Your post is centered around the sole or nearly sole purpose of the trials being to select an Olympic team. Do you similarly think only contenders for medals should be allowed to enter the Olympics, or even that that should be the primary method of selection? If so, there would be far more Kenyans and Ethiopians participating in the marathon, and a lot less of everybody else. Just as the Olympics is about more than rewarding the fastest runners (and in general, for the marathon, I think the majors do a much better job), I would argue that the Trials can and should be about more. For me personally, the Trials marathon was the race of the year. Granted an odd and boring year from a running perspective, but something about it and the hype really excited me. I'm not sure I necessarily endorse a 1000 person race, but I also wouldn't tighten the standards based solely on the criterion of selecting the Olympic team. But then, you can count me in the "inspired by slowish runners on Insta" crowd.
Everybody should be allowed in the trials, but there should be a qualification standard for posting on forums, having a website, or writing for any media. (I propose the standard should be passing calc II).
Your post is centered around the sole or nearly sole purpose of the trials being to select an Olympic team. Do you similarly think only contenders for medals should be allowed to enter the Olympics, or even that that should be the primary method of selection? If so, there would be far more Kenyans and Ethiopians participating in the marathon, and a lot less of everybody else. Just as the Olympics is about more than rewarding the fastest runners (and in general, for the marathon, I think the majors do a much better job), I would argue that the Trials can and should be about more. For me personally, the Trials marathon was the race of the year. Granted an odd and boring year from a running perspective, but something about it and the hype really excited me. I'm not sure I necessarily endorse a 1000 person race, but I also wouldn't tighten the standards based solely on the criterion of selecting the Olympic team. But then, you can count me in the "inspired by slowish runners on Insta" crowd.
Everybody should be allowed in the trials, but there should be a qualification standard for posting on forums, having a website, or writing for any media. (I propose the standard should be passing calc II).