Boston Marathon - Let's Take A Look

Lots of arguing over the validity of the times run today. Times in the Boston marathon in the past have mattered very little. You go to Boston to race, and winning/placing is what matters. It was always considered a tough, slow course, though being a point to point, net downhill route. Fast times were reserved for flat courses with pace setters. That changed last year when Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot blazed a 2:05:52, slicing 1:22 off the Boston course record.

And then today, it really changed. Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest marathon time ever, by 57 seconds, running 2:03:02, followed closely by Moses Mosop at 2:03:06, setting a time that will likely not be touched for a long time. Ryan Hall set a blazing pace, as he did last year as well, and finished in an American all-time best, 2:04:58. This occurred under what would be considered the most ideal of conditions: 45 degrees with a near 20mph tailwind for most of the race. That is where the debate begins: how much did help? Do these times count as World/American bests? Do they even count for PR's?

Obviously the wind helped, there is really no debating that. How much is an issue, but are these times, considering the course alone, that ridiculous? Point to point courses with a net downhill are not eligible for records for a reason, obvious enough for not to explain. The explanation for slow times in Boston was the downhills beat up the legs, making the late up hills killer, and then the closing downhill segment painful. But what if you adapt to this? Surely a net downhill can be used to an advantage. Ryan Hall has certainly figured this out, as did Bill Rodgers. Rodger's PR of 2:09:27 was in Boston, and he ran every goddamn marathon on the planet. His time came on his 5th attempt on the course, which he also trained on.

Rodger's in Boston:
1974 Boston (2:19:34) 14th
1975 Boston (2:09:55) 1st American Record (AR)
1977 Boston (DNF)
1978 Boston (2:10:13) 1st
1979 Boston (2:09:27) 1st AR



Rodgers has relayed a lot of his experience to Ryan Hall, telling him this is a fast course.  This was Hall's 3rd race in Boston, his fastest on the course, and his new PR. He progressed each year. He also trained on the course for three weeks leading into the '10 race.

Hall in Boston:
2009 Boston 2:09:40 3rd
2010 Boston 2:08:40 4th (fastest by an American on course)
2011 Boston 2:04:58 4th (PR and fastest time ever by an American)

Ryan's PR before this was 2:06:17 on a flat London course in '08.

The course record before 2010 was held by another Cheruiyot - Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, who ran 2:07:14 in '06, on his second attempt at the course - his previous Boston race was a 2:10:11. He also ran a few flat courses, running 2:10:41 in Rotterdam in '01, and 2:07:35 in Chicago in '06. Yep, faster in Boston than Chicago in the same year, with Boston remaining his PR. 


The point I want to make is that you can't look at Boston and think 2:03 is unrealistic, even without the wind. And can't just say the wind made them run 2:03 and not think they could have broken the world record without the wind. 

The previous two course record holders all had PR's on the course. The other Cheruiyot, Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, also ran Chicago in 2010 and ran 2:09:28. When you begin to bring in best marathoners on the planet, as they did this year, times were going to be fast. Add in perfect weather and we see what can happen. But having people try to invalidate these performances is sad.

The marathon is a gamble and could be compared to a poker game, with weather as the wild card.
Well, Boston dealt everyone who came prepared a dream hand. But not everyone reveled in the day, and in fact only a few in top 10 really did.

Top finishers times compared to PR's:
Hall -1:15
Mutai -1:53
Cherkos -1:16
Chimsa -:16
Sanga -0:01
Kipchumba +:37
Cheruiyot +51
Daba +:59

Not exactly insane. Dropping big time from your PR is not uncommon either.
From the London marathon on Sunday:
Emmanual Mutai -1:36
Dos Santos -2:03

Consider the wheelchair racers, who would seem to show the most relevance of the wind aid.
The wheelchair course record is 1:18:27 by Ernst Van Dyk (South Africa) in '04.
This year Ernst finished in 1:18:51, one second off the winner, Masazumi Soejima.

The rest of the field doesn't appear to have benefited to greatly either.
One runner I'm familiar with , Michael Arnstein of NYC ran his PR of 2:28:29 in Boston last year.
This year he ran 2:30:47.

Let's just not get too distracted by how much the weather helped them. The weather is supposed to help. You either get lucky with it, or you don't. We don't subtract time for running in bad weather. These guys got lucky and we can't hold that against them. We do not "wind adjust" marathons. The top 4 performances were incredible, inspiring, and deserved. Elite marathon racing has become more and competitive with PR's and course records dropping left and right. This is going with the trend. While the records will not be "official", these need to be recognized as phenomenal, and a great deal of the credit goes to Ryan Hall who set this once unthinkable pace, going through the half in 1:01:57.  Props. Mad props from Pre's Mustache, and that's what really counts.