the DEFINITIVE Boston anlaysis thread

does anyone have an updated list of the all time US marathon list? I want to see the "all conditions" list with Bostons, etc, vs the "record eligible" list

This:

https://trackandfieldnews.com/article/prague-marathon-rupps-pr-20607-climbs-all-time-u-s-list/

Why does KK not count? When our Kenyan Americans run sub 2:10 will those also not count?

American is American.

Alan

Is anyone putting down Ward or Fauble? That'd be silly, 2:09 is solid and they both actually raced well as in 7th and 8th where most of the leaders ran well (and they weren't crazy far behind).

Lelisa's form is rough, especially with Cherono's looking pretty good. This whole race was fun to see as both guys were in top form and evenly matched. Hoping we see more of these in un-paced races that are coming up (NYC ~ a la last year, Boston, Olympics).

I was more struck by how small the women's winner was actually than the men. Fauble is not a very big guy and actually somewhat blends in body type-wise. Ward does look bigger at least viscerally.

And both Ward and Fauble went under 2:10 w/o the magic shoes! And Degefa won without them (and recently ran a 2:17).

Just sayin'.

thank your for the link Alan. I'm glad my memory was correct--whether legal or aided courses, it is EXTREMELY rare for a US BORN--or more importantly **RAISED** runner to achieve 2:09.

On KK, on the recent wave of Kenyan imports: of course they "count" in an official sense, but they certainly do not count in the sense of: can the USA PRODUCE top marathoners??

When it comes to running top marathons, being RAISED in the US is an obstacle to be overcome, not an advantage. You must overcome videogames, the atrocious US diet/activity lifestyle that leaves 70% of our country obese, the distractions of other sports/hobbies, the extreme financial disincentives to NOT pursue professional running, etc.

Being RAISED in Kenya and Ethiopia is an advantage.

The BORN issue is less important; Salazar and Meb were both born overseas but were raised in the US, went to HS and college in the US. They were produced by the US "system."

Importing fully developed athletes like KK, like Chelimo, etc is meaningless when asking if our "system," our society, produces top marathoners. It's like Bahrain and Qatar and their Kenyans.

PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way denigrating these imports as "real" US citizens who deserve the citizenship they have earned.

Got it. Note that Shadrack was raised in NM.

The WCAP Kenyans were basically “just another top level collegian”, of which we have plenty. They weren’t worlds better than those they competed against in college. They didn’t come over here as fully developed world beaters. They developed through the American collegiate system.

Alan