Anyone has sn assumption why so many of the elites, men and women, fell as "casualties", with bad times, hitting walls etc... the weather was perfect.
Anyone has sn assumption why so many of the elites, men and women, fell as "casualties", with bad times, hitting walls etc... the weather was perfect.
The same thing happened in Boston. Several of the big names DNS or career worst times. Curious.
Was wondering the same too! How in the world Lelisa ended up running 2:14 and 2015 world and 2017 New York champion GHEBRESLASSIE runs 2:09 and 2016 Dubai winner in 2:04 ended up running 2:18? There has to be some factor that caused that considering all those athletes do not train in one group and some like Lelisa Feyisa and GHEBRESLASSIE have done quite well in London before.
Many of the elite men and women died at the suicide pace in the opening stages.
Yawn wrote:
Many of the elite men and women died at the suicide pace in the opening stages.
For the women, yes it is understandable. But the pace for men wasn't anywhere close to suicide. Except for the 14:11 first 5K, the pace dropped to high 2:03 for most of the first 30K which they have done it in London almost every year. If that was the case(suicide pace) Abel Kirui and debutant Bedan Karoki would have been the first to be dropped. But they were the aggressors. There has to be another factor.
'Except for the 14:11 first 5K, the pace dropped to high 2:03 for most of the first 30K '
Seems like you are making a case against yourself. Especially with the 14.11 first 5k!
All the club runners I was following ran badly and there seem to be comments about it being 'warm' towards the end. Looking at the weather almanac by 1pm (ie finishing time for a 3h runner) it was about 13 in the shade and cloudy. So... not scorching but not perfect either? It would be interesting to see a historical table of VLM weather conditions. Remember we don't live in Texas we are temperate zone folks ;-)
Three athletes I coach were running London last weekend, 2 faired OK and one REALLY struggled with the heat.
Last week the UK was warmer than normal, nothing crazy just a little warmer. Those who know London well will know that the city tends to trap the heat and I suspect that despite the starting temp being perfect once they got through docklands it would feel around 5 degrees warmer. When you add to that the fact there was nothing in the way of the breeze then the pollution would also come into play too...
The one that really struggled was running on track 'til around 35K...just 3K later he was stationary at the side of the road receiving medical treatment and fluids. Even the two that faired OK slowed more than expected in the last 10K.
ItsWarm wrote:
Three athletes I coach were running London last weekend, 2 faired OK and one REALLY struggled with the heat.
Last week the UK was warmer than normal, nothing crazy just a little warmer. Those who know London well will know that the city tends to trap the heat and I suspect that despite the starting temp being perfect once they got through docklands it would feel around 5 degrees warmer. When you add to that the fact there was nothing in the way of the breeze then the pollution would also come into play too...
The one that really struggled was running on track 'til around 35K...just 3K later he was stationary at the side of the road receiving medical treatment and fluids. Even the two that faired OK slowed more than expected in the last 10K.
But doesn't this argument falls when you still have guys that do well like T Dibaba and Keitaney, or Wanjiro and Bekele?
Did you see T Dibaba actually stop during the last 8K? To me it's clear that the local 'micro climate' in London must of played some part as there were so many elite runners and top end club runners who were struggling on the day. That said, there were a few exceptions to this, most notably the club runner who beat all the GB elite runners to finish first Brit home.
Isn't Berlin marathon climate in sep always warmer than this? How hot was it? Barley 15-16 celsius
I know two guys who got great PBs one 2:17 one 2:23 and of course Mary did well. What happened to Stephen Kibet?
I think it may of been more related to the trapped heat and pollution. When there is little or no breeze (like Sunday) the heat and pollution can make for very uncomfortable running.
Sure I've seen runners perform better in hotter conditions however, seeing so many struggle one has to assume that something affected them on the day and the only logical explanation is the micro climate and city pollution.
Food poisoning in pasta night??
The first 5k was lunacy for both fields. I know the opening 5km is fast at London but it was pretty off the charts. 14:11 is sub 2 hour pace. That is madness and the women were even worse. Most had shot their load after 15 minutes.
Kips wrote:
Yawn wrote:Many of the elite men and women died at the suicide pace in the opening stages.
For the women, yes it is understandable. But the pace for men wasn't anywhere close to suicide. Except for the 14:11 first 5K, the pace dropped to high 2:03 for most of the first 30K which they have done it in London almost every year. If that was the case(suicide pace) Abel Kirui and debutant Bedan Karoki would have been the first to be dropped. But they were the aggressors. There has to be another factor.
Only very few people (Kipsang, Kipchoge, Biwott? and a on form Bekele can run 2:03. The others cannot and thus suffer from the very hot pace early on and suffer from it. With better pacing, I think the likes of Kirui, Geb, Karoki, etc can run 2:05.
QUEEN TIRU wrote:
Kips wrote:For the women, yes it is understandable. But the pace for men wasn't anywhere close to suicide. Except for the 14:11 first 5K, the pace dropped to high 2:03 for most of the first 30K which they have done it in London almost every year. If that was the case(suicide pace) Abel Kirui and debutant Bedan Karoki would have been the first to be dropped. But they were the aggressors. There has to be another factor.
Only very few people (Kipsang, Kipchoge, Biwott? and a on form Bekele can run 2:03. The others cannot and thus suffer from the very hot pace early on and suffer from it. With better pacing, I think the likes of Kirui, Geb, Karoki, etc can run 2:05.
The first 5K in London is always fast due to a down hill first mile. Check out the previous years' results of the first 5K and you will realize it has always been close to that 14:11. And talking of 2:03, I did not mean 2:03 overall finish time. Most top runners have been able to hold 2:03 high pace for the first 30K before slowing gradually to 2:04 - 2:06 finish times. For Bekele, Kipchoge, Kipsang, Kimetto, they have been running 2:01 - 2:02 pace for the first 30K and even longer. That is a big difference between the two groups. And I agree with proper pacing, Abel Kirui, Karoki and 2015 world champ Geb could run low 2:05 or even high 2:04.
The elites go with the lead pack no matter what the pace. How long they stay at the front depends on their fitness. I'd say the elite guys weren't all that fit this year.