There was a time when I would eagerly anticipate TV coverage of the major marathons (Boston, New York, Chicago), and would sit rapt for two and a half hours watching the treacly network coverage. I still have videotapes from many marathons from the late 80's through the 90's, when my interest began to wane.
I'm not sure exactly what happened. I guess I wasn't running marathons anymore, and somehow I had simultaneously lost interest in the runners at the front, of whom I knew little, and the predictable human interest stories in the middle and back of the pack.
But if any recent event has the potential to draw me back into the viewing audience, it's Sunday's New York City Marathon.
First of all, we have the #1 U.S. male and #1 U.S. female marathoners, and if you don't know who they are, shame on you! I'm referring, of course, to Meb Keflezighi, the men's 2004 Olympics silver medalist, and Waltham native Deena Kastor, the women's 2004 Olympics bronze medalist.
Meb ran Boston this year; his third-place finish led a remarkable U.S. showing. He was also third in New York last year, but is certainly capable of winning, although he dropped out of a recent race with leg cramps. If he is to emerge victorious, Keflezighi will have to overcome the challenge of Paul Tergat (world record holder at 2:04:55, and 2005 NYC winner) and Hendrick Ramaala (PR 2:06:55), who finished second last year, and a half dozen others who have run under 2:09. Perhaps more interesting to many is the presence in the race of two other Americans who aren't expected to contend for the win. Former NCAA XC champion and 2004 Olympian Dathan Ritzenheim is running his debut marathon and hopes to show that he can compete with the very best in that event. No American man has ever run faster than 2:09 in his first marathon; can Ritz do it? Farther back in the pack, retired cyclist Lance Armstrong will not be competing for the podium, but will garner enormous attention. He will also probably run pretty fast for an amateur (there is rampant speculation about how fast: I expect him to run in the 2:28-2:35 range). And I shouldn't forget to mention Alan Culpepper, who represented the U.S. in the 2004 Olympics, and finished just behind Meb in the 2006 Boston Marathon.
In the women's race, Kastor, the American record-holder and only American to run sub 2:20 for the marathon, will have her hands full. The field includes 2006 Boston Marathon champion Rita Jeptoo, four-time Boston Marathon champion and 2nd-fastest woman ever, Catherine Ndereba, and a host of others with scintillating credentials. The race also features the debut race for U.S. 10K champion Katie McGregor.
The field is tremendous. The weather forecast is good. And seriously, what else will you be doing Sunday morning (after your long run, I mean)?
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6 comments:
Lance won't break 3
I seriously doubt Lance will run anything better than 2:55. I think bicyling and running are two very different things. On top of that Lance isn't young, he's also retired from cycling for 2 years.
I think that's a little quick for Lance I'd handicap him at 2:44 because I think he said he wanted sub 2:45 and what Lance wants he gets
2:59:36, if I'd know that his "official personal" goal was 3 hours I woulda nailed it.
Time for a new crystal ball, Jon. Your old ones been failing you lately.
Ok, I'll throw out my crystal ball... on second thought, my predictions, even the one that I spend 3 seconds thinking about, seem to generate 75% of the comments on this blog, so i'd be a fool to stop making them.
Actually, I found the reactions to my comment pretty amusing, especially the comment "Lance isn't young..."
Truly, at 35 he is ancient. Only two years younger in fact, than third-place finisher Paul Tergat.
But yeah, it was a stupid prediction, but not because cyclists can't be good runners, or because of Armstrong's age (good lord), but because he didn't train for the race.
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