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Jason Haddock
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« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2008, 04:31:53 pm » |
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Any idea what happened to Hall? Ritz even beat him... I can't seem to find any news yet...
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Dale
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« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2008, 04:42:02 pm » |
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It looked to me like Ritz and Hall (and Sell) all ran their own races instead of going out at the insane pace the leaders ran....the heat was in the mid 80s and the humidity pretty high. There was a short interview clip after Hall finished where he basically said about the same. Plus, I think this was Hall's first marathon experience where he basically ran alone for most of the race. Ritz is no slouch and he keeps getting better, so I wasn't too surprised to see him ahead. In any event, they finished pretty close together. Any other year, Ritz and Hall's times would've made them pretty competitive for a medal, but this year was quite a demonstration in fast marathoning in tough conditions. Hats off to the medalists...when the first two guys break the previous Olympic record in those conditions, that's saying something!
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Jon Allen
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« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2008, 04:46:34 pm » |
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Ritz's and Hall's times were both faster than the average winning times of the previous Olympic marathons. Given the heat and humidity, I imagine they just went out at the place they planned. You never could have expected that the blistering pace the lead group set would have held up the whole way- it was probably a world record time, adjusted for conditions. They finished 9th and 10th, which seems good to me. They didn't run bad races, there were just a few guys who ran amazing races.
Given the chance to do it again, I bet they would have gone out more aggressively. But if they had, they might have died and finished further back- who knows. I'm happy and proud of how all 3 of the Americans finished. A medal would have been nice, but they made a very respectable showing. They just got outrun by some guys who had amazing races.
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Dale
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« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2008, 04:49:53 pm » |
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dave rockness
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« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2008, 04:53:56 pm » |
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I was amazed to see how many of the olympic runners failed to finish...is that normal? Sure, it was hot, but these are world-class runners. Unless I'm missing something, it seems like poor sportmanship to me.
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2008, 05:03:49 pm » |
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I think the combination of heat and blistering early pace cause more people than normal to drop out. However, in any weather, there will be lots of dropouts at this elite level. Take a look at the results of the U.S. Marathon Trials back in November. Although temperatures were really nice, about 25% of the field dropped out. Why? Simple: these runners are pushing themselves to the brink of their limits for 26 miles. It's one thing that separates the elites from the casual runner, the drive and ability to push through limits and boundaries. Sometimes this results in victory and world records, but it also often results in blow-ups and injuries. Remember, these guys are running 4:45/mile, not 8:00/mile. I do not think a DNF at that level is poor sportsmanship at all; rather, the runner has no choice in most cases, and may face danger to his/her body if they continue. Also, many marathoners at this level rely on their running in order to feed their families. Literally. Hobbling in at 2:35 and not being able to race again for up to a year would do them no good, whereas dropping out will allow them to recover quickly and get into another marathon in a month or two. Poor sportsmanship? I don't see it that way; nothing more honorable than providing for your family.
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« Last Edit: August 24, 2008, 05:10:03 pm by Paul Petersen »
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Dale
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« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2008, 05:07:45 pm » |
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I'm sure most were probably injury related. Martin Fagan had to drop at around the 35-40K mark because of a hamstring injury and wound up getting checked out in the hospital. I'd be willing to bet most of the other drops were for similar reasons. Look at the Women's Marathon last weekend....Team USA had 2 of 3 drop, both because of injuries. It's the Olympic Marathon and only happens every 4 years.....these people are pushing themselves way outside of their comfort zones by-and-large. Add in the conditions and I'm almost surprised there wasn't more carnage.
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Jon Allen
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« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2008, 05:47:27 pm » |
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With a race like this where you really want to get one of the top 3 places, most of the guys give it their all for as long as they can. Once they realize it isn't going to happen that day, they will sometimes choose to drop out like Paul said. Wisely.
If I were at the Olympics and had a realistic 5% chance of medalling, I would go for it even if there was a 95% chance I would blow up and have to drop out, rather than play it safe and go slow enough such that I knew I would finish but not medal. If I had no realistic chance of medalling (i.e. if I were a random runner from, say, Bazermenjania) and was just there for the experience, then it would be a bit different.
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Superfly
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« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2008, 06:48:18 pm » |
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I agree with Paul and Jon. One other thing is that everyone has good and bad days. If a lot of these guys were out of the hunt after 13-15 miles there is no reason to keep hammering just to finish. They don't need to finish the marathon to prove anything. These guys have all ran in major races before and have accomplished many goals. It's one thing for a guy to get injured and limp across the line in a 100m, 400m, or even a 10k. But 26.2 miles comes at you pretty hard when your not feeling it. Pulling out to run another day is the choice I'd make. These guys can't run an event every other weekend. These marathons are major races for them and they some elite's only do one or 2 marathons per year because it's so hard on their bodies.
On another note this was a way fun event to watch. We (the STG running club and our wives) all had a big "Super bowl of running" party last night to watch the main event. It was a lot of fun to watch the Olympians of our sport doing what they do. I only wish the media network would have shown more footage of the Americans. I never even got to see Brian Sell. Did he have handlebars?
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Jon Allen
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« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2008, 07:08:07 pm » |
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dave rockness
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« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2008, 07:39:34 pm » |
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thanks for educating me...your replies all make sense.
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2008, 01:22:17 pm » |
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Hall was the tallest in the top 10 - 5-10. The next tallest was Gharib - 5-9. Everybody else was 5-7 or shorter. Gharib has dark skin. Hall is fair-skinned. 80+ degrees is much harder on a taller fair-skinned guy. He was OK through the first half (1:04:29) when it was still under 80 in the shade. Then it got warmer and he really felt it. To be only 6 minutes off PR in those conditions for a guy his build is quite an accomplishment. So nothing really went wrong on his end - just bad luck with the conditions that gave a fairly heavy advantage to the short dark skinned competition.
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Neil Price
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« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2008, 02:09:22 pm » |
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Hall was the tallest in the top 10 - 5-10. The next tallest was Gharib - 5-9. Everybody else was 5-7 or shorter. Gharib has dark skin. Hall is fair-skinned. 80+ degrees is much harder on a taller fair-skinned guy. He was OK through the first half (1:04:29) when it was still under 80 in the shade. Then it got warmer and he really felt it. To be only 6 minutes off PR in those conditions for a guy his build is quite an accomplishment. So nothing really went wrong on his end - just bad luck with the conditions that gave a fairly heavy advantage to the short dark skinned competition.
Wow. |
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #14 on: August 25, 2008, 02:13:49 pm » |
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Yeah, wow. How do you come up with this stuff?
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