IMO, the OG marathons have actually LOST something since they instituted standards, thus reducing the fields, which I believe was part of the goal.
You now have dozens of runners basically soloing after the pack breaks up, and many of them decide to DNF and save it for an autumn payday in a money race, leading to even smaller numbers behind the leaders. I think the number of finishers in Sydney must have been the lowest ever in an Oly marathon. Contrats that with the WCs, where they allow 5 per nation - a much better "showcase" IMO. The marathon is one event where increasing the field size actually adds to the race, and, more important, is easily accomodated. -- Jim Gerweck Running Times
