Official 2017 Dubai Marathon Live Discussion Thread

So you were one of the crappy British announcers, then? Hard to believe that you honestly think the coverage was "incredible" when even you admit that the announcers weren't the most knowledgeable.

I don't even speak Arabic and I liked their announcers better -- way more exited.

buzzbinator wrote:

Insufferable insolence constantly on these boards. Coverage was incredible and such an amazing thing to watch a race live from Dubai with a camera on Bekele after dropping out. Many other cameras on the course and overall a thoroughly professional broadcast. Jos Hermens interview at the end was informative as can be and yes the camera did indeed miss the fall at the beginning. Sure the announcers weren't as knowledgable as one would hope but still professional and honestly most of the comments on these boards are just intolerable. My second post ever.

Suffer'in succotash! "Insufferable insolence"?? 2nd post ever eh? Hope the 'hat trick' is a long time coming....

Oh please wrote:

Jos saying KB fell at the start of the race and got injured.

Did anyone see that?

How did Yanni's "special carbo drink" work out?

At least Yanni changed from his previous marathon drink idea:

1) 500 mL of heavy cream before a marathon race…to increase fat burning and spare muscle glycogen.

(I am not making that up. It is in the NYT article I gave a link to on one of the 11 Bekele threads that I am posting on.)

This Kenenisa Bekele race debacle is really starting to hit hard now.

I feel depressed and psychotic now…and maybe bipolar.

I ran out of all my sertraline hydrochloride (Zoloftâ„¢) and risperidone (Risperdalâ„¢) pills about 3 days ago.

It is just a coincidence.

2 min PR?? wrote:

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Hey Rojo, is this the same Tola that was 3rd in the Rio 10,000m?

Is this the same Tola that is the training partner of the Robertson brothers?

And people here believe he is doping, interesting.

Dropping two minutes in one year at that speed? Not saying he wasn't fast but that is a huge improvement.

Could be Yannis' special carb drink. It could be good for one good marathon then all down hill. Just like the stem cell treatments in the dodgy Chinese hospitals.

Wouldn't it be funny if the phrase "Yannis' special carb drink" became the new catch phrase for doping just like "hot sauce."

Viva la vida loca wrote:

Why aren't there any decent Muslim marathoners?

SouthernFriedRealist wrote:

Because they've been known to blow up.

I asked my friend this question in an email.

However, her response superseded the punch line ~

ru kidding me ?how could they run with those long clothes

it would trip them up..

Just now back in Meydan hotel with Kenenisa, I read some unbelievable post of idiots lacking every respect for the greatest long runner all time.

Also if Dubai is a very rich marathon, the orgsnisation is very poor. We could appreciate this situation in the hotel, for example when the top athletes are in the bus they were not called one by one by name like in every Major (and not only...), but there was a girl going inside the bus asking "everybody here ?".

The problem at the start was bad : the starter used the gun 3 times in a row, athletes in first line after two stepd tried to stop hearing the second and third gun, and the athletes behind them continued running, pushing them in their backs. Somebody, not only Kenenisa, fell down, and the situation didn't become better later, since the first 5-6 km were in the darkness.

For example, Abera Kuma fell down soon after the refreshment of 5 km, continued till about 8 km and later had to stop because strong pain behind the knee, and in his calf.

Kenenisa had an impact with one knee and one elbow, the elbow started to lose some blood, but this was not a factor. Instead, the knee became swollen continuing running, and soon after HM he had to stop.

Which one was the big mistake of the organisers ? When we have a lot of runners, normally the top athletes are in front (in this case they were no more than 30, consideruing men and women), and all the big mass is positioned about 30m behind them, using a specific rop. In this case, never the "amateurs" can provoke some problem at the start.

It's a big sin that, after preparing long time for a fast marathon, Kenenisa (but also Abera and some other good runner) couldn't have the opportunity to show their shape.

This is part of a bad organisation. Instead, the stupid "irony" of posters speaking of the lack of "juice", or of the money received for starting, or of the special drinks of Yannis, is part of a lack of respect, knowledge of what happened, and of bad and wrong mentality.

What happened to Kenenisa must not cancel the fact that Tamira Tola and Degefa had wonderful races. Personally, if already yesterday I considered Tola the main competitor for Kenenisa, due his real talent and the very good training of Gemedu, I was impressed by the first marathon of Degefa (the winner among women), who has a wonderful technique, a body which seems built for running marathon, and a strong mind. I think in the next years this athlete can become one of the best (if not the best) also in the Major and in Championships, with good chances to run well under 2:19 (why not near 2:17 ?).

Thank you coach, your insight is very much appreciated.

the start was poorly (indeed several gunshots and then a horn) but from a former track athlete (Bekele) you may expect he is watching what is happening around him. He was just standing like a statue at the line while others are watching the starter and waiting to push the startbutton of their watches

Renato Canova, we always love to hear your insider information. Please keep it coming.

Thanks for all the advice/insider information it's helped my running allot, plus ignore all the haters they've got nothing better to do

Hard fall didn't help; down in the first few steps. Not sure if this was the reason why KB didn't perform but it sure didn't help I'm sure ....

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/tamirat-tola-wins-kenenisa-bekele-dnf-dubai-marathon-56097

News flash : Mo Farah is the greatest long distance runner ever

Looking forward to seeing Bekele race in London

GOAT2BE wrote:

Count Down none wrote:

Hermens said there was no count down warning. Just the air horn suddenly blasting. That was true. Not the best way to send a large group of runners off.

No countdown ? How is this even possible in a major race, let alone a WMM ? Whoever's in charge of that race needs to resign or be fired on the spot !

It ISN'T a WMM.

Sorry to hear that Bekele fell, but unfortunately people will not remember the excuses.

He could've fell on purpose?!

buzzbinator wrote:

Insufferable insolence constantly on these boards. Coverage was incredible and such an amazing thing to watch a race live from Dubai with a camera on Bekele after dropping out. Many other cameras on the course and overall a thoroughly professional broadcast. Jos Hermens interview at the end was informative as can be and yes the camera did indeed miss the fall at the beginning. Sure the announcers weren't as knowledgable as one would hope but still professional and honestly most of the comments on these boards are just intolerable. My second post ever.

Well said. Most of us had never seen Dubai and the aerial shots of the city and crowd were superb. It was also nice to see kilometer splits, although having an on-going running time (men vs. women) would have been useful. Too bad the fiasco at the start messed up would might have been a WR or near-WR performance.

observer 227 wrote:

Do you?

There are probably still many Ras Tafari supporters of Selassie in Ethiopia. However, I've never seen a picture of one from Ethiopia who was male and had dreads. Only seen rastafarians from Jamaica, USA, and UK with dreads.

Yes.

So? Maybe you need to look at more pictures.

Bob Selassie wrote:

observer 227 wrote:

Do you?

There are probably still many Ras Tafari supporters of Selassie in Ethiopia. However, I've never seen a picture of one from Ethiopia who was male and had dreads. Only seen rastafarians from Jamaica, USA, and UK with dreads.

Yes.

So? Maybe you need to look at more pictures.

Ethiopia has thousands of Rastafarians(complete with dreadlocks) if not hundreds of thousands but it is very rare to find an elite runner who is one or who spots dreadlocks. Kenya too has a good population of Rastafarians and if I am not mistaken, Duncan Kibet(2:04:27 marathoner) is the only known elite athlete associated with the group. They even call him Jamaica.

I don't normally quote entire posts but this one was very helpful, thanks for the insight and SHAME on the organizers, some heads need to roll !