BOSTON MARATHON: WHY I THINK 60% OF THE ELITE RUNNERS DROPPED OUT | SAGE RUNNING PODCAST 

I grew up in Minnesota. I've run 20+ mile training runs in -30 degrees, alone on country roads. I ran a 5k in 13 inches of snow and another on glare ice. I'd still say Boston had the worst possible weather to run in. I lost my only child, my daughter, and trained every day for the last 4 years to make it to Boston and be able to dedicate the race to her memory. I wanted to PR and re-BQ. The day before the race, I decided all other goals were out the window, thanks to the weather, but I was going to finish, so I wore enough layers to ensure I would. They would have literally had to drag me off the course to stop me. It was my 3rd slowest marathon ever, and I suffered hypothermia afterwards, but I crossed that finish line.

Sage, I appreciate how you always try and give metric numbers too. Very rare for an American and very much appreciated by an Aussie! Cheers.

Galen Rupp, who dropped around 20 miles in Boston, yesterday won Prague marathon with 2.06.07

Thanks for all your videos Sage! My running has improved significantly since following you and Sandi :) I've truly fallen in love with trail running and hope to move into ultras in the near future!

Great to hear your insight. I really like these podcast-type videos.

Thank you so much for putting tempo in km/min. I just want to emphsize how much we appreciate!!!

I'm glad you made this. I noticed Galen was getting negative comments on his instagram re: dropping out. Nice analysis.

Thanks for the video and insights into what can lead to an elite dropping out. I think it is fascinating and as an age group runner I can learn from other’s experiences. It really struck me when you said racing is their livelihood. I had not considered how racing being a livelihood would figure into a DNF. I ran Boston this year, my first, and finished slowly, 20+ min off my expected time. While I was running I was very aware that I was risking injury as my legs were cramping badly. Since I have a desk job, I chose to run through the pain and finish. Here I am a month later and barely running as my legs are still very sore and not recovered. Recovery from my previous marathons has always been quick. If I depended on racing for my livelihood I certainly would have DNF’ed to avoid injury and ensure I don’t mess up my season just so I could say I finished. I enjoy the videos. Thanks!

You showed wisdom by dropping out. Boston has the best fans, volunteers and crowds of any marathon I have run. Dedicated.

I appreciate your perspective from inside an incredibly tough race. I'm primarily a cyclist who took up running in 2020 after a 30-year hiatus only as an alternative to cycling after some neck and back injuries. I didn't anticipate how difficult the transition would be and how ill-prepared I was for tackling a marathon, with my only goal being to finish, in any time whatsoever.

I really love that intro :)

Great explanation!

@Sage Very good idea to make a video on this subject, with an interesting analysis on the physical constraints the wind represented for elite (and sub-elite) runners that day…

I was surprised not to see just long sleeve shirts over t shirts as jackets do tend to be lose and flappy but either way glad you were ok and had the humility to drop to survive to compete healthy again in the near future.

So should the lesser elite (sub-elite?) athletes try to find foul weather marathons so they can have a chance against Kenyans and Ethiopians?

As a cyclist i did look at the clothing and wonder at the choces. On a bike aero from wearing tight clothing kicks in at around 17kmph. Also forgetting gloves on a cold day is said to reduce power output and increase cardio load. Team Sky started this trend for ‘marginal gains’ and clothing choice definitely was a part of it.

Well...another word of encouragement. I think Sage Cannaday could be that good...but I'm a bit biased in that he'd have to hire me as his coach! Keep up the good work Sage. And it is interesting that the winner of Boston took off at the first mile! Impressive. So, maybe it works for him! Be sure to warm up properly before the start at Copenhagen. And definitely be sure to get enough sleep. For two consecutive days before the race. And consider wearing layers that you can discard of. Some get cheap stuff from a second hand store to stay warm before start and leave it at the starting line. But the elite pack may frown on that. Ask about it.

