Kellyn Taylor wins 2018 Grandma's Marathon in 2:24:28 - moves to #7 all-time on US list

800 dude wrote:

It's pretty clear that there was a significant tailwind this year. Lots of big, big PRs in the top 100.

I ran it yesterday. I would say yes and no to that.

We unquestionably had a tailwind at the startine - a decently strong one. We also had it noticeably in most of the last 10K (it became a headwind for the last mile when the course doubles back on itself.

In the middle of the course, there were times when it felt like a headwind. I was behind the 3:05 pace group for the first 10K or so, and I worked my way up to them so I could tuck in against it. But it was never a headwind for very long.

I think the wind was coming mainly from the east, which made it a tailwind to crosswind. The course winds a bit, which might explain why occasionally it felt more like a headwind.

The bigger advantage from the wind was that it was blowing cold air from the lake on us constantly - like a big air conditioner. Combine that with overcast skies and a fast course and it was a recipe for fast times.

It was also very foggy the whole race, which helped mentally because you couldn't get sucked into staring at the aerial lift bridge or Lemondrop Hill. This was the easiest Lemondrop Hill has ever felt, and while some of that may be because of the wind, I suspect it was also mental - the hill didn't seem so bad when you didn't even see it until you were starting to climb it.

Here's a fun fact. Kellyn Taylor (2:24:28), Serena Burla (2:26:53), Lauren Kleppin (2:28:48) and Gwen Jorgensen all grew up within 30 miles of each other in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Serena Burla and Erik Sowinski both went to the Same high school (Waukesha West) while Gwen Jorgensen attendend Waukesha South. Also the same high school the Hamm twins (gymnastics) went to. Not large schools either. 1397 for South and 1208 for West.

wwharrier wrote:

Here's a fun fact. Kellyn Taylor (2:24:28), Serena Burla (2:26:53), Lauren Kleppin (2:28:48) and Gwen Jorgensen all grew up within 30 miles of each other in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Something in the water in that area during the 1990s.

From the male side, you can also throw in John Mickowski 3:57-2x outdoor USA 1500m finalist and John Simons, 3:58 at Boston Boost games this year into there. All from the same conference as the Waukesha schools.

are you her dad? wrote:

moddy t wrote:

Great result. Happy for her and happy for Ben.

Who is Ben and why should we care?

He sells rice!

Sloinnorcal wrote:

not a marathoner. wrote:

No she won't. Marathon predicts marathon. Jordan will get the AR and no one will break that for a long time. Molly tops out at the half marathon- isn't made for the marathon, like Shalane isn't made for the marathon either (despite her NYC victory).

You realize that S. Flanagan threw down a pretty fast time in Berlin a couple years ago, right? 2:21:14, I believe.

You realize that Berlin used personal pacers for Shalane! Jordan ran most of Chicago alone.

it's not a problem point-to-point marathons exist, especially legacy, just that they should not qualify for olympic trials because the olympic course will be IAAF certified and never be anything like these kinds of courses so they do not properly qualify athletes - then you get a year like Boston 2011 and suddenly some people are making B-standard and some B-standards become A

I guess it all gets sorted out at the actual trials but kinda makes it unbalanced

grandmas is no CIM but it definitely has more than a gentle descent

(unfortunately no-one has made the full race a segment yet so the first half will have to do)

www.veloviewer.com/segments/1141519

www.strava.com/segments/1141519

^agreed. Similar time to Taylor's, and I didn't feel much wind in the first 10k (so tailwind). The middle 20k felt like a headwind (so assuming some mix of cross+tailwind), and the last 12.2k was probably close to a wash-tailwind for a bit, but a bit of headwind and enough buildings that neither would've mattered much (certainly didn't save my race). The NOAA was calling for 3-10mph ENE wind shifting fully around to SSE by 11AM so while you can't say the wind wasn't helpful, it wasn't some hand of God dragging people along like Boston a few years back. There's enough roll to the course that I can't imagine it being any faster than Berlin on a similarly good weather day. It was cool at the start, but not uncomfortable, and it got foggier/colder later in the race when humidity would've ruined races if it were 10 degrees warmer. I think the men's winner blamed missing the CR on it getting cold/misty late (said something about heavy air maybe?), but I'd guess most people appreciated it. Taylor's time wasn't that much of an outlier for someone who debuted with a 2:28 and was competitive late in NYC. I ran the race though, so I've got a personal interest in believing that times accurately reflected performance.

zoomzoomzoom wrote:

it's not a problem point-to-point marathons exist, especially legacy, just that they should not qualify for olympic trials because the olympic course will be IAAF certified and never be anything like these kinds of courses so they do not properly qualify athletes - then you get a year like Boston 2011 and suddenly some people are making B-standard and some B-standards become A

I guess it all gets sorted out at the actual trials but kinda makes it unbalanced

grandmas is no CIM but it definitely has more than a gentle descent

(unfortunately no-one has made the full race a segment yet so the first half will have to do)

Marathons that have the top Olympic trials qualifiers:

Boston, New York, CIM, LA, Twin Cities, Grandmas, Chicago, Houston

Point to point marathon courses:

Boston, New York, CIM, LA, Twin Cites, Grandmas

But it is still a hard course.

ck3237 wrote:

But it is still a hard course.

Grandma's?

Not really. It's not Chicago, but it's still a very forgiving course. Lemondrop hill and the un-named hill that follows (where you turn onto Superior St) aren't bad unless you're blowing up. And after that, miles 23-25 are downhill and very fast.

Grandma's is a great course, especially for those who prefer gently rolling to flat and who don't mind minimal crowd support for the first 16 miles or so. It's a very fast course - not because of the elevation loss (which is really not that much) but because of how the rhythm of the rolling hills encourages a solid pace and works different muscles, combined with the lack of turns until the final mile.

I suspect you would see times like this every year there, if they had overcast skies and temperatures like that every year.

bb8 wrote:

Dr.SkyRunner.Shiva.at.11333ft.altitude.com wrote:

http://www.espn.com/espnw/life-style/article/19241580/the-move-love-hate-runner-kellyn-taylor-pistol-squats

What is the total number of runners in Flagstaff who care about the stupid 1 leg squats done by Ms. Taylor?

Answer:

0.00

Probably a few more people than that. On another note, Sara Hall looks like she has extremely wide hips for a female distance runner.

It turns out that I have also been doing 1 leg squats for many years.

Most human runners have trouble doing 1 leg squats because they have very weak quadriceps muscles with a combination of horrible balance and really pathetic flexibility...all at the same time.

There are many interesting variations of the 1 leg squat exercise.

For example: