This is a great snapshot of US men's marathon decline. I cannot believe how many people on this list are from the 70's and 80's.
It’s all about the US economy. It’s all about incentives. When the economy is poor and emerging from a losing war —Vietnam—(1970s and early 1980s) young American men see less opportunity in traditional career success and channel their energies into marathoning. When the economy is booming (late 1980s to early 2000s) anyone with half a brain and ambition can achieve financial success and the grind of marathon training becomes less attractive. Too much opportunity cost. From the W Bush era forward, the US is repeating the 1970s—losing quagmire wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, allowing crime to rise because prosecuting crime is racist, etc— this has coincided with the rise of American running once again. Apart from some rare outliers like Kempainen, American marathoning success comes when national morale and prosperity are at relative lows—70s to early 80s, and post 2008 GFC. Things are cyclical—If the USA is able to reestablish an economy where middle class folks see opportunity, crime is prosecuted, etc, life will feel better for most Americans, and our marathoners will be slower once again.
Didn’t realize Craig Virgin ran Boston- I always thought of him as a 10k/ XC guy- good time though
He had a nice duel with Toshihiko Seko, the winner. Off the top of my head, I can't remember any of his other marathons....if there were any?
It is interesting to wonder JUST HOW much bouncier today's Nike racing shoes are than the Nike Elites most of those late 70s time were set in ?!?! And how much more legs hurt the next day, in Elites, or anything else (pre-Mariah, at least).
What I find unbelievable about this list is that, except for Ryan Hall, there was no other American from 2011. Arguably, the 'fastest' day for racing in Boston History.
The 1970s benefited from Frank Shorter's Olympic performances, Bill Rodger's dominance and a large generation of baby boomers. The post about the economy back then is loopy in my opinion. I'm 69 years old. But there are a lot more distractions these days.
Hall ran 206 plus at London (a much faster course when there is no wind at Boston) when he was in better form. That wind was worth 4 to 5 minutes that day. Just check the top 10 and the tines they ran afterward.
there were other marathons back in the day, Nike OTC was a big one, Columbus Bank One, Cleveland Revco, heart of San Diego. Tucson had a good one. it was just a different time, men were men.
imagine those men with the super shoes? Damn
I ran against Eamon O'Reilly in 1962. He was from either NYC or Boston. Memory fails me, but he IS an American citizen. We were both recruited by Georgetown.
The 1970s benefited from Frank Shorter's Olympic performances, Bill Rodger's dominance and a large generation of baby boomers. The post about the economy back then is loopy in my opinion. I'm 69 years old. But there are a lot more distractions these days.
Nothing to do with Baby Boomers, they didn't have to race East Africans, and while there were steroids, there was no EPO. EPO was a game changer, people started running the second half of a 10,000m close to 5,000m WR pace.
While BR and Shorter are two of my heroes, I do recognize the different level of competition they faced. That being said the CLOCK shows they would still be as competitive as today's top Americans.