Dissecting The Men’s 2017 Chicago Marathon
Is this the greatest era in USA Running history?
There’s no doubt in my mind we are living in the prime of US running (at least as far as big race results are concerned). However I can’t help but feel like this victory is tainted… I have been the biggest Galen Rupp fanboy ever since I dove into running and he was tearing it up at The University of Oregon; but with the USADA investigation looming heavy I can’t be happy about any NOP victory. Things don’t look good, at best Rupp has benefited from grey area tactics that could be deemed illegal down the line and at worst he was the center stone key benefactor to the most sophisticated doping protocol since the Postal team scandal.
This feels a lot like Lance Armstrong winning all of those TDF titles, sure he was doping but wasn’t everyone else doping too? My College coach was the biggest Lance Armstrong defender (just as I have been accused of being too much of a Rupp fanboy in the past) and ultimately he felt betrayed by the lies and the wake of bodies thrown under the bus behind him. So all of this is to say that I just can’t enjoy this victory as much as I want to.
That being said, this was a brilliant run. The field was formidable and ultimately the slow start and fast finish did the world class marathoners in. Rupp very much runs marathons like a track star — where Kipsang and Kipchoge can and will hold a hot pace from the start; Rupp lives for a conservative start and ultra aggressive finish. This is a runner with incredible range… a sub 3:50 miler and a 26:45 10k on the track — this range is unmatched especially when compared to other USA all time greats.
This was a landmark day for Rupp, a war of attrition where he was the lone survivor — it’s definitely nothing to frown at and under any other circumstances I would be over the moon… but this feels different. I guess time will tell if my feelings are deserved or just an overreaction to the investigation.
We can always hope… maybe he is clean after all.
Happy Running,
