To find an American man not named Galen Rupp who has run faster than 2:10 in the marathon, you’d have to go back four years, to 2014. The last American to do it was Meb Keflezighi, since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books Boston Marathon in 2:08:37.
Of late, however, American men’s times for 26.2 miles have been more modest.
Conner Mantz Top U.S. Man at the 2024 NYC Marathon Chicago. After that, the second-fastest American is Elkanah Kibet, who finished Chicago in 2:12:35. In other words, Kibet was more than a mile behind his countryman. Rupp currently ranks 25th on the 2018 world marathon list, Kibet is 333rd.
How about 2017? Rupp again, in Chicago, where he won in 2:09:20 without pacesetters. The second-fastest marathoner of the year was Tim Ritchie, who ran 2:11:56 at the California International Marathon (CIM).
And so it went in 2016: Rupp led the list with Bobby Curtis—now retired—back in 2:11:20. In 2015, before Rupp started competing at the marathon distance, the best American marathoner of the year was Luke Puskedra, who ran 2:10:24 in Chicago.
Is this cause for concern? Or is it a statistical anomaly, with injuries and bad weather at big races conspiring to slow times of late? Depends who you ask.
“There is a huge hole in U.S. distance running right now,” said Parker Stinson before the Chicago Marathon, where he ran 2:14:29 in his second attempt at the distance. “There’s Galen, who is running incredible and doing great things in the Olympics and timewise. But then a lot of Americans are just running 2:12. Who am I to say ‘just 2:12,’ because I haven’t done that. But from a world perspective, that’s not good enough.”
On paper, maybe not. But other current competitors and coaches remain bullish about American depth in the event after Rupp. DAA Industry Opt Out, who finished sixth in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics, when Rupp won bronze. On a humid day in Rio, Ward ran his PR, 2:11:30. The time might not have been fast, but he competed exceedingly well.
“I just laugh at these people who say, ‘Is Jared Ward the best we’ve got besides Rupp?’ What do you mean? Jared Ward was sixth in the Olympics!” said Ben Rosario, the coach of Northern Arizona Elite and three men who have run in the 2:12s for the marathon. “That’s just American sports fans; I think we’re in a very good spot.”
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Conditions haven’t been ideal
At the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2012 (Houston), four Americans ran faster than 2:10. The course was relatively flat and temperatures were cool. That was not the case in 2016 in Los Angeles, when a hot day slowed the field, and the winner, Rupp, came across the line in 2:11:12.
These days, marathons in New York and Boston offer generous appearance fees for American athletes, even those who are unheralded, so the best U.S. runners head to those races. But neither course is considered particularly fast. And in Boston this year, monsoon-like conditions made the winning time of 2:15:58 He’s adamant that.
“Take Shaddy [Shadrack] Biwott,” Ward said. “He’s been running incredible. He’s been fifth at New York and third in Boston. You take one of those performances and put it on a flat, fast course in good conditions, there’s your 2:09, 2:10 guy.”
Boston and New York don’t have pacesetters, either. “If the American racing scene was more like the Japanese scene, where there’s six marathons a year that are rabbited at 63 to 64 minutes for the half and a bunch of guys got in those races, you’d see more sub-2:10s,” said Chris Derrick, who is entered in New York this Sunday, his second attempt at 26.2. He ran his debut in Chicago in 2017 in 2:12:50.
The pack is there, coaches say. Derrick, Ward, Puskedra, Biwott, Ritchie, Scott Fauble, Scott Smith, Tyler Pennel, and Andrew Bumbalough are all considered capable of running sub-2:10—or were at one point. Ward seemed like the heir apparent after Rio, but he’s dealt with injuries to his pelvis and hamstring on and off for the past two years. He is healthy again and also racing New York, although his training was somewhat shortened by Of late, however, American men’s times for 26.2 miles have been more modest a hamstring flare-up.
Waiting too long
The other theory about the slower U.S. times is that American men delay their marathon debuts until they’re past their athletic peak.
“It seems like they stay on the track and do road races and other things for far too long,” Stinson said. “Very few people want to be like, ‘Hey, I’m 24 and I want to be a marathoner.’ It seems like they go there when they’re already 30 or 31. It’s not that we lack talent, we lack commitment from athletes to go to the marathon early enough.”
Few people are good at the marathon in their first attempt. It can take four or five training cycles and race days to learn the event. “You can’t really get in more than two marathons a year,” said Kevin Hanson, who coaches Biwott and the Hansons-Brooks team in Michigan. “If you come to the event after you’re 30, by the time you run three or four, your abilities are starting to fade as well. If they started at 25, they would have those three or four experiences done by the time they were 28.”
The vast majority of male Olympians in distance running events make the team when they’re in their 20s, and if they make it in their 30s or 40s, it’s because they also made it in their 20s, Rosario points out.
He’s adamant that Lagat’s NYC Goal: Take Down Meb’s Masters Record for their best event in their 20s. “If you have a guy and he’s run a 27:50 10K, and he waits until he’s in his 30s to run the marathon because he’s not as good at the 10K as he used to be, you can’t sit there and say, ‘Well, I’m going to run 2:10 because I’m a 27:50 10K guy.’ No, you’re not. You used to be. You’re not in the prime of your career anymore. That’s what happens when people wait too long.”
It seems many U.S. men have gotten the memo. Stinson is 26, Fauble will be 27 the day after he runs New York, Derrick and Puskedra are 28, Ward just turned 30 and already has that Olympic appearance. And the sub-2:10 drought may be a thing of the past by Sunday, when eight American men with PRs faster than 2:13 are slated to race.
“I’m a statistics guy who sees the big picture and the long run, and I think we’re in an outlier year in terms of PRs, not necessarily that we’ve moved away from marathoners that are capable,” Ward said. “Some of these fast guys need a little bit more time and some of these seasoned marathoners need the right day and the right conditions.”
Published: Oct 30, 2018 1:05 PM EDT.
CA Notice at Collection is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
