Alistair Cragg to make Marathon Debut in Boston

Rineanna

Cragg to make the step up to the marathon in Boston:

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=59289.html

I wish him the best of luck!

eliwallach

Rineanna wrote: »

I wish him the best of luck!

So do I.
But 26.2 miles is a long distance for a guy who likes opts to drop out esp on the big stage.
Prove me wrong alistair.

ecoli

eliwallach wrote: »

So do I.
But 26.2 miles is a long distance for a guy who likes opts to drop out esp on the big stage.
Prove me wrong alistair.

He is 2/2 in Half marathons though so you never know;)

JKF

In fairness his road record has been pretty solid, definitely for the past 12 months anyway:
NY Half- 7th 1:01:58
BAA Mile- 3rd 4:09:4
Carlsbad 5k- 6th 13:44
NY 10k- 5th 28:33
Santa Monica 5k- 1st 13:54:4
Philadelphia Half- 6th 1:02:15
Fifth Ave Mile- 17th 3:58:59
Arizona Half- 2nd 1:03:22

Tis a pretty big stage for a debut though. Will be interesting to see how he fares

BeepBeep67

Hopefully we find an Irish male that can run faster than Paula

electrictrad

Once again, as the going gets tough, the tough get going. . . .and Alistair Cragg drops out. . .I don't buy the argument that he was on 2.10 pace. . .after all, he didn't even finish half of the race

No disputes that marathons, especially Boston, are particularly tough, but Cragg has an amazing ability of late to generate a frenzy of interest, and then flop when anyone's watching. . .

I've no doubt he'll achieve the marathon standard. . .in some European backwater, with a relay of personal pacemakers. . .the sooner they initiate a world qualification series for distance races, the better; it's getting more sleep-inducing by the day

violator13

Rumour is he got a blister in the first mile? Shame about a dnf but hopefully he will bounce back.He deserves it. The guy has had a hard life..

T runner

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Hopefully we find an Irish male that can run faster than Paula

As recent examples I reckon both Mark Kenneally and Sean Connolly would beat Paula Radcliff in a marathon.

ultraman1

T runner wrote: »

As recent examples I reckon both Mark Kenneally and Sean Connolly would beat Paula Radcliff in a marathon.

i think beep was talkin bout paula abdul:D

eon1208

electrictrad wrote: »

Once again, as the going gets tough, the tough get going. . . .and Alistair Cragg drops out. . .I don't buy the argument that he was on 2.10 pace. . .after all, he didn't even finish half of the race

No disputes that marathons, especially Boston, are particularly tough, but Cragg has an amazing ability of late to generate a frenzy of interest, and then flop when anyone's watching. . .

I've no doubt he'll achieve the marathon standard. . .in some European backwater, with a relay of personal pacemakers. . .the sooner they initiate a world qualification series for distance races, the better; it's getting more sleep-inducing by the day

Give us a break from this claptrap will ya please....

Pisco Sour

violator13 wrote: »

The guy has had a hard life..

Ah jaysus! :rolleyes: Battling it out with 10 other women to sell bottles of Coca-Cola and low quality home made sandwiches as a bus full of tourists stop for toilet breaks in some back arse town in Peru, knowing that if you don't sell then you don't eat.... now that is a hard life. Cragg has not had a hard life. He is choosing to drop out of races and to run marathons!

Best of luck to him over the next 15 months in the lead up to London.

thirtyfoot

04072511 wrote: »

He is choosing to drop out of races and to run marathons!
.

Quick question, have you ever questioned your very existance in the sport because you are so frustrated and so disillushioned as you just can't get it right despite you trying so hard? Most athletes have (from elite to club), its a cruel and lonely place. When athletes are in that dark place they need support from the athletics family. Have you ever been there? If not, alas you'll never understand. To me, when an athlete is racing poorly or struggling with injury its almost a form of depression. It takes over their life in a very negative way. Your comment about 'choosing' shows a poor understanding of the compexity of our sport. Its not that simple.

eon1208

thirtyfoot wrote: »

Quick question, have you ever questioned your very existance in the sport because you are so frustrated and so disillushioned as you just can't get it right despite you trying so hard? Most athletes have (from elite to club), its a cruel and lonely place. When athletes are in that dark place they need support from the athletics family. Have you ever been there? If not, alas you'll never understand. To me, when an athlete is racing poorly or struggling with injury its almost a form of depression. It takes over their life in a very negative way. Your comment about 'choosing' shows a poor understanding of the compexity of our sport. Its not that simple.

100% true and well said... Everybody should understand this as it applies to the competitive club runner as much as to the elite...Form and confidence can on the one hand be cast iron but can become so brittle and frustrating...

myflipflops

04072511 wrote: »

Ah jaysus! :rolleyes: Battling it out with 10 other women to sell bottles of Coca-Cola and low quality home made sandwiches as a bus full of tourists stop for toilet breaks in some back arse town in Peru, knowing that if you don't sell then you don't eat.... now that is a hard life. Cragg has not had a hard life. He is choosing to drop out of races and to run marathons!

Best of luck to him over the next 15 months in the lead up to London.

The guys brother committed suicide. After the attempt, he spent months on life support before passing awawy and the family spent whatever they had looking after him. The situation splintered the family by all accounts. Cragg suffered personal depression as a result of this and apparently, still suffers greatly from confidence issues at times.

You don't have to suffer poverty to have had a tough life.

G-Money

I have to admit as a newbie to the running scene I haven't followed his career that closely. Has he given up track events now to focus solely on the marathon? If so, has he already qualified for London and if not, how much longer does he have to qualify?

Pisco Sour

thirtyfoot wrote: »

Quick question, have you ever questioned your very existance in the sport because you are so frustrated and so disillushioned as you just can't get it right despite you trying so hard? Most athletes have (from elite to club), its a cruel and lonely place. When athletes are in that dark place they need support from the athletics family. Have you ever been there? If not, alas you'll never understand. To me, when an athlete is racing poorly or struggling with injury its almost a form of depression. It takes over their life in a very negative way. Your comment about 'choosing' shows a poor understanding of the compexity of our sport. Its not that simple.

I understand and appreciate all of that. My choice of words was admittadly not the best, was more a simplified reaction to the silly comment that he has had a tough life. Perspective is needed. 2/3rds of the World would love to be Allistair Cragg!

EDIT: Very much wasnt aware of his personal troubles. Please ignore my comments so. I just thought people were refferring to his athletics career and getting critisied as being a tough life. Wasn't aware of the other stuff regarding his brother.

Pisco Sour

myflipflops wrote: »

The guys brother committed suicide. After the attempt, he spent months on life support before passing awawy and the family spent whatever they had looking after him. The situation splintered the family by all accounts. Cragg suffered personal depression as a result of this and apparently, still suffers greatly from confidence issues at times.

You don't have to suffer poverty to have had a tough life.

Ok I wasn't aware of that. Scratch all my previous comments please. Apologies.

And I always support Allistair for the record.

Dan man

G-Money wrote: »

I have to admit as a newbie to the running scene I haven't followed his career that closely. Has he given up track events now to focus solely on the marathon? If so, has he already qualified for London and if not, how much longer does he have to qualify?

I would say that Alistair's future lies very much in marathon running and road races and I have no doubt that he will do us proud some day soon and show the potential that we all know he has. He has not, as of yet qualified for London Olympics but he will surely put that issue to bed in due course.