If you're not elite then I'm the Easter bunny...

I enjoyed the video 😈

The top end of the field have different goals from us "normal" people. For most Boston is the be all and end all. For the top of the town there are different priorities, and other chances to compete.

Dat intro game :)

Yah, I ran that Boston marathon😳 I think I cried a little bit when I saw my husband at the 1/2 way point. It just wasn’t what I dreamed of. But I reminded myself that my odds were amazing - after running my very first marathon I qualified for Boston, ran That Crazy Boston reminding myself of how many people try for years to get in. I can now say I’ve done it and honestly don’t wish those conditions on anyone.

Love it

i can't even imagine the mental toughness you would have to go through in a marathon.

what's the back story regarding you intentionally dropping out in the trials? Is that in a video somewhere?

You dont fool around with nature! We norwegians who love cross country skiing know that you wear thin merino wool in conditions like that. Well, a proper wind jacket that is tight fitting is also good, but it seems like some wool, like a neck that you could use to regulate body temperature while moving by pulling it over your head, would have been nice. Wool is able to warm you even when it is wet.

I'm curious what the drop rate was for the wheelchair athletes, who are moving even faster than the elite runners, thus a greater headwind, although working against a smaller exposed surface. Even so, I think the runners could learn something about aerodynamic attire from the wheelchair athletes on days like this.

out of curiosity, did you want to crush it with the elite pack? The first mile pace might have crushed that thought, but did you think about it? It might have helped a lot (maybe not in helping you finish, but the mental side at least and confidence for the future)

any tips on how i should train to run faster mile time? i currently run at a comfortable 8 min pace. If i try to go at a faster pace my stamina drains reallly quick...

Some people expect constant record breaking times of elite runners. The fact is that there are only a few elite runners who are always, or frequently winning and always or usually winning by a greater time than before. Some people said that when Shalane Flanigan won the NYC Marathon in 2017, that it was a "slow" finish time compared to other finish times. Perhaps for an elite runner, yes but also there is a Bell Curve element in which a lot of elite runners can mainly only hope to win some 3 to 5 minutes away from the ultimately fastest time(s) even if they themselves have broken records. Records are actually rarely broken in Marathons in the greatest sense. It is usually a matter of who is feeling his or her best so as to win and who is not feeling his or her best and will end up second or third or maybe further back. The weather in the 2018 Boston really affected top level runners who otherwise would have won or come in as strong second or third or in the top ten. It has to be the Marathon with the oddest results ever in the history of Marathon races as well as the Marathon with the most difficult running conditions ever. It was practically a Monsoon . Desiree Linden was a "hopeful" and even a tough contender but was still not expected to win. She was courageous to keep going on but it had more to do with how other faster runners were affected by the weather . It was so strange that certain "non elite" runners even came in second and third on the women's side and there was some issue as to whether they should get the prize money because they were not officially elite runners.

At the c. 3:15 mark , you like to look at the numbers . Here are some numbers to look at . In the You Tube video entitled : Driving rain , porta--potties & camaraderie : Des Linden's epic 2018 Boston Marathon win had it all \ NBC SPORTS \ April 20 2020 , at the 2:12:00 time in the race , it could be said that Des Linden made the move to pass the front runner (this was at the 4:58 mark in the video). 212 (taken from 2:12:00) is the boiling point of water . July 31 is day 212 as December 31 is day 365 . From the day of this 2018 Boston Marathon , April 16 , to July 31 , there are 106 days ; 106 x 24 hours = 2544 ; 2544 -- 2018 = 526 + 1492 (in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue) = 2018 . 25 + 44 = 69 = J-e-h-o-v-a-h .

Ok I know that this isn't related but do you think that you could run a sub 14 minute 5k?

It’s easy to understand that elite runners have totally different goals than us normal runners and even slightly different than the sub elites. If they drop out it’s probably because they don’t run marathons JUST to run them. They race marathons to win and place like Sage explains.

