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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2010, 04:47:26 pm » |
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Sorry to have kept this thread off-topic with my usual stale attempts at levity. But I just wanted to encourage you Steve to keep with it. I enjoy reading your training, and root for you in races. Sorry that Ogden may not work out due to their policy (although it's worth a direct phone call to race management, IMO -- then they have to say "no" to you directly). Any race worth their salt will give a contender a change to compete, again just my opinion. But if not, I believe Utah Valley is your next best bet. True it's 6 weeks later, but it's the next local race on the calendar, plus the race director has shown a commitment to reaching out to runners of your caliber. Best of luck.
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Jeffrey McClellan
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« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2010, 06:49:26 pm » |
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from my experience, Ogden will still not say no to your face, even when you call them directly. They tell you some half-truths in order to appease you for the moment and to get you off the phone without ever actually saying no. When I tried to get into the Ogden half in 2008 I never got a straight answer from any of the management, despite calling multiple times. It took one of the employees at the running store to finally tell me the truth. He basically said that the race directors could care less about elite runners, that they view Ogden as a "family race" and will never give any benefits to elite runners, or even allow them in the race past the registration deadline. Basically what I am saying is, the race is not worth its salt. I am ok with race directors who have policies that differ from what I think is best because it is their race not mine, but I do not like getting lied to.
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Kory Wheatley
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« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2010, 10:47:41 pm » |
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I don't let Sasha comments bother me because I know he loves the Lord and he's very direct. The whole point is Steve wasn't asking for advice on what race to run or what type of shape he's in. All he wanted was an Ogden entry. I apologize for my lack of dedication on this site and I'm open to being criticized for my comments. I just had to say something because it felt like someone trying to knock someones confidence out of them.
Sasha you are a tremendous athlete I just think sometimes you trying to help someone might be delivered in too much of a direct approach. I still like you though. :-)
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2010, 08:50:37 am » |
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Jeff - thanks for sharing that. Interesting. I was able to get comps for both 2005 and 2007 with minimal effort. And back in 2005 my PR was 2:35, so my resume wasn't even as good as Steve's. I'm guessing the management changed in 2008??
I also find it very strange that they don't advertise their prize money. Most races brag about their prize pots for publicity, not keep it a secret.
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Kory Wheatley
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« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2010, 01:12:43 pm » |
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Paul - do you think they deliberately don't share it to draw the elite runners to call directly? Who knows, or maybe they want to make sure the prize money is there. :-) Don't know if it's true but I heard Salt Lake Marathon didn't have prize money this year.
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2010, 01:35:40 pm » |
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Kory - no idea. Whatever they do, however they do it, it's their business, not mine. So goes capitalism. Which means I can just not run their race if that's really there attitude. There's plenty of options out there.
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Jeffrey McClellan
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« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2010, 06:23:08 pm » |
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Paul, it is possible that they still do give comps for the full marathon, but not for the half. I do not know, I just know that they won't give comps for the half (or even let you in past the deadline if you are a paying elite), and I would be surprised, based on the attitude that they seem to take, if they actually did give comps for the full anymore.
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #22 on: April 30, 2010, 10:10:03 am » |
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I agree with Jeff about Ogden and salt. It used to be a good race, but it has lost its salt (too many people on the race committee?), and we know from the scriptures what you do with the salt that has lost its savor. Races like that deserve to be won in over 2:40, and it is about time that guys that can run faster than that unite and make it happen by running at their potential in some other race.
Regarding Steve - I've trained with him for long enough to know when he should and should not run the marathon, and I have not been wrong once either in the positive or in the negative. He has never surprised me in the marathon. When he did well, I knew he was going to, and when he did not I was expecting that as well. Other people have surprised me on numerous occasions, but Steve never has because we have trained together for a long time. As things stand right now, he has a good marathon in September, an average in June, and a terrible in May. I would really hate to see him pay $100 to run slower than 2:40 and go home with nothing when he could be in the low 2:30s or under off a comp + money in the bank if he waited.
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