“Gregoire did not belong in the B corral.”
I didn’t click link to read more of article, but it seems she didn’t belong in the corral she was in???
Did she choose the “B” or was she put in “B” by some one that messed things up for her?
Bottom line- she did not have a road race qualifying time, of the length and time, that the race organizers required, to be placed in the A corral.
I wanted to run the Boston marathon in my youth. For my age at the time, I had to finish in 3:20:00 or faster. I ran the St. Louis marathon in 4:35, the Chicago marathon in 4:05 and again, another time in 3:43. Close, but no cigar, so no Boston marathon experience to tell a tale about today.
Houston’s qualifying time for the A corral at marathon distance is 4:00.
Gregoire, ran a 5K (3.1 miles) in 16:17.
One could extrapolate her time by multiplying the distance by a factor of 9 to come up with a ballpark figure of 27.9 miles @ 145:53 = approximately 2:26, and reduce her speed for such an overall pace by 25%, or even a ridiculous 50%, so that a hypothetical pace would be either 2:26 + 0:37(25%) = 3:03, or 2:26 + 1:13(50%) = 3:39.
Gregoire is probably easily capable of running between a 2:26 and a 3:03 marathon, based on the math, so she probably would be closer to finishing between 2:26 and 2:45. My best guess is 2:36, if not faster.
Many moons ago, while serving in Uncle Sam’s ragtime band, I got sent from my Airborne Army unit, over to an athletic field for a make up PT test. It was just me and this other soldier taking the test. We had to run around a track field but used the street surrounding the complex to get in the full two miles. We lined up and the NCO in charge says go!
To be frank, I wasn’t quite sure what the hell I felt like doing for an effort seeing how it was already the middle of the day and getting hot, until this other guy that was lined up next to me, takes off like an NHRA funny car, and just like that- was gone! To keep my self respect, I took off running at a fairly fast pace, but nothing like the scalded ape in front of me.
The first leg was a 3/4 mile stretch and then the course turned right for a 1/4 mile leg. I started thinking all kinds of things while running until I saw the guy get to the corner and turn. I was only half way down the stretch to the corner at this point, and for some quirky reason I got the idea to try and catch this guy, so I took off after him.
This guy was moving out, so I had one hell of a time closing the gap. Before I knew it, we had turned down the back stretch, and the final turn was dead ahead, with this guy turning the corner, still ahead of me, and... obviously, turning it up another notch. I laid it all out, but there just wasn’t enough roadway left between us and the finish line to catch him, when I heard 10:35, which turned out to be my time.
I never ran that fast before in my life and I never ran that fast ever again in my life. My one consolation in not catching that guy that day, was the fact that I was a pack a day smoker, and could take that slim excuse as a grain of solace in defeat.
High five! Loves me some running around that airborne track!