How do you know when to remove a pair of hokas from your shoe rotation?

@sage how do/did you tell if its hypothermic stages in running?

I went and looked up the original of the song you cover for your opening/closing, and I actually prefer your cover XD

I thaught that it was your opportunity or chance to win Boston due the weather conditions.. A slow marathon in which you need a strong lower body. Looking your videos , I saw you not thin or skinny as the most of runners; you are strong... but maybe as you said your head was too focus in your main goal, and you did not think in a secondary objective. Besides always try to ameliorate our times, I think everyone has the dream to win a marathon.... Best regards

It was a tad wet, windy and cold.....do we know how many of the non-qualifiers were part of the 5% DNF?

Hey I’m the first one here!!!!

Rain. Cold. Wind. I always say any two of the three is ok but all three - forget it.

When faced with 30km/h headwind, someone running at 13 km/h experiences a 231% increase in effective (relative) windspeed, and a 994% increase in drag compared to what they are used to experiencing when they run in windless conditions. By contrast, an elite who is running at 18.3 km/h 'only' experiences a 164% increase in relative windspeed and 597% increase in drag compared to what they should be used to in windless conditions. In these windy conditions, even the absolute drag (~relative windspeed squared) faced by the slower runner is higher in proportion to velocity than the drag that the elite is facing. Hence, relative windspeed is a very poor excuse for the elites to use. I ran Boston, and in my experience the glycogen loss from shivering continuously while we waited around in extremely cold conditions prior to the start was probably at least as detrimental as the wind and cold I experienced during the race (I stopped shivering after I started running!). I understand that the elites (but maybe not you sub-elites?) got to avoid the cold pre-start conditions by hanging out in a church hall prior to the race. Low body fat, not being used to colder conditions, and/or a failure to adjust their pace for the conditions must be the main reason that the elites performed so poorly.

What makes someone 'elite'?

Anyone who's been super skinny and then over weight in their life, knows that mother nature hates skinny people, lol.

We are so fixated with "speed / fast runner" and less with being a "comfortable/slow runner" running at paces like a 9-min (or 10-min) pace which is tough for many of us who do run everyday. That effort seem to be ignored and not taken seriously. There was a charity runner at Boston 2018 who has run 10 ultra-marathons and 9 marathons, yet, she was criticized by several of the Boston runners because she is a slow runner who didn't earn the right to be there. I think the biggest accomplishment for any runner is to "FINISH" the race especially the Marathon regardless of how fast they are running it. Because that is a hard thing to do for any person. We need more stories of people who trained hard and finished a marathon at 5-hours or 6-hours. Those stories will inspire many runners out there to know that running is not about .... "speed". Its about "freaking finishing it and not quitting!"

Is it not taboo for elite runners to quit races easily?

Interesting topic, and I’m a big fan Sage, but 25mins is too long for me.

Is this your main job or do you have an actual job?

Second? First? Idk

Ur not supposed to run more than 3 miles a day-but ego says u can do more-than body aches come along-and u run some more-

You're only sub-elite? Unsubscribed!

Let me get this straight. This guy is giving advice about this race and what is good to wear and critique them and you DNF?

You are so skinny, man! Must be training hard! Do take care of yourself!!!!!

Maybe all of the rain diluted the drugs and dope in their system?

That's a disgrace pro athletes dropping out!!!

This could have been a 60 second video

They can't be too Elite if they dropped out!

I have zero respect for anyone that underdressed for this race. Just dumb and inexcusable in my opinion. No one says you or other elites have to run 5 min/mi pace, it's a race. I don't care what shape you're in, what seed you are, how elite you are. Conditions are conditions. If you don't come prepared to run the race that everyone else does then what are you doing. If it's a time goal you're after then don't start and move to a different race...And yes I ran Boston this year so I know full and well how the conditions were. Unforgettable.

Elites? Dropped bc did not wear a coat? Not worthy of the word elite