Always puts on the theatrics once he realises the camera is on him.
He appeared to pull up fine, as though he was simply going to walk off the course, then hesitated and realised that he was on live television. He then proceeded to fling himself to the ground and lay face down as though he'd just been shot.
I likened his run today to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. There are some vanishingly rare instances of survival, but basically you are going to go splat. That’s the expectation.
Has someone really survived this? Would love to hear that story.
I give this guy full credit. He made it fun to watch the marathon. I won't ever discredit an athlete who risks everything for the win....need more people like him in sports today!!
I likened his run today to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. There are some vanishingly rare instances of survival, but basically you are going to go splat. That’s the expectation.
Has someone really survived this? Would love to hear that story.
I loved the guy doing what he did, but still think he was an f*** idiot.
Is that the proper assessment?
Never seen a guy winning a major race lying on the side of the road. I hope he is all right.
IDIOT!
Yes, he did go for it which can be looked at as being a "Baller", however he should have taken into consideration the warm temps/humidity and made an adjustment. NYC is not a flat course, and going out at a pace that is not conducive to the course and weather is just plain idiotic.
He clearly is talented but needs better race management. Ain't no cash for being a "Baller" and then crashing and burning.
I give this guy full credit. He made it fun to watch the marathon. I won't ever discredit an athlete who risks everything for the win....need more people like him in sports today!!
I took me a while thinking about it and reading the whole thread before coming to my conclusion. I have to give him a thumbs up. His willingness to push is, to me, admirable but not unprecedented. The following passage is from John Brant's 'Duel In The Sun' although the story has been written about in other places including '14 Minutes.'
"The most famous example of his ability to deny pain, of course, had come at the Falmouth race in 1978, when he'd been so overheated and dehydrated that he was administered the last rites of the Catholic Church, and his father, standing above him with the makeshift cross, had delivered the seeming miracle.
"From that race, his legend was born. Alberto Salazar would run to the point of death. 'A lot of people asked me, "Well, are you going to be scared to push yourself again?" I wasn't,' he told a reporter later. 'That fall, I broke through tremendously. It was completely from that Falmouth race. I won the NCAA cross-country championship and continued to improve. So Falmouth was a turning point in my career. It just made me mentally tougher.' "
How many mentally soft runners have made it big? Some, perhaps. Rupp has dropped out prior to needing hospitalization and even because of less-than-ideal weather. Even he, however, is undoubtably mentally stronger than many of us amateurs. Any successful pro likely is. Nevertheless, the willingness to go literally as far and fast as your body can is an asset some of your competitors may not have in their arsenal. (The period in Salazar's life recounted above predates synthetic EPO and various other controversial substances widely used today.)
Another side to that coin exists, of course. Push enough and it is possible to impair your ability to do so again. At that point, your competitors will have an actual physical advantage over you that no mentality can overcome. Still, if running success is your only goal, you may decide that it is worth anything to win a race as long as you don't pay the ultimate price, which Al nearly did.
The book cited is, of course, about the 1982 Boston Marathon. In unseasonable heat, Salazar again pushed his body very far but not quite to the edge. In fact, he may have done permanent damage in the 'Duel.' Again, from Brant:
" 'After Boston, I was never quite the same. I had a few good races, but everything became difficult. Workouts that I used to fly through became an ordeal. And eventually, of course, I got so sick that I wondered if I'd ever get well.'
"Salazar's warm smile briefly turns wintry. For a moment, his poise falters, and he seems like a traumatized man, who after long therapy, can finally talk about his past.
" 'It took me a long time to connect the dots,' he says, 'and see that the line stretched all the way back to Boston.' "
I took me a while thinking about it and reading the whole thread before coming to my conclusion. I have to give him a thumbs up. His willingness to push is, to me, admirable but not unprecedented. The following passage is from John Brant's 'Duel In The Sun' although the story has been written about in other places including '14 Minutes.'
"The most famous example of his ability to deny pain, of course, had come at the Falmouth race in 1978, when he'd been so overheated and dehydrated that he was administered the last rites of the Catholic Church, and his father, standing above him with the makeshift cross, had delivered the seeming miracle.
"From that race, his legend was born. Alberto Salazar would run to the point of death. 'A lot of people asked me, "Well, are you going to be scared to push yourself again?" I wasn't,' he told a reporter later. 'That fall, I broke through tremendously. It was completely from that Falmouth race. I won the NCAA cross-country championship and continued to improve. So Falmouth was a turning point in my career. It just made me mentally tougher.' "
How many mentally soft runners have made it big? Some, perhaps. Rupp has dropped out prior to needing hospitalization and even because of less-than-ideal weather. Even he, however, is undoubtably mentally stronger than many of us amateurs. Any successful pro likely is. Nevertheless, the willingness to go literally as far and fast as your body can is an asset some of your competitors may not have in their arsenal. (The period in Salazar's life recounted above predates synthetic EPO and various other controversial substances widely used today.)
