Prize money doesn't go past 10th, so we're talking about participation prizes. Lara's not too ashamed to keep his appearance fee after dropping a 2:13, I bet. Who is Kawauchi's agent and how did he not get Yuki into the elite field while guys like Lara and Allen Monroe got elite field entry, if not appearance fees?
Nothing against Frank Lara, but are they really giving him an appearance fee? Or maybe just a comp'ed entry and hotel/food? I assume he was just looking for a fast course to get his OT qualifier? OTOH, I think it would be "good-for-business" for some of the 'international' marathons to invite Americans in that 2:12 - 2:16 (and maybe some with fast half-marys), if only to drum up a little media attention in the US. (And invite women with equivalent times).
Though all it generated was attention in a couple threads on a message board. Not exactly pushing the needle for media exposure.
YK is never gonna be the top marathoner except for flukes like Boston that year. But if he set his mind to breaking all these ultra records, like transcontinental and long trails and 7 day races, he could break them all easily. He's the missing link between running ultra and running fast.
In addition to his Boston win, he has a 3rd place finish at Tokyo and two more at Fukuoka. He's also competed at the Worlds four times at the marathon and won a bronze medal at the Asian Games. Considering how deep Japan is at the marathon, making this many national teams is an accomplishment in of itself.
So that's 2 two podiums at WMMs, two Fukuoka podiums, a continental games medal, and four trips to worlds. Saying "he's never going to be a top marathoner" is kind of disingenuous as the dude has some pretty major accomplishments on his resume outside of his race-a-marathon-every-week reputation.
He can win marathons without dependency on pacers.. something all the NE Africans rely on
Oh please... he can't beat the guys going 2:01 to 2:04, pacers or not.
Bring on all the vote bots and butthurt whiners you want, folks, I'm just telling it like it is. YK is not the best marathoner, not even close. There's no category for "best consistent good performer."
He'd be great at even longer distances, possibly unbeatable. That's somehow offensive?
Remove the doping factor and he is a lot better than you realize.
Why are the wheelchair athletes allowed to do Boston then London if such a rule exists?
I'm assuming the rule is primarily for two things:
1) To ensure the event competes with the other Spring marathons for 'star appeal'. London takes a lot of pride and spends a lot of money on ensuring they have the best elite field, this might be undermined if say, Kiptum, Bekele, and Hassan had gone out and run some no-name marathon 2 weeks before London.
2) To ensure that the aforementioned 'stars' don't use London as a b-race/drop out at the last minute and run somewhere else if it turns out to be better timing for them.
For point 1- I'd wager that 95% of running fans can't name more than one current wheelchair athlete so it doesn't matter in this regard. For point 2, wheelchair marathons are non-impact and don't have the same toll on the body as running for 26.2 miles. So it's much easier to bounce back quickly and have two decent marathons in a row.
Personally I think they should have taken Yuki's mad marathon schedule into account and let him in with the elites, but I'm assuming they didn't want to set a precedent.
YK is never gonna be the top marathoner except for flukes like Boston that year. But if he set his mind to breaking all these ultra records, like transcontinental and long trails and 7 day races, he could break them all easily. He's the missing link between running ultra and running fast.
he continues to amaze, already has run 2:18, 2:07, 2:11 and now a 2:13 this year, he is one of a kind, he now has 117 marathons run, with 109 sub 2:20S, but even more impressive is he has 16 sub 2:10s (10 more at 2:10 as well) !!!!!!!!
100 down votes tells the tale about the game.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Yuki's superpower is his mental toughness. That's why he's a Boston marathon winner and many other people that we thought would/coulda/shoulda won it, never did. You can never count a guy like this out.
Meb K has an Olympic Marathon silver, NYC and Boston wins, and three additional major marathon podium finishes. And his marathon PR is over a minute slower than Yuki's 2:07:27!
London Marathon official should be ashamed of themselves.
Why are the wheelchair athletes allowed to do Boston then London if such a rule exists?
I'm assuming the rule is primarily for two things:
1) To ensure the event competes with the other Spring marathons for 'star appeal'. London takes a lot of pride and spends a lot of money on ensuring they have the best elite field, this might be undermined if say, Kiptum, Bekele, and Hassan had gone out and run some no-name marathon 2 weeks before London.
2) To ensure that the aforementioned 'stars' don't use London as a b-race/drop out at the last minute and run somewhere else if it turns out to be better timing for them.
For point 1- I'd wager that 95% of running fans can't name more than one current wheelchair athlete so it doesn't matter in this regard. For point 2, wheelchair marathons are non-impact and don't have the same toll on the body as running for 26.2 miles. So it's much easier to bounce back quickly and have two decent marathons in a row.
Personally I think they should have taken Yuki's mad marathon schedule into account and let him in with the elites, but I'm assuming they didn't want to set a precedent.
Might also be a mechanism to ensure someone DNFs a major (having a bad race perhaps) to save themselves for the next one
Wait... So theoretically, someone could start with the masses after the elites go off, finish before them, and still not get credit for the win?
It's usual that prize money and "elite" placings are determined by gun time rather than chip time. It's a race after all and it's sensible enough that placings be in order of crossing the finish line rather than chip time.
It's harder to make sense of the situation where somebody with a disadvantaged start doesn't get credit for getting to the finish line before all but a few runners in the elite wave.
Curiously, the men's elite results have an "overall place" column where the elite women displace some of the elite men, starting with the 20th finisher, but not showing their finishing place including the first wave of the "mass start" that started simultaneously about 20 meters behind the elite wave.
Wait... So theoretically, someone could start with the masses after the elites go off, finish before them, and still not get credit for the win?
It's usual that prize money and "elite" placings are determined by gun time rather than chip time. It's a race after all and it's sensible enough that placings be in order of crossing the finish line rather than chip time.
It's harder to make sense of the situation where somebody with a disadvantaged start doesn't get credit for getting to the finish line before all but a few runners in the elite wave.
Curiously, the men's elite results have an "overall place" column where the elite women displace some of the elite men, starting with the 20th finisher, but not showing their finishing place including the first wave of the "mass start" that started simultaneously about 20 meters behind the elite wave.
Doesn't apply in this case as the masses start directly after the elite men in London and Yuki passed quite a few of them.
YK is never gonna be the top marathoner except for flukes like Boston that year. But if he set his mind to breaking all these ultra records, like transcontinental and long trails and 7 day races, he could break them all easily. He's the missing link between running ultra and running fast.
In addition to his Boston win, he has a 3rd place finish at Tokyo and two more at Fukuoka. He's also competed at the Worlds four times at the marathon and won a bronze medal at the Asian Games. Considering how deep Japan is at the marathon, making this many national teams is an accomplishment in of itself.
So that's 2 two podiums at WMMs, two Fukuoka podiums, a continental games medal, and four trips to worlds. Saying "he's never going to be a top marathoner" is kind of disingenuous as the dude has some pretty major accomplishments on his resume outside of his race-a-marathon-every-week reputation.
That reputation is crazy considering how deep the east African field is. They have plenty of B runners that have won some non majors but I don't know of any who that have Yuki's record.
Oh please... he can't beat the guys going 2:01 to 2:04, pacers or not.
Bring on all the vote bots and butthurt whiners you want, folks, I'm just telling it like it is. YK is not the best marathoner, not even close. There's no category for "best consistent good performer."
He'd be great at even longer distances, possibly unbeatable. That's somehow offensive?
Remove the doping factor and he is a lot better than you realize.
Oh, bottom of the barrel already? My hero is the CLEAN champ. Proven dopeless.