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

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

Not a hometown fan wrote:

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.

Fair enough. The point is that she is not a winner. She is a bridesmaid at best after eliminating the drug cheats. She has not even been the top American in either marathon since the fluke race.

She has had much better results in big marathons than Yuki. Not sure how you could argue her over him.

Both Men's and Women's winning times were slower than any other winning times in 40 years.

Definitely the ***asterisk*** year.

Will never be accepted as real to running historians.

snoreville wrote:

She has had much better results in big marathons than Yuki. Not sure how you could argue her over him.

Desi is too boring

Yàáâäæãåāaaaawn wrote:

snoreville wrote:

She has had much better results in big marathons than Yuki. Not sure how you could argue her over him.

Desi is too boring

Arguing that she is the least marketable winner in recent years is even more laughable.

Des is the only athlete that has ever made me leave a brand. I was in Brooks for years and a big fan of the Hansons and went to high school with Ritz. She handles herself like a selfish little spoiled child.

snoreville wrote:

Yàáâäæãåāaaaawn wrote:

Desi is too boring

Arguing that she is the least marketable winner in recent years is even more laughable.

She bores me too. I get it

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

Not a hometown fan wrote:

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.

Wow, didn't realize she got 2nd at Chicago twice.

Desi is so boring that

Stillbored wrote:

Desi is so boring that

Guy must've fallen asleep thinking about Desi. She's just that boring!

Donyiyo wrote:

rare wrote:

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

Totally agree. He is just a grinder that got lucky on a bad weather day and won’t be relevant or a threat to any of the top guns anytime soon, that makes him “meh”

Yuki is probably the least 'meh.' Everyone else won under standard conditions. We've seen hundreds of marathons play out like they in Boston this year, or 2017, etc.

Meh is when someone you expect to win, wins.

Weird. As a guy who doesn’t win a lot of races, I’ve always respected Desi’s strategy. Run your race, let the leaders tear themselves apart, then methodically pick your way forward in the standings. Same deal with Meb, though he’s more of a tactician. I’ve always looked up to racers who can make the most of limited speed and turn it into solid results.

Harambe wrote:

Donyiyo wrote:

Totally agree. He is just a grinder that got lucky on a bad weather day and won’t be relevant or a threat to any of the top guns anytime soon, that makes him “meh”

Yuki is probably the least 'meh.' Everyone else won under standard conditions. We've seen hundreds of marathons play out like they in Boston this year, or 2017, etc.

Meh is when someone you expect to win, wins.

+1

Never been so excited watching a marathon as when he passed Geoffrey Kirui in the final mile.

I would of said Linden . But after she moved on she seems to be more marketable and less predictable . Many of her 5 th type places were picking up carnage after never really going for wins . But then again she came close a few times too .

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.

Racing conditions are part of racing outdoors. Desi proved that she can beat snowflake elites when the conditions are bad. That was a legitimate race, and she deserves the same respect for doing it as the women who won in nice weather.

Slartibartfast wrote:

Weird. As a guy who doesn’t win a lot of races, I’ve always respected Desi’s strategy. Run your race, let the leaders tear themselves apart, then methodically pick your way forward in the standings. Same deal with Meb, though he’s more of a tactician. I’ve always looked up to racers who can make the most of limited speed and turn it into solid results.

Good point. Both have done great at the marathon with the level of talent they have. Meb has an Olympic silver, 4th, and two major wins with only a 2:08 best. I wonder how many other 2:08 marathons have that kind of resume since Terget and Geb brought marathoning into this nee era.

1982 seems like yesterday. It's in recent history, our lifetime. So I'm gonna go with the 1982 men's winner. Meh. Watched the replay and wanted the other guy to win so bad.

On the women's side, Jeptoo is the most Meh winner for other reasons. Meh to Rita Jeptoo.

Harambe wrote:

Meh is when someone you expect to win, wins.

No, meh is when someone with high expectation deflates like a balloon as he did. No reasonable person expected him to win last year nor this year. Last year was a massive fluke, a freak weather day, he won thanks to that. This year at least he should've been top 10, the way he imploded makes him very meh. His priorities: keep running sub. 2:20, big frigging deal.

Yuki: MEH

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

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.

Desi is great and consistent but that chart isn't correct. She wasn't 2nd in 2009 Chicago. She ran Berlin that year and was 10th. And yes, she was technically 2nd in Chicago in 2010 but that was when she crossed the finish line more 6 minutes behind the first woman who was eventually Dqd for an ABP. The one major she came close to winning before last year's weather freak show was 2011 Boston.