Lance is running Boston (Read 960 times)

PacerChris

posted: 1/21/2008 at 4:33 PM

Re: Lance - he's got some skillz, that's for sure. I don't think he'll knock another 13 minutes off his time like he did in the fall, but it will be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully I'll be able to run Boston so I can give him a run for his money! I could see him go 2:43...I think Boston is an easier course than NYC and god knows he'll get all the advice he wants on how to race that course well (took me several times to figure it out!) Re: Hall and whether he is or isn't competitive vs. the world's best. He IS competitive, proven by his racing in London last year and the times he's thrown up in 2007. Anyone who says he's not competitive because his time was 38th fastest in the world is simply wrong, in my opinion. Except for the handful of races where someone like Geb states "I'm going after the WR" who cares about winning times? Honestly - did you not see NYC last year with no pacesetters? How compelling were those finishes (men & women), and who cares about the winning time? Those were races, not time trials. Whatever happened to appreciating a race for the competition, not just how much faster person A is on a given day vs. person B in a completely different situation on a different day/course? It's not a like-for-like comparison. Not to mention the fact that his London time was his debut marathon...not too shabby for ANYONE. His Trials effort was far more impressive to me - that is a TOUGH course they ran and he closed in under 63 minutes! Will Hall win in London? I almost hope not - he'd probably learn more tactically by getting beaten, which he could then use that experience in Beijing, when it REALLY counts. He stuck his nose in the middle of the race last year and actually led at mile 23, so he's got the onions to think he can win, and based on his sub 60 half and his closing half at the Trials on a tough course, he's got the goods to back it up. Can he beat Lel, Limo, Geb or whoever else might show up? A marathon is such a crapshoot you never know so I would say why not?

Jim2

posted: 1/21/2008 at 6:43 PM

I didn't say that Hall isn't a competitive person. Nor that he isn't a competitive racer. Nor that his London debut wasn't very, very impressive. All of that is undoubtedly true and he is clearly knocking on the door of becoming one of the world's best. I just don't think that he has quite walked through that door yet. I do think that he has a very good chance to do so. And it could happen this year. He comes closer to being the first home grown American male marathoner with a chance to become a legitimate threat to win any marathon that he enters to come along in 20 years. BTW, what "counts" more to elite marathoners....London or Beijing? It probably depends on the person. Medaling at the Olympics....especially getting gold....certainly carries greater prestige. OTOH, London is part of the World Marathon Majors series, the winner of which earns a half million dollars. But, that's probably a subject for another thread. Smile

PacerChris

posted: 1/21/2008 at 7:21 PM

Agree that Hall has some work to be done - and I can't wait to watch him progress! I have to think the Olympics has more cache than London - winning a medal of any kind at the Olympics, esp gold, can make a career but any big-city marathon can have a diluted field depending on who else shows up that particular year. The pity to me is that somne countries' selection process can leave great great marathoners out of the race (Kenya and the US for different reasons).