Goucher Needles wrote:
She led the race at 5k in 17:32. With a smarter race, 2:35 would have been within reason.
I thought about that, too (not 2:35 specifically, but wondered how much faster she might’ve gone with better pacing). Either way her times pretty nuts. Apparently it’s an age group world record.
I was REALLY surprised when I saw her name listed in the elite field... To run a marathon in the off-season at 15 would seem a little nuts, but to run one right in the middle of XC season seems insane. I would have thought she’d be focusing on peaking for state/regionals/nationals, as most high school runners are. I know she’s a front runner, but was really surprised so see her gap the field from the gun also. I wonder if she really thought she was gonna run away from the field...
Not hating on her at all, just surprised. If running the marathon is really what she wanted to do, I’m glad that she was allowed to.