FARAH TO FACE WORLD'S BEST AT 2014 LONDON MARATHON :elite field announced

The other guy! wrote:

Farah was in a trap here. Being British, the London Marathon was his only option for big $, just like Ryan Hall can only earn big $ by running Boston or NYC. He had to sign with London. Too bad for him that Virgin didn't water down the field.

Much smarter approach by Bekele, choosing a Marathon (Paris) that he can actually win.

I don't think champions become champions by avoiding competition, do you?

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/01/6-thoughts-2014-virgin-money-london-marathon-elite-mens-field/

agip wrote:

The other guy! wrote:

Much smarter approach by Bekele, choosing a Marathon (Paris) that he can actually win.

I don't think champions become champions by avoiding competition, do you?

I think they become champions by training/competing in a way that's best for themselves, KB does too, he's made a pretty good fist of it so far.

Hardloper wrote:

Webbinator wrote:

Has Mo shown anything to suggest he will be a world class marathon runner? He hasn't been spectacular in HMs, no really fast 10km efforts, no real long hard XC race success etc.

What do those things have to do with being a world class marathoner? None of the field have "really fast 10 km efforts, real long hard XC race success, etc..."

Hardloper, your reading comprehension is really bad. What grade are you in?

agip wrote:

I don't think champions become champions by avoiding competition, do you?

Becoming a champion and avoiding competition are irrelevant to each other. Farah is a case in point here. He has done both.

Hardloper wrote:

Usually it doesn't live up to the hype and half of the big names don't make it to the 13 mile mark.

Mutai, Mutai, Kebede, Farah, Kipsang, Kiprotich.

Even if 50% drop out, you still have one hell of a race.

trackcoach wrote:

Mo has not done anything to suggest he will win London.

See our analysis here:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/01/6-thoughts-2014-virgin-money-london-marathon-elite-mens-field/

We tend to agree with you. He's done nothing - nothing except basicaly be unbeatable the last 3 years and win 5 gold medals.

But he's not proven in all out races against the clock where you are under pressure from the get-go at even 10,000 let alone 42.2 k.

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

If Mo somehow does win, time to start putting him in the Bekele/Geb G.O.A.T. distance runner discussion.

We agree. If he wins this, then he's viewed totally differently. He's no longer dominant on the track in an era when the stars are on the road. He's a dominant distance runner period - with 3:28 1500 speed to boot.

But how does one range possibly go from 3:28 at 1500 to 42.2km at age 30+?

Here's a crazy question for you.

Guess how many of the 13 sub 2:06 marthoners from 2013 are in the London field???

Go ahead. Guess.

Just 2.

The field is stacked with names yet somehow that stat is true.

Good to see he is not dodging the competition on this one.

Here's betting the organizers will let Mo turn left when he comes off Tower Bridge. Sub 1:30 guaranteed!

I don't think Farah is in a trap here.

It's a great situation.

He isn't expected to win. No pressure.

But probably gets a nice appearance fee and some good experience.

Gebrselassie debuted with a 3rd place finish at London and he was the reigning Oly champ and world recorder holder at 10,000m et the time. And he went on to break the marathon WR a couple times. Geb was faster than Farah and the marathoners in 2002 were slower than today.

Farah can't be expected to debut better than Geb.

LetsRun.com wrote:

We tend to agree with you. He's done nothing - nothing except basicaly be unbeatable the last 3 years and win 5 gold medals.

Yeah against a bunch of nobodies. And why does everyone ignore the fact that not only did he not win gold at world indoors, he didn't even PLACE.

I have never understood why people get all excited by "loaded" marathon fields. It almost invariably never works out at the end, and who knows who will turn up and in what shape they will be.

Case in point: look at the excitement now over London, and lets talk again a few days before the event.

Nutella1 wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

Usually it doesn't live up to the hype and half of the big names don't make it to the 13 mile mark.

Mutai, Mutai, Kebede, Farah, Kipsang, Kiprotich.

Even if 50% drop out, you still have one hell of a race.

Right, but if half DNS, half blow up early, half have really bad races... (this has happened before), the race doesn't live up to the hype. The field has looked as good as this the last 3-4 years and only two sub-2:05 times have been run.

I will try not to be such a downer. It might be good.

So he's essentially given up on taking a crack at any track records, right?

Hardloper wrote:

Nutella1 wrote:

Mutai, Mutai, Kebede, Farah, Kipsang, Kiprotich.

Even if 50% drop out, you still have one hell of a race.

Right, but if half DNS, half blow up early, half have really bad races... (this has happened before), the race doesn't live up to the hype. ......

Actually that has never happened before. See if you can figure out why (someone was making fun of your reading comprehension, which I think was basically okay in that instance, but here your math skills deserve some scrutiny).

And to you and others saying: don't get excited by this field, what field SHOULD we get excited for??? A time trial with 1 or 2 good guys like Geb used to do? The olympics where many of the best runners don't get invited or bother with (less financial reward). This is as good as it gets. It might not be as good as it looks on paper, but it still it the best battle you will get between the biggest numbers of top marathoners. And yes, London often gets amazing fields. That doesn't make this year any less exciting, especially with the addition of Farah.

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

Actually that has never happened before. See if you can figure out why (someone was making fun of your reading comprehension, which I think was basically okay in that instance, but here your math skills deserve some scrutiny).

"Half of the remaining" is obviously what I meant. No math problem here.

Though you're right that my reading comprehension is not that good.

El Keniano wrote:

So he's essentially given up on taking a crack at any track records, right?

Given up? When was he ever pursuing any records?

It will be an interesting race indeed. Last year the effect of the incredible field was that they ran each other into the ground by starting too fast. The winner (Kebede) was one who stayed back when the attacks started, and then picked through the field when they crumbled. This year's race will likely again set off very fast. It would be a brave person who tried to hold back in order to finish stronger.

I can't wait to watch the race. ... But since I'll be running it, and some distance behind these guys, I'll have to wait for the replays, sadly.

Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:The olympics where many of the best runners don't get invited or bother with (less financial reward).

PS. Everyone bothers with the Olympics, the ones who get left out are the Kenyans and Ethiopians due to the 3-man limit. No contender has skipped out for financial reasons.