E-Mail of the Week - a podcast by Patrick Wales-Dinan

This is an e-mail sent to us regarding the London Marathon. It brings up some good points that we will discuss in episode 5 of the Mike& Ira Show.

"Thoughts on London? First off, Ryan Hall is undoubtedly one of the best runners in the world right now. I also think he has risen the highest of the class of 2001. For all his accomplishments, Ritz will never, ever (ever) run a 2:06 marathon and lord knows he's not going to be competing for medals on the track. I think the Webbster is just too much of a head case for the pressure of the Olympics or World Championships. I honestly think that a top-5 finish at London is harder to accomplish than an Olympic or World Championship medal. With their money, London can assemble the best field with the best pacemakers, etc. Compare with Athens (or Beijing): you have 4 (?) Kenyans chosen by some fraudulent bureaucrat, 85 degree heat, a hilly course... the race becomes a total crap shoot. Whereas in London, Ryan Hall is competing against an army of the very best Africans money can buy on a flat course in ideal conditions. Championship runners like Baldini, Abera, Meb, etc just aren't good enough to hang with a 14:23 opening 5k - that takes insane fitness, and Ryan Hall clearly has it. That said, Hall clearly cleaned up at the Olympic trials with lots of pace changes, hills, etc so I think he may be able to do well at the Olympics too. I really hope he 1) recovers well and 2) does the same things before Beijing that Meb and Deena did before Athens like acclimating to the weather, pollution, wearing ice-vests before the race, going out easy, etc. (Not doing those things killed Radcliffe and Tergat in Athens, methinks). Finally, Terrence Mahon - the guy clearly is an amazing coach with a master plan. All of Ryan's preparation seems to center around running well in a single marathon; his races leading up to the marathon hardly seem to matter.

(Finally, I caught mistake on your last podcast: Webb didn't make it out of the first round in the 04 Olympics and made his crazy sprint tactic at WC's in 05 )"

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