Boston Marathon Fixed?

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jonovision_man
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Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby jonovision_man » Sat May 03, 2014 1:42 pm

Got your attention? :)

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 66656.html

"On a beautiful day on which four women broke the women's course record, no one in the men's field could come within 5.5 minutes of the course record. That is hard for the casual sports fan—or even pretty hard-core running fan, really—to grasp," said Robert Johnson, a LetsRun.com founder who understands but doesn't share the belief that something fishy occurred.


I think that quote especially misses the point... the elite runners aren't like "us" age groupers, out for our fastest possible time. They're out to beat the other guys. Sometimes the pace at the front isn't record-setting because it's just not! If one of the perceived main contenders had pushed the pace, then it would have been.

I think the explanation that they just underestimated Meb until it was too late to close the gap is the most obvious one... the conspiracy that a bunch of people intentionally lost a prestigious race with big prize $$, not so much!

Enjoy. :)

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby ngcaper » Sat May 03, 2014 3:10 pm

When I watched the finish, and his time I quietly said the same thing. One yr after the bombing, all the media focus, perfect weather, yet a slow finish with an American winner, it doesn't pass the smell test... The money comment is too simple, if its fixed do you not think there was a pay day for those who participated in the fixing, and the illogical comments about nobody wanting to go is just plane nutso. This isn't a group of newbies, it's the best of the best.

I tend to agree and think its a tarnished year.
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby jonovision_man » Sat May 03, 2014 3:19 pm

The "slow finish" (2:08:37) was almost 2 minutes faster than the 2013 winning time (2:10:22), 4 minutes faster than 2012's winning time (2:12:40)... not every year is a 2:03.

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Jwolf
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Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Jwolf » Sat May 03, 2014 3:20 pm

I don't buy it for a second. And if were really fixed you'd expect to see Flannagan and/or Hall taking the glory.
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erinmcd
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby erinmcd » Sat May 03, 2014 8:13 pm

Boston is a racing marathon, not a time trial marathon like Berlin. I'm 100% convinced the Africans made a tactical decision to let Meb go, figuring they'd reel him in later on.
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La
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby La » Sun May 04, 2014 8:42 am

Jwolf wrote:I don't buy it for a second. And if were really fixed you'd expect to see Flannagan and/or Hall taking the glory.

Why Hall and not Meb?
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dgrant
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby dgrant » Sun May 04, 2014 10:16 am

I do think a marathon would be very easy to fix... a field of athletes who make a lot more money from appearance fees/endorsements/connections than actual performance prizes, the ability to make it look like you're competing without really competing (holding back by 3 or 4 seconds per kilometre), an industry dominated by a company (Nike) that has been involved in major scandals in other sports, etc.

But the thing is Meb can't even get a major shoe deal. Who is heavily invested in him enough to orchestrate such a thing? I think a great marathoner just had a great race. It happens.

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Jo-Jo » Sun May 04, 2014 11:09 am

dgrant wrote:But the thing is Meb can't even get a major shoe deal. Who is heavily invested in him enough to orchestrate such a thing? I think a great marathoner just had a great race. It happens.



Agree.
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby MichaelMc » Sun May 04, 2014 1:31 pm

It was an unwise move by Meb's competitors, nothing more. All the Africans were watching the favorites, and none of them wanted to push the pace to chase. When Chebet finally went it was too late.

Everything has to be a conspiracy these days. I see enough simple incompetence day to day that I have an easier time believing a group of people screwed up than a whole group of people pulled together to pull off a big conspiracy. Meb ran smart, the others ran stupid (and/or had a bad day). Occam's razor

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby 5km » Sun May 04, 2014 4:06 pm

There was an article in Running Times magazine ( http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-mara ... for-boston ) which said that Ryan Hall urged his fellow american runners not to help the africans chase down Meb.

I don't know if that's true but I did think is was odd that no one tried to go with Meb considering that his pace was not that fast.

I'm glad he won though. He's a hard worker and a bit of an underdog.

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby ian » Sun May 04, 2014 5:30 pm

5km wrote:There was an article in Running Times magazine ( http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-mara ... for-boston ) which said that Ryan Hall urged his fellow american runners not to help the africans chase down Meb.