Another side to that coin exists, of course. Push enough and it is possible to impair your ability to do so again. At that point, your competitors will have an actual physical advantage over you that no mentality can overcome. Still, if running success is your only goal, you may decide that it is worth anything to win a race as long as you don't pay the ultimate price, which Al nearly did.
The book cited is, of course, about the 1982 Boston Marathon. In unseasonable heat, Salazar again pushed his body very far but not quite to the edge. In fact, he may have done permanent damage in the 'Duel.' Again, from Brant:
" 'After Boston, I was never quite the same. I had a few good races, but everything became difficult. Workouts that I used to fly through became an ordeal. And eventually, of course, I got so sick that I wondered if I'd ever get well.'
"Salazar's warm smile briefly turns wintry. For a moment, his poise falters, and he seems like a traumatized man, who after long therapy, can finally talk about his past.
" 'It took me a long time to connect the dots,' he says, 'and see that the line stretched all the way back to Boston.' "
Collapsing at the finish line is one thing. You judged it right and pushed your body right to the limit under the circumstances. Collapsing 5 miles (!) from the finish as a pro means you misjudged things by a very very wide mark. To wide to conclude anything other than at least temporary idiocy.
I give this guy full credit. He made it fun to watch the marathon. I won't ever discredit an athlete who risks everything for the win....need more people like him in sports today!!
'It's better to burn out, than fade away'!!
Me too. This made it much more exciting. I was really really hoping he won but I knew they would catch him. But even the elites must have some doubts. This was a super breakaway. At least for the half the race, he demolished the field. He was over 2 minutes ahead at the half which means he was like what 9 or 10 city blocks ahead of the field. That is just incredible.
I give this guy full credit. He made it fun to watch the marathon. I won't ever discredit an athlete who risks everything for the win....need more people like him in sports today!!
'It's better to burn out, than fade away'!!
He is lucky he got up! My friend fell twice but the third was his last time on earth! I get it he was doing something he enjoyed doing but it’s stupid to push your body like that in heat and humidity! 61’ half in NY who do you think you are?
During 2017 world cross country championships, Joshua Cheptegei( not a big name at the time) went for it and hit the wall big time. Now he is the 5k and 10k world record holder and Olympic and world champion. Do Nascimento is going places!
Except that Joshua Cheptegei was aged 20 at that time not 24.
And he did finish the race, even in a somewhat honorable place but it was some of the most painful things I have seen in sports when he basically slowed to a walk and was passed by so many others.
I give this guy full credit. He made it fun to watch the marathon. I won't ever discredit an athlete who risks everything for the win....need more people like him in sports today!!
'It's better to burn out, than fade away'!!
This is totally fair - "he made it fun to watch" - which he did and there are zero doubts about that. But ultimately why was it fun? It was fun because 95% of people watching (because most people who watch a marathon know running and know what's going on) knew that it was just a matter of time before the complete capitulation. It's this "morbid curiosity" we have as humans - plain and simple. This is actually a great article.
From alleviating uncertainty and anxiety, to inspiring empathy, confidence and reassurance -- morbid curiosity has complex psychological underpinnings.
One thing I would slightly disagree with - "risking everything for the win" - but was he really? Was he really going for the win? It's hard to believe if you really wanted to win NYC in 75 degree weather with 70% humidity and take a "risk" that helped you to, that you would would ever think that would be the one that would come to fruition. If you did then sadly you fall into the idiot category as per the original question of this thread.
I agree that he wasn't actually going for the win. He knew it was suicide pace, but he was using the race as a stage to get his name out there. I bet this was his goal for the race, and I bet that he stayed off the front a lot longer than he ever expected to.
He achieved his goal - and for that he's a baller I guess.
I'll go with "Both" with the scale tipped towards Idiot given the size of the lead he had. Seems once you build a decent lead, you should relax a bit and let the pack have to work to catch you, or see if they think you miscalculated and wind up face down on the sidewalk like he did.
I was unfortunately watching bits & pieces with no sound and saw he had a guy on a bike alongside him for quite a ways on the bridge before First Ave. He was clearly communicating with him and the dude was right there alongside him - did they mention that on the broadcast? It definitely did not look like a cyclist accompanying the leader as they were interacting with one another.
