Boston Update

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Couple of guys from Fayetteville, Georgia have jumped to an
early lead. Ongeri and Nyamboki. The Versus announcers are
accusing them of doing a publicity stunt for Spira shoes. Looks
like both are wearing the Spira Stinger racing flat - a shoe
banned in Boston. It would be sweet if these guys could pull it
off, but I doubt it.

The two Georgia homeys still in the lead.

Prokopcuka looks good for the women. Deena Kastor being dropped
around the half point.

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Couple of guys from Fayetteville, Georgia have jumped to an
early lead. Ongeri and Nyamboki. The Versus announcers are
accusing them of doing a publicity stunt for Spira shoes. Looks
like both are wearing the Spira Stinger racing flat - a shoe
banned in Boston. It would be sweet if these guys could pull it
off, but I doubt it.

The two Georgia homeys still in the lead.

Prokopcuka looks good for the women. Deena Kastor being dropped
around the half point.

Spira guys caught by the pack. Damn.

The rain has stopped and the wind doesn't look too bad. I feel a
bit cheated.

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Couple of guys from Fayetteville, Georgia have jumped to an
early lead. Ongeri and Nyamboki. The Versus announcers are
accusing them of doing a publicity stunt for Spira shoes. Looks
like both are wearing the Spira Stinger racing flat - a shoe
banned in Boston. It would be sweet if these guys could pull

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

off, but I doubt it.

The two Georgia homeys still in the lead.

Prokopcuka looks good for the women. Deena Kastor being dropped
around the half point.

Spira guys caught by the pack. Damn.

The rain has stopped and the wind doesn't look too bad. I feel a
bit cheated.

Surging with a couple miles to go, Lydia Grigoryeva of Russia is
the winner of Boston women (around 2:29). The tall and elegant
Prokopcuka repeats last year's second place. Mexican Perez in
third place.

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

MarkH <[email hidden]> wrote

> Couple of guys from Fayetteville, Georgia have jumped to an
> early lead. Ongeri and Nyamboki. The Versus announcers are
> accusing them of doing a publicity stunt for Spira shoes.

Looks

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> like both are wearing the Spira Stinger racing flat - a shoe
> banned in Boston. It would be sweet if these guys could pull

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> off, but I doubt it.

The two Georgia homeys still in the lead.

Prokopcuka looks good for the women. Deena Kastor being

dropped

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

around the half point.

Spira guys caught by the pack. Damn.

The rain has stopped and the wind doesn't look too bad. I feel

a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

bit cheated.

Surging with a couple miles to go, Lydia Grigoryeva of Russia is
the winner of Boston women (around 2:29). The tall and elegant
Prokopcuka repeats last year's second place. Mexican Perez in
third place.

Kenyan Robert Cheruyiot winner of Boston marathon men (2:14:13).

Deena Kastor 4th OA (2:35:08).

MarkH said:

Couple of guys from Fayetteville, Georgia have jumped to an early
lead. Ongeri and Nyamboki. The Versus announcers are accusing them
of doing a publicity stunt for Spira shoes. Looks like both are
wearing the Spira Stinger racing flat - a shoe banned in Boston. It
would be sweet if these guys could pull it off, but I doubt it.

Pardon my naivete, but why are those shoes banned? I've never heard
of banned shoes in a race before.

Eric

bluezfolk said:

Pardon my naivete, but why are those shoes banned?

Marketing stunt.

Spira makes shoes with springs (just as Nike uses air, Asics gel,
Mizuno "wave", etc. for cushion & energy return). Nobody really
believes these some thermodynamic-law-defying flubber - and, best I
can tell, few if any serious runners consider them even decent,
legitimate running shoes - but they are technically disallowed under
some rule against "devices which give mechanical advantage" or some
such.

Spira uses this to try and get attention, by promoting their shoe as
"banned in Boston" - hey, if it's banned, that must be because it
gives an unfair advantage like sterids, right? - and offering a
jillion dollars to the runner who wins the race but is then DQ'd for
wearing their shoes.

I guess it'd be a big coup for them if this actually happened.
Generally there's only a few running nerds aware of what's on the
winners' feet, and they've already made up their minds about which
shoes they like and which are ridiculous gimmicks. But if someone
actually were DQ'd for wearing the wrong shoes, that news would reach
a much wider, and presumably in some cases more naive/openminded,
audience.

"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| Nobody really
| believes these some thermodynamic-law-defying flubber - and, best I

Did you mean aerodynamic? If not, what way thermodynamics apply?

I2Run said:

Pendejo said:

Nobody really believes these [are]
some thermodynamic-law-defying flubber

Did you mean aerodynamic?

Negatory.

Quoted message said:

If not, what way thermodynamics apply?

First law.

The one which says, as Allen Ginsberg puts it, "you can't win."

MarkH said:

Prokopcuka looks good for the women.

This true, butt i look good for men too sometimes.

"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If not, what way thermodynamics apply?

First law.

The one which says, as Allen Ginsberg puts it, "you can't win."

Yeah, but I think a metal spring returns a lot more energy (still loses
some, of course) than shoe flubber. (I think therefore I am, therefore I
must be right, I think).

Check out a pair of these babies (were these what the boston guys had??):

http://superdairyboy.com/Videos/poweriser/videos.html

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"Charlie Pendejo" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Spira makes shoes with springs (just as Nike uses air, Asics
gel, Mizuno "wave", etc. for cushion & energy return). Nobody
really believes these some thermodynamic-law-defying flubber -
and, best I can tell, few if any serious runners consider them
even decent, legitimate running shoes

Although, if you look at the physics of it, there's nothing
inherently "illegitimate" about the metal springs. It's about as
"illegitimate" as those fish air bladders in Nikes, gel pads,
"wave" technologies, etc.

I have actually tried on the Del Sol model at the Boston marathon
expo and found them to be very comfortable. They were a bit heavy
for a racing shoe, probably around 10 oz or so, but I thought they
were quite legitimate. The Stingers are supposedly lighter, but
if they use the same steel springs as the Del Sol, they won't be
all that lightweight. Spira should start using titanium springs
to seriously reduce weight.

There's absolutely no rational reason for these shoes to be
"banned" by Boston, except to provide Spira with an ideal venue
for promotional stunts. Maybe it's BAA's way of helping out a
marginal shoe manufacturer.

MarkH said:

Pendejo said:

best I can tell, few if any serious runners consider them
even decent, legitimate running shoes

Although, if you look at the physics of it, there's nothing
inherently "illegitimate" about the metal springs. It's about as
"illegitimate" as those fish air bladders in Nikes, gel pads,
"wave" technologies, etc.

Oh sure, just to be clear what I said about the actual shoes is 100%
hearsay. I have zero experience and no strong feelings one way or the
other regarding the technology - just a weak suspicion that a midsole
containing springs is likely too heavy or too rigid for my taste, or
might be uncomfortable from uneven distribution of forces, or
something.

Quoted message said:

There's absolutely no rational reason for these shoes to be
"banned" by Boston, except to provide Spira with an ideal venue
for promotional stunts.

Precisely. And I subsequently read in another discussion that they
may not, in fact, be "banned" after all - that might be nothing more
than Spira's interpretation of the rules, driven solely by the
marketing. Whether that's acknowledged fact, pure conjecture, or
what, I can't say.

"MarkH" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

There's absolutely no rational reason for these shoes to be
"banned" by Boston, except to provide Spira with an ideal venue
for promotional stunts. Maybe it's BAA's way of helping out a
marginal shoe manufacturer.

Hmm, maybe I should spring for a pair...

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