and then places in 50th place at UTMB (got smoked by lots of non-pros who have full time jobs & families, etc..

Not that hard to understand. He generates lots of entertaining and helpful content. He's not the best of the best, but he's good enough to be credible. People like following his life, lifestyle and journey. He's a representative for a "running/active/healthy-living lifestyle". Competition is a part, but by far not the most important part. The journey is the reward.

Weird1 wrote:

Weird how the guy has such a following despite his consistent crashes and burns in high profile races

Sage has EARNED that following by being a hard working honest guy who is willing to share his knowledge of the sport. Running is a tough sport. Everybody has good and bad days and Sage has had plenty of good days. Other runners can relate because he doesn't just post or talk about the great days.

Also, congrats on the Runners World article. Haven't read it yet but it will provide a slight bit of legitimacy to a mag slowly going the wrong way where serious runners are concerned.

today was his best chance ever. and he DNFs. wrote:

A DNF is always weak (unless you're injured). In these tough conditions, it was clear that he wasn't going to get is qualifier, but he could have placed much much better than in good conditions. He probably weighs a bit more than the elites and should be able to tough it out with his ultra experience. I think by DNF'ing today he gave away his only ever shot at a Boston top 10.

You need to go post on Runners world. It's clear you have never ran competitively and don't understand what is important. A DNF is only seen as weak to people who so desperately need their finishers medals - those who jog marathons (and ultras) where the only goal is to finish and get their participation medal. They want finishing to be seen as tough because finishing is all they've got. It was great that he went out their and tried, but Sage didn't need another Boston finishers medal which you joggers prize so much.

There their they're... yeah, I didn't proof read, sorry.

spot the jogger wrote:

spot the jogger wrote:

You need to go post on Runners world. It's clear you have never ran competitively and don't understand what is important. A DNF is only seen as weak to people who so desperately need their finishers medals - those who jog marathons (and ultras) where the only goal is to finish and get their participation medal. They want finishing to be seen as tough because finishing is all they've got. It was great that he went out their and tried, but Sage didn't need another Boston finishers medal which you joggers prize so much.

There their they're... yeah, I didn't proof read, sorry.

A DNF by a self-hyping, overhyped, hyper jogger with an ultra large, ultra jogging ultra crowd of ultra blog readers about an over hyped display of ultra-mediocaty should be ultra-embarrassing to both the mediocre talent and the sheep that follow.

Dude claims how ultras are a different beast taking internal fortitude and preparation and gear and toughness to deal with mountains and snow and rain and wind and elevation.

....meanwhile ultra dude goes home devastated because it was raining and windy and 44 degrees. Wasn't Hardrock snowing and raining and 28 degrees. For 100 miles??

A better question isnt why Sage DNF'd but why so many sheople still follow him?

Spotted wrote:

spot the jogger wrote:

There their they're... yeah, I didn't proof read, sorry.

A DNF by a self-hyping, overhyped, hyper jogger with an ultra large, ultra jogging ultra crowd of ultra blog readers about an over hyped display of ultra-mediocaty should be ultra-embarrassing to both the mediocre talent and the sheep that follow.

Dude claims how ultras are a different beast taking internal fortitude and preparation and gear and toughness to deal with mountains and snow and rain and wind and elevation.

....meanwhile ultra dude goes home devastated because it was raining and windy and 44 degrees. Wasn't Hardrock snowing and raining and 28 degrees. For 100 miles??

A better question isnt why Sage DNF'd but why so many sheople still follow him?

You don't have to like him or follow him. You know that, right?

Runners World??

You mean that magazine for Hobby Joggers.

Running Times was for racers but it was shut down so Runners World could spend more time with articles on marathon costumes and how to break 20 minutes for a 5k.

Jogger?MoreLikeWogger. wrote:

spot the jogger wrote:

You need to go post on Runners world. It's clear you have never ran competitively and don't understand what is important. A DNF is only seen as weak to people who so desperately need their finishers medals - those who jog marathons (and ultras) where the only goal is to finish and get their participation medal. They want finishing to be seen as tough because finishing is all they've got. It was great that he went out their and tried, but Sage didn't need another Boston finishers medal which you joggers prize so much.

Runners World??

You mean that magazine for Hobby Joggers.

Running Times was for racers but it was shut down so Runners World could spend more time with articles on marathon costumes and how to break 20 minutes for a 5k.

Sage is a perfect for Runners World articles and jogging articles. Spot the jogger will soon reading the piece worked up for next month issue, "How to DNF with grace and excuses" by Sage Canady. Or the next month, "How to be tough in the mountains but soft on the roads".

He pulled out at mile 18. What harm is slogging another 8 miles going to do? It was clear he wouldn't get the standard, so he could have just enjoyed the running experience. You know, the reason we all go into running. At least he could have said he finished Boston in some of the worst conditions ever and added another marathon notch to his belt (and he would have probably placed in the top 20). I'd understand if he was injured, but that wasn't the case.

Zuz wrote:

Canterberry wrote:

This may be why he's consistently a B to C level elite.

in which field? he is definitely A level in his chosen one which is ultras

Very true. I was referring to the marathon where he's a solid 12-15 minutes back from the other top Americans.

I guarantee you I have run more competitive races than you (both quality and quantity). And by the way, I have never kept a single one of my finishers medals. To DNF is to be mentally weak, and this has nothing to do with being manly (I mean, look at Des today!). It has everything to do with not getting something done that you set out to do. From your first DNF onwards, a DNF will always be an option.

Again, I exclude injuries.

I agree with all who said there is no point in him running a 2:30 to 2:40 marathon and missing the OTQ by a mile. Sure, dropping out seems weak but he can recover and run another marathon in a few weeks with no harm. Slogging through and getting hypothermia could hamper his training going forward for a long while.

But I really think his quest of another OTQ is a waste of time. His sponsors don't care about road marathons and he is not going to get any prize money. He should just go back to 50K and 50 mile ultras and try to win something.

Sage is a good guy and generous with giving back to the running community so no need to pile on right now.