Lets Cheer Up! American debuts at 2:10, nine others under 2:12 at Chicago!
Let's try not to let the mass media, others, or even yourself make us hate the great sport of running! There is good news, too!!!
Quoting LetsRun's own article: (reference LetsRun article today, Oct 13, 2019)
"What a day for American men:
While the US’s biggest marathon star had a day to forget, October 13 was a day to remember for many other American elites. Ten Americans finished in the top 20, and all 10 ran personal bests thanks to some great pacemaking from NAZ Elite’s Matt Baxter and Sid Vaughn, who took them through a halfway split of 65:24. With decent weather and some teamwork (the Americans traded the lead to avoid the brunt of the wind), there were fast times for the taking and the Americans rose to the occasion. A look at the terrific ten:
9. Jake Riley, 31, 2:10:36
The former Hansons-Brooks runner is unsponsored and now running for the Boulder Track Club under Lee Troop. After returning from Achilles surgery last year (he suffered from Haglund’s deformity, the same injury as Galen Rupp), Riley ran a PR of 2:40 in his first marathon since 2016.
Riley has had a tumulous time since that race at the 2016 Olympic Trials, moving from Michigan back home to Washington state and then to Colorado, battling injury and a lung infection, and going through a divorce. He said he “very seriously” contemplated quitting the sport, but ultimately he could not give up something he loves so much. “Running has been the constant in my life since I was in high school, and so the idea of having all this other change and then not doing that as well was just scary and not worth it,” Riley said.
10. Jerrell Mock, 24, 2:10:37
Mock didn’t even make NCAAs on the track as a senior at Colorado State in 2018 (he missed it by two spots in the 10k), but he said that heartbreak motivated him to continue running post-collegiately. Unsponsored and still training under college coach Art Siemers, Mock, who was 4th at the US 20k champs last month, ran 2:10:37 in his debut today.
11. Parker Stinson, 27, 2:10:53
Stinson went out hard in his first two marathons and paid for it, fading to 2:18 at CIM in 2017 and 2:14 in Chicago last year. His goal had been to break 2:11 in Chicago in 2018 and although he had to wait a year to do it, he accomplished it today under the guidance of Dathan Ritzenhein, who began coaching him late last year.
12. Andrew Bumbalough, 32, 2:10:56
Bumbalough, who ran PRs of 13:12 and 27:56 on the track, was supposed to run Chicago last year but was forced to withdraw after an injury to his femur. But the Bowerman TC athlete said that he had put together his best buildup yet before today’s race and was rewarded with a pb of 3:02 in his fourth marathon.
14. Matt McDonald, 26, 2:11:10
The 2015 Heps 10k champion at Princeton, McDonald ran modest college PBs of 14:18/29:38. Now running for the Atlanta Track Club, he chopped 2:57 off his pb to run 2:11:10 today.
15. Scott Smith, 33, 2:11:14
Smith, running for HOKA ONE ONE NAZ Elite, shaved off 1:07 from his pb from 2017 Frankfurt.
16. Brendan Gregg, 30, 2:11:38
Gregg, a college teammate of Riley’s at Stanford, now running for Hansons-Brooks, ran a 5-minute pb of 2:13:28 at CIM last year and took another 1:50 off today.
17. Noah Droddy, 29, 2:11:42
Running for Roots Running Project out of Boulder, the former DIII star at DePauw University ran 4:44 faster than his PR, set in Chicago two years ago.
18. Wilkerson Given, 28, 2:11:44
The Furman alum, now running for Atlanta Track Club, took 4:08 off his pb from 2018 Houston.
20. Diego Estrada, 29, 2:11:54
Estrada turned heads by running 60:51 for the half marathon in 2015. Today, he finally delivered on some of that potential in the marathon by running 2:02 faster than his previous pb (2016 Chicago)." (reference LetRun article Oct 13,2019)