That certainly helped (i.e., let Meb get a larger gap). Another factor was the quality of the field: while there were some solid runners in Boston who should have been able to win, London had by far the stronger field and it would be interesting to know whether there was any sort of decrease in appearance fees for Boston this year.

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby jonovision_man » Sun May 04, 2014 6:03 pm

5km wrote:There was an article in Running Times magazine ( http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-mara ... for-boston ) which said that Ryan Hall urged his fellow american runners not to help the africans chase down Meb.

I don't know if that's true but I did think is was odd that no one tried to go with Meb considering that his pace was not that fast.

I'm glad he won though. He's a hard worker and a bit of an underdog.


This is a typical strategy in cycling... if your teammate is up the road, you don't help chase him down. Good teamwork by Hall.

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Double Bellybuster » Thu May 08, 2014 12:25 pm

Agreed it was not fixed...

Jwolf wrote:I don't buy it for a second. And if were really fixed you'd expect to see Flannagan and/or Hall taking the glory.


...but Flanigan could not have taken the glory even in the conspiracy theory situation of 25 or more runners in on something, she had bonked.
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Jwolf » Thu May 08, 2014 12:31 pm

Double Bellybuster wrote:Agreed it was not fixed...

Jwolf wrote:I don't buy it for a second. And if were really fixed you'd expect to see Flannagan and/or Hall taking the glory.


...but Flanigan could not have taken the glory even in the conspiracy theory situation of 25 or more runners in on something, she had bonked.

No she didn't- she ran exactly the pace she planned and finished in the time she thought would get her the win. It's just that the other women had an extra gear to go faster. And there were only six women ahead of her, not 25.

A conspiracy would have just required the other six to stay behind her (which admittedly might not have been very believable).
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Robinandamelia » Thu May 08, 2014 1:30 pm

Jwolf wrote:
Double Bellybuster wrote:Agreed it was not fixed...

Jwolf wrote:I don't buy it for a second. And if were really fixed you'd expect to see Flannagan and/or Hall taking the glory.


...but Flanigan could not have taken the glory even in the conspiracy theory situation of 25 or more runners in on something, she had bonked.

No she didn't- she ran exactly the pace she planned and finished in the time she thought would get her the win. It's just that the other women had an extra gear to go faster. And there were only six women ahead of her, not 25.

A conspiracy would have just required the other six to stay behind her (which admittedly might not have been very believable).


Agree...Shalane carved 3 minutes off her PB and ran the time she intended to 2:22.... On a normal year (where the top 3 women didn't break course records), that time could have seen her win...unfortunate...

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby fingerboy » Thu May 08, 2014 3:58 pm

Remember when Ryan Paul said he ran a 2:5X but it was really a 4:0X and we thought the world would end over such a egregious mistake?

Remember when the NYC marathon was cancelled by Sandy (and there was no way such a huge event could be cancelled, esp with everything else that still went on)?

Remember when the Boston marathon was fixed so 'Mercia could win?


The point if you didn't get it is only runners really care about running. Boston being won by an American has no relevance to the people who don't even know what that race is or care to watch it. Meb was awesome :)

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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby Jwolf » Thu May 08, 2014 7:43 pm

fingerboy wrote:The point if you didn't get it is only runners really care about running. Boston being won by an American has no relevance to the people who don't even know what that race is or care to watch it.


Actually most runners only really care about the best runner winning the race.

There are a lot of non-runners in Boston who aren't who care a lot about the marathon . The whole city rallied behind the marathon and the recovery after the bombings last year.

But I'm not even sure what that (or the other examples you gave) have to do with the conspiracy theory.
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Re: Boston Marathon Fixed?

Postby fingerboy » Fri May 09, 2014 8:11 am

It's not about whether its a conspiracy its about whether non-runners care. And yes while many in Boston do care about their marathon, there are many still I think who do not.

These are 3 examples of things that matter to us and we thought that it'd be a big deal, so regardless of whether Boston was fixed or not, the masses have probably already forgotten who won. Maybe they remember an American won, but what an "American" means is different to many of them anyways.

To me, Meb is a fantastic athlete and tactician and he astounds me with his awesomeness and character. To some guy working in Starbucks in San Diego, they may not know who he is or where he lives.


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