I don't think we can attribute poor marathoning by American men to delaying
marathoning. Several good young runners have tried the marathon (Brad
Hudson comes to mind), and not really run that fast or consistently. The
real problem is simply a "hole" in the US distance talent pool from the mid
80s to mid 90s. Bob Kennedy and Todd Williams were the only two Americans
to achieve something like world class status in that period, and the other
athletes with great potential were injured (e.g. Shannon Butler). Even the
1500 was extremely weak, with only the inconsistent Steve Holman running
truly fast times. I suspect that marathoning will pick up shortly as many
from the much-improved pool of talent try the event as a matter of course.
Richard McCann
