Pathetic - Tyler Mccandless registers as a non elite and stomps the citizens field in Bolder Boulder.

The actual comment was about a 2:12 marathon time rather than about a specific marathon runner. The time was probably less elite in the 70s, almost certainly in the 80s, than it is now where it will place you in the top ten times in the US now.

Then by that metric his best would make him an elite marathoner in Lichenstein, Tibet, and Guatemala today, too. BFD.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

Then by that metric his best would make him an elite marathoner in Lichenstein, Tibet, and Guatemala today, too. BFD.

As well as Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Finland, China, and really pretty much everywhere else outside of Japan and East Africa.

Like I said in my final sentence above.

Your last sentence is also your first sentence so I suppose I can only reiterate that 2:12 is an elite time in all but maybe a half dozen countries.

The Fap Scientist wrote:

Seriously, he crapped all over the entire field. Last year some elite Kenyan did the same thing, didn't want to face off against actual elites so they he registered for the citizen field. Everytime this happen it steals the glory from everday runner joes who work and aren't pros. This race needs to consider not allowing elites who have placed in national races to race in the citizen field.

Fail.

I think that this kind of criticism might have had more force back when the elite race didn't limit the number of spots for individual countries (nine spots for the U.S., three for other countries). I'm not aware that McCandless had the 10k credentials to make the cut for the U.S. this year, and there are obviously a lot of excellent Kenyan runners who are excluded from the elite race. (From the outset, I've disapproved of the decision to limit the number of runners from specific countries or regions, as well as the various rules that have specifically favored U.S. teams and their members.) I certainly don't believe that someone should be excluded from the Bolder Boulder altogether because he's neither fast enough to make his national or regional team in the elite race nor slow enough to qualilfy for the citizens' race. And I'm really not concerned that faster runners (who may or may not be gainfully employed in other occupations) are "stealing the glory" from "everyday runner joes" (who have never been required to prove that they do anything productive in life to gain admission to the Bolder Boulder).

HRE wrote:

Your last sentence is also your first sentence...

Nope.

This is the important point here. The race follows a silly policy to siphon US runners into some level of spotlight for the crowd in Folsom because Memorial Day. Enough with the team farce that clearly results in begging white runners to race in midday heat. Just put them into an invited pro wave starting before the A wave and have a US-only prize purse if you want Americans to place higher. Let the walker waves have an all-day party on the course.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

This is the important point here. The race follows a silly policy to siphon US runners into some level of spotlight for the crowd in Folsom because Memorial Day. Enough with the team farce that clearly results in begging white runners to race in midday heat. Just put them into an invited pro wave starting before the A wave and have a US-only prize purse if you want Americans to place higher. Let the walker waves have an all-day party on the course.

Agree, in fact, I would like to see the elite race start with the A wave and make the A wave harder to get into. Right now the A wave standard is an 18:30 5K which many high school freshmen can easily run. Make the A standard a 16 flat 5K, start the A wave 5 meters behind the elite race, everyone wins.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

HRE wrote:

Your last sentence is also your first sentence...

Nope.

You have one sentence in that post.

In the early days it was just a mass start race. Within a couple years they had an elite corral, and A Wave started right behind them 30 seconds later. It took a 32:00/38:00 (sea level, I think 32:30/38:30 at altitude) to qualify for an elite start, and there would be about 100 men and women in that group.

By the mid-80s they introduced the citizen race with A wave criteria probably not too far from what it is today, probably 37 or 38 minute 10K at altitude. The elite men and women ran in afterward, on the same course, and everyone hung around to watch the finish. But in the 90s the Kenyans started sweeping everything so they went to this team format. Most countries get just one or two teams of 4, US gets an A,B,C team. And some years they'll have an all-Colorado elite team.

It's all so contrived that there isn't a lot of interest in it anymore. The sky man dropping into the stadium in a parachute or jet pack is as much of a draw as the elite races.

Agree with opening up the fields again, maybe at least 10 per country and 20 or 30 Americans. Add some extra prize money for Americans at the top and go deep to top 10 or 15.

Can't make you see if you're unwilling.

Um, What about women in the A wave? Sub 16 is no joke for a woman to run compared to a man