Who was the most 'meh' Boston Marathon winner in recent history

Korir overachieved for his talent level. Sure he benefitted from awful weather in Boston but he beat some quality runners and also won LA twice in decent times and picked up a second place in Chicago behind Mosop. I don’t think he was ever considered a hot up-and-comer, as evidenced by the 2008 Chicago Marathon almost-debacle.

bahstahn wrote:

Scrolling through the winners of the last few Boston Marathons, who has had the most underwhelming before/after their Boston win? For me, realizing Berhanu Lemi Hayle hasn't really done much of anything since his win was pretty surprising since he was such a hotshot up-and-comer in 2016. Same for Wesley Korir

Probably Joe.

Reading rojo's comments on the thread about that 2008 Chicago race are hilarious in light of how soiled his pants have been since the Boston 2-minute gap. After Korir made up a five minute gap to have the fourth fasted time, here's what rojo wrote:

You are meh wrote:

Korir overachieved for his talent level. Sure he benefitted from awful weather in Boston but he beat some quality runners and also won LA twice in decent times and picked up a second place in Chicago behind Mosop. I don’t think he was ever considered a hot up-and-comer, as evidenced by the 2008 Chicago Marathon almost-debacle.

I think he was more referring to Hayle as the up and comer, but yeah I agree with you about Korir. That Boston win was more icing on a solid career, even though he hasn't be as dominant as a Desisa or Mutai

By far it is Desi.

Hayle was pretty well-credentialed going in, so I wouldn't call him a "meh" winner. He just has been a disappointment since. Yuki's gotta be it, I'd think. That being said, he almost isn't "meh" for me because of how many he runs and how prolific in terms of 2:15s.

What?? Four top-5 performances and a win?

Desi isn't even cool

Wesley Korir? If you know his personal story. Wesley Korir is pretty much the least "meh" marathon champion there has ever been.

I question why anyone would think a thread about this needed to be started.

"Meh" Keflezighi

Why do you find this funny? It's exactly in line with the argument Robert and the rest of us at LetsRun have made about 2019 Boston: forcing everyone else to start behind the elite men unnecessarily creates two separate races. That was the whole reason we crowned Stephen Van Gampleare the "open race" champion -- because he started behind the elite field.

Starting the masses five minutes behind the elites was dumb when Chicago did in 2008, just as it was dumb when Boston started them two minutes behind this year.

Why is Desi so boring as a human being?

Ahahdhd wrote:

By far it is Desi.

Desi has been incredibly consistent over the years, before and after her Boston win. She's certainly no 'meh' performer.

loljos wrote:

Reading rojo's comments on the thread about that 2008 Chicago race are hilarious in light of how soiled his pants have been since the Boston 2-minute gap.

What's hilarious about my comments? The only thing that's hilarious is you seeming don't understand what I wrote as Jon Gault pointed out.

Then and now, 10 years later, my thoughts have been exactly the same.

Everyone should be paid. IF you finish 5th in elite start, you should also be paid. If someone in the non-elite start (whether it was a woman last year or man in 2008 or this year), they should be paid as well. Hell, we even offered this year to pay the prize money for the non-elites earning it in Boston this year.

I've had the chance to meet Desi and I've seen a lot of her interviews. She is NOT "boring as a human being." Anyone who believes that is boring as a human being.

Ahahdhd wrote:

By far it is Desi.

I agree 100%.

She is a consistent top 5-10 runner that has never been good enough to win. 2018 was a Mother Nature fluke and she survived better than others. It is now 2019 and she is back to being 4 minutes behind those that are capable of winning.

Not a hometown fan wrote:

Ahahdhd wrote:

By far it is Desi.

I agree 100%.

She is a consistent top 5-10 runner that has never been good enough to win. 2018 was a Mother Nature fluke and she survived better than others. It is now 2019 and she is back to being 4 minutes behind those that are capable of winning.

She had a lucky day, but:

2008 Chicago - 5th

2009 Chicago - 2nd

2010 Chicago - 2nd

2011 Boston - 2nd

2013 Berlin - 5th

2014 Boston - 10th

2014 New York - 5th

2015 Boston - 4th

2016 Olympics - 7th

2017 Boston - 4th

2018 Boston - 1st

2018 New York - 6th

2019 Boston - 5th

I'd call her a solid 2nd-5th place finisher with a record like that, not 5-10th.

bahstahn wrote:

Scrolling through the winners of the last few Boston Marathons, who has had the most underwhelming before/after their Boston win? For me, realizing Berhanu Lemi Hayle hasn't really done much of anything since his win was pretty surprising since he was such a hotshot up-and-comer in 2016. Same for Wesley Korir

Yuki far and away is the most “meh” performer in terms of his career before and how he won.

Not Even As wrote:

I've had the chance to meet Desi and I've seen a lot of her interviews. She is NOT "boring as a human being." Anyone who believes that is boring as a human being.

Perhaps you're just not that exciting either, or your life is just boring enough to make Desi look interesting.