If your ceiling is 2:14 you will never be a professional marathoner. You are often misled because you may occasionally beat guys that are making a living off of the sport. For example a 27:50 guy debuts at 2:16. This guy is a pro because of his potential. He has the chance to be a 2:10 guy and that is what a shoe company is willing to pay for.
Brutally Honest Bob wrote:
If your ceiling is 2:14 you will never be a professional marathoner. You are often misled because you may occasionally beat guys that are making a living off of the sport. For example a 27:50 guy debuts at 2:16. This guy is a pro because of his potential. He has the chance to be a 2:10 guy and that is what a shoe company is willing to pay for.
Do you really think that 2:14-2:20 guys are not familiar enough with the sport to know this already? Useless PSA, Bob.
What are you going to tell us next? Not to eat romaine lettuce? We know, bro.
Brutally Honest Bob wrote:
If your ceiling is 2:14 you will never be a professional marathoner. You are often misled because you may occasionally beat guys that are making a living off of the sport. For example a 27:50 guy debuts at 2:16. This guy is a pro because of his potential. He has the chance to be a 2:10 guy and that is what a shoe company is willing to pay for.
To me, that sounds more like:
To all you 2:14 guys, I'm really jealous of you because I train hard and I'm nowhere near as fast as you.
Thank god I'm a 2:13:59 guy. I guess I will go for my run today.
Ever heard of ultramarathons?
I have said it before and I'll say it again, but this 2:14-(gasp)2:25! range has some of my absolute favorite runners to follow. They're doing it cuz they absolutely love it. And they are really willing to share and connect with other runners in ways that many pros aren't or can't.
And you forgot those 2:30s female marathoners, who also happen to be some of my favorites.
You do realize that 2:14 would have placed you in the Top 15 at the last two Olympics, right?
If you're 2:14, depending on your country, you are world class.
Keep it up, guys.
Will take it one step further -
2016 Rio - 17th Place was 2:14:11
2012 London - 15th Place was 2:14:09
2008 Beijing - 16th Place was 2:14:00
2004 Athens - 8th Place was 2:14:17
2000 Sydney - 8th Place was 2:14:04
1996 Atlanta - 6th Place was 2:14:29
1992 Barcelona - Bronze Medal was 2:14:00
1988 Seoul - 12th Place was 2:14:08
1984 Los Angeles - 13th Place was 2:14:00
If your a 2:14 guy you can literally have a good battle with Dennis Kimetto and beat him to the line. I wonder what age Bekele will be before he is a 2:14 guy. Probably when he is 50 he will be able to run that time still.
GR wrote:
You do realize that 2:14 would have placed you in the Top 15 at the last two Olympics, right?
If you're 2:14, depending on your country, you are world class.
Keep it up, guys.
You do realize that those are unpaced marathons typically run in 75-80 degree heat and humidity, right?
Do you realize that most runners in the Olympics ran slower times than their personal bests?
Rio's Olympic 17th has a 2:06:10 PB
https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/turkey/kaan-kigen-ozbilen-210311
Banana Bread wrote:
If your a 2:14 guy you can literally have a good battle with Dennis Kimetto and beat him to the line
Are you telling us that we should have a fistfight with Kimetto?
You guys just want to ignore the Jared Ward, Meb Keflezighi, Brian Sells of the world, right? Guys with molasses PRs compared to the field and still place Top 10 or medal, right?
Frank Shorter here wrote:
Do you realize that most runners in the Olympics ran slower times than their personal bests?
Rio's Olympic 17th has a 2:06:10 PB
And Jared Ward got 6 th place with only a 2:11 marathon pr(pr in that race). 4 out of the top ten at the Rio Olympic marathon had a PR of 2:10 or slower.
The Olympic marathon sucks. It’s like a subpar major with less depth.
Thanks for this incredibly helpful post.
This came at a time when I was about to quit my job and give up my career after 7 years because I was fortunate enough to run 2:18.
I always forget the reason that I run is the friendships I make, the health benefits and the simple joy of going out for a run. That feeling you have when you set a PR, or achieve a goal you thought was impossible is second to none.
All of the sub 2:20 guys I have run against are competitive by nature, and marathoning is a terrific outlet to that instinct.
I’m certain that these folks are all well aware that they won’t make millions running, but what’s the harm in spending your mid twenties working at a running store and chasing that 2:14 ceiling doing something you absolutely love.
The 40 hour grind will still be there when you are ready.
You can try ultrarunning and get a $50,000 contract with Hoka like Jim Walmsley.
Banana Bread wrote:
If your a 2:14 guy you can literally have a good battle with Dennis Kimetto and beat him to the line. I wonder what age Bekele will be before he is a 2:14 guy. Probably when he is 50 he will be able to run that time still.
Let's let him finish a marathon at all before making assumptions. Guy has DNF'd like 5 times.
Mike Deren wrote:
Thanks for this incredibly helpful post.
This came at a time when I was about to quit my job and give up my career after 7 years because I was fortunate enough to run 2:18.
I always forget the reason that I run is the friendships I make, the health benefits and the simple joy of going out for a run. That feeling you have when you set a PR, or achieve a goal you thought was impossible is second to none.
All of the sub 2:20 guys I have run against are competitive by nature, and marathoning is a terrific outlet to that instinct.
I’m certain that these folks are all well aware that they won’t make millions running, but what’s the harm in spending your mid twenties working at a running store and chasing that 2:14 ceiling doing something you absolutely love.
The 40 hour grind will still be there when you are ready.
This is exactly what I was talking about! Thanks Mike. And thanks to other guys like Runnersfix and many others out there grinding away and sharing cool stories and training tips with the rest of us. Keep it up!
Brutally Honest Bob wrote:
If your ceiling is 2:14 you will never be a professional marathoner. You are often misled because you may occasionally beat guys that are making a living off of the sport. For example a 27:50 guy debuts at 2:16. This guy is a pro because of his potential. He has the chance to be a 2:10 guy and that is what a shoe company is willing to pay for.
^ Guy with 3:17 marathon PR