Was he that good or was there just not that much competition back then? His best Boston was 2:09 something. Hall did 2:08 something. Nowadays you gotta be below 2:07 to win!
Was he that good or was there just not that much competition back then? His best Boston was 2:09 something. Hall did 2:08 something. Nowadays you gotta be below 2:07 to win!
There were around 270 American men who had run 2:20 or better back then. Today, there are only about 30 who have run that time. In terms of American competition, I think it was stronger back then. But, there was no money in the sport, so there was no incentive for the East Africans to race in the states. It's not as if the East Africans became good over night; they just didn't race here, which allowed Americans to win their own races.
On a flat, fast course like London or Berlin, you gotta be in 2:05 shape or better. It takes a fair amount of risk to train to run 2:05, so they say. I think Hall is the only American who has a shot at running that time. He ran 2:06 in London in 2007 or 2008 and was still 8th.
On a Boston- or New York-type of course, however, I think Hall, Ritz, and a handful of others who are strong cross country runners have an outside shot at winning.
5 comments:
That's a lot of running. Absurd.
Was he that good or was there just not that much competition back then? His best Boston was 2:09 something. Hall did 2:08 something. Nowadays you gotta be below 2:07 to win!
That's a lot of running. Absurd.
Was he that good or was there just not that much competition back then? His best Boston was 2:09 something. Hall did 2:08 something. Nowadays you gotta be below 2:07 to win!
There were around 270 American men who had run 2:20 or better back then. Today, there are only about 30 who have run that time. In terms of American competition, I think it was stronger back then. But, there was no money in the sport, so there was no incentive for the East Africans to race in the states. It's not as if the East Africans became good over night; they just didn't race here, which allowed Americans to win their own races.
On a flat, fast course like London or Berlin, you gotta be in 2:05 shape or better. It takes a fair amount of risk to train to run 2:05, so they say. I think Hall is the only American who has a shot at running that time. He ran 2:06 in London in 2007 or 2008 and was still 8th.
On a Boston- or New York-type of course, however, I think Hall, Ritz, and a handful of others who are strong cross country runners have an outside shot at winning.
More Boston Billy training logs. He ran almost 7,000 miles in 1976.
http://www.bunnhill.com/bobhodge/Rodgers/rodgers76log.htm
Add this to the end of that link: "og.htm"
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