One thing to keep in mind here is the fact that this is London, and I don't mention that in reference to the fast course, per se, but the fieldmthat comes to run it. All these guys could run Boston for the payday and the notoriety, or they could all cash in soemwhere else, but they all come to London for one thing: a record.
You aren't going to see a slower, tactical race like you might see where everyone is going for the win as a priority. Here, it's a time trial and with a fieldmlike this year's, it's basically got 10 built-in rabbits; the organizers don't even need to bring in pacers. Everyone's going to be watching for what Wanjiru does, including Tola, and do you think he's going to go out anything but fast? The dude has a certain arrogance to him, not stupid or even foolish, but he simply will not run any part of this race easy or especially "tactical," which, in turn, means you will have everyone staying with him, which, in turn, means the fastest field in a while all going at it full strength. To dismiss the possibility of a WR here would be foolish. I know that it takes a whole lotmof things to go right for it to happen, but a lot of those pieces are in place before the gun even goes off. I'll only be surprised in the sense that running under 2:04, while ultimately an inevitability, has only been done once and, um, it seems like a pretty hard thing to do.