Brenda Martinez stumbles or trips in almost every race that she runs in. What is her deal?

A simple rule, benefitting both the PUBLIC AND THE ATHLETES, would be:

1: The first one out of the final curve has to go to line 2 on the final stretch and stay there.

2: If two runners coming out the curve shoulder to shoulder they have to go to line 2 and 3.

This would also reduce the need for in-field elbowing over the course of last curve as everone in there would know at least one opening on the inside would always come.

Is this fair to the runner leading with 100 to go that has to give up 5 cm? Well, if one can't hold on to a metre lead without boxing in those behind then one don't deserve to win anyway IMHO.

Brenda moved to the left and was the sole cause of the fall.

Luxury800 wrote:

Nope. Brenda ran in the middle of lane 1. Watch in slo-mo, she stays there as Johnson attempts to slip through on the rail and tangles with Brenda. Johnson came from behind, took a chance and took them both out. I’m not saying Brenda doesn’t run sloppily at times but in the instance where Jenny clearly cut in too soon on her and incident with Johnson, Brenda was not at fault. Just my opinion.

What in the world is Johnson moving to the rail in the last 200m or at all? Has she never run this race before? Middle distance racing 101, stay off the rail, always give yourself the option to move out to pass.

official of officials wrote:

baseball-02 wrote:

Where in the rulebook does it say that when you are in the middle of the first lane you have to give the rail to someone behind you when you aren't passing? That's insane. It's the trailer's lookout. There aren't 3 lanes in the first lane.

Martinez cut Johnson off. Johnson wasn't behind her by more than a stride. This is real simple.

Next!

My Johnson??

Official, I am not going to get in the weeds quoting rules; a runner has a practical obligation to attempt to stay on one's feet. Did you see Murphy in 800m F? Harris was getting a bit too close. Murphy could tell Harris was thinking of muscling his way into lane 1. Murphy gently used the back of his hand to tap Harris on the should. Murphy's message: Don't do it! Both John Walker and Lasse Viren gently used their hands in crowds often to let others know they were too close. Johnson could have gently extended her arm to Martinez to make Martinez aware.[/quote]

and Martinez would have turned around and dropped kicked her off the track. YOU DON'T TOUCH MARTINEZ!!

Brenda does get into more than her fair share of mishaps ,she bounces from side to side but in this case she was not at fault. She got clipped because Johnson(sp?) moved to her right after almost hitting / tripping on the rail. Watch Johnson's spikes starting at 3:30 and you will see what I am saying.

Her fall in the 800m at the 2016 trials wasn't her fault. It was due to that idiot Alysia Montano.

The Ann Calvello of mid-distance was at it again in the women's mile at the NB Games today: three separate contact/stumble incidents. I'm a fan of Martinez, but she seems to find -or cause- trouble in every other race she's in.

Dynamite Mike Gammon wrote:

The Ann Calvello of mid-distance was at it again in the women's mile at the NB Games today: three separate contact/stumble incidents. I'm a fan of Martinez, but she seems to find -or cause- trouble in every other race she's in.

Multiple reasons, basically already covered in this thread. Brenda has hips and and ass, unlike her competitors. Hissan or the German girl and countless others won't get in trouble partially because their body type allows more margin for error.

But overall Brenda is a sloppy runner who also runs nervous. Lousy combination. Once she started having the traffic problems years ago you could see she started chopping her stride and looking downward all the time, as if she is fearful of being tripped. If she would just get rid of that aspect and run confidently with her head up there would be fewer problems, even if nothing else changed.

She also has a tendency to straddle the outside lane line, which causes potential problems with runners on either side of her. The arms flail, as others have detailed. She lacks a quick burst like Houlihan and she's not a fruntrunner like Wilson. Brenda essentially gets stuck in traffic, lacks quick feet to make instant saves, and doesn't have a confident or logical or dependable style. Without that game plan there can be issues at any point of a race. None of the competitors know what she is going to do because Brenda doesn't know herself.

Her tactics are superior at 800 than 1500, where she has more time to think and made mistakes and flail all over the place. It was rotten bad luck in the trials 800 in 2016, where she had run a good race and seemed very likely to qualify.

I root for Brenda but it is always frustrating.

Brenda plays dirty.

Are we going to have four more pages and seventy more post of this? Before posters state negative comments about B.M., please read through previous seventy post.

Goon wrote:

Luxury800 wrote:

Nope. Brenda ran in the middle of lane 1. Watch in slo-mo, she stays there as Johnson attempts to slip through on the rail and tangles with Brenda. Johnson came from behind, took a chance and took them both out. I’m not saying Brenda doesn’t run sloppily at times but in the instance where Jenny clearly cut in too soon on her and incident with Johnson, Brenda was not at fault. Just my opinion.

What in the world is Johnson moving to the rail in the last 200m or at all? Has she never run this race before? Middle distance racing 101, stay off the rail, always give yourself the option to move out to pass.

Brenda is a sloppy runner!

She trains completely alone except for the guys that are there to escort her to perfect paces and zero traffic. She simply has gotten used to running by herself.

^This. Running well in traffic is a learned skill. You need to do it in practice to do it well in races.

Dynamite Mike Gammon wrote:

The Ann Calvello of mid-distance was at it again in the women's mile at the NB Games today: three separate contact/stumble incidents. I'm a fan of Martinez, but she seems to find -or cause- trouble in every other race she's in.

You bring Brenda up when Colburn was the one to wipe out?

Watch her IG training videos. Often looks like she’s about to trip while running alone too.

Really quite amazing.

Speedy McSpeed Face wrote:

Dynamite Mike Gammon wrote:

The Ann Calvello of mid-distance was at it again in the women's mile at the NB Games today: three separate contact/stumble incidents. I'm a fan of Martinez, but she seems to find -or cause- trouble in every other race she's in.

You bring Brenda up when Colburn was the one to wipe out?

https://mobile.twitter.com/emmajcoburn/status/1089300389525155840

Is Emma's foot really swollen up or does she actually have that massive bunion at the base of her big toe?

Like Really Bro wrote:

Na it’s not just her. Woman races in general, someone is gonna eat it last couple laps. It’s gotta be partly your fault when you eat it, and she is probably even more careless or weak-cored then her peers.

Also, you write in a way that is unenjoyable to read.

Scorpion is literally the worst.

The blame for what happened in Boston belongs to New Balance itself for putting 15 athletes in an indoor mile when even 12 would be excessive. If Coburn or Praught are seriously injured, that's a pretty self-destructive move by NB.