Geoffrey Mutai: Simply the best marathoner aliveFascinating article and I can't argue with the headline, though I do have a bit of a problem with the straw man argument that starts off the article:
NEW YORK -- Geoffrey Mutai's victory in April's Boston Marathon and the absurdly-fast time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds he ran to win it did not receive nearly the praise one would think should accompany the fastest marathon time ever run.
The elevation drop of Boston's point-to-point course made Mutai's time ineligible for world record consideration, and the stiff tailwind that followed him from Hopkinton to Copley Square made it easily written off as being aided.
But what do the naysayers hang their hats on now after Mutai chopped two and a half minutes off the course record in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, winning in 2:05:06?
The "naysayers" never did say his run in Boston wasn't a great run. "They" (we) said it's not and shouldn't be a world record because it's aided and because it's an ineligible course (not just because of the elevation drop, as Battaglia claims, but also simply because it's a point to point course that sets up the possibility of such wind-aided runs as we saw this year). I, for one, fully recognized the greatness of his run and expected great things out of him this fall. I just didn't think it should be regarded as a world record because the standards are clear and Boston doesn't meet those standards. I hardly doubt I'm alone in this regard among those who said the argument that his Boston run should be counted as the world record is ridiculous.
I like Battaglia a lot and the rest of the article has a lot of good nuggets in it (hence my posting it here) but that opening is disappointing to say the least and I can't post a link to the article while overlooking that opening.
I'm actually beginning to research some things for a post I want to make on the 2011 marathon season and my take on how it fits into the past and future of the men's marathon. I know, it's already been written by several writers and I may not add much, if anything, to the discussion but I still feel like getting my thoughts together on this and sharing them. I'm not sure when it will be completed. Hopefully soon.
