Wanjiru vs Kipchoge`

Is this even a question?

Honestly,even though it is sad that it cannot ever happen, I would have to go with Wanjiru with hills and Kipchoge on flat.Why?No doubt Kipchoge is the best runner I have seen at several different distances.The form he runs with is extremely efficient.However, the late Wanjiru (I am thinking and hoping that you mean 'if they had the opportunity to face each other') had a specialty that made him unstoppable..Hills.Sammy used to do some of the smaller marathons like San Diego, which had several difficult hilly parts.He blew by the competition.Kipchoge is a great runner on flat street.Therefore, head to head, Wanjiru would have won on a hilly course, and Eliud on a flatter one.

oregon ped wrote:

Who do you think would win if they faced each other?

djcdjfjd wrote:

Is this even a question?

I haven't seen Wanjiru losing (except for the 10000m when he was 18 to Bekele).

Wanjiru's olympic gold is probably the best marathon performance in history. He really drove the race from the start and the weather was incredibly hot. He broke the OR by almost 3 minutes

Oregon ped wrote:

djcdjfjd wrote:

Is this even a question?

I haven't seen Wanjiru losing (except for the 10000m when he was 18 to Bekele).

Kipchoge beat Bekele when he was 18.

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

I agree, his performance in Beijing was perhaps the greatest marathon of all time considering the weather conditions and the air quality.

When Kipchoge was "18" he was really about 23

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

Agree on Beijing 2008 as best marathon, but otherwise think Kipchoge would win.

Fact is Wanjiru led a lifestyle that was not conducive to getting the most out of himself. The record back then was 2:03:59 and he tried a couple of times with really fast starts to get it, and managed 2:05:10(?) after paying the price late in the race (including Beijing). He was definitely as mentally tough as Kipchoge though.

oh please wrote:

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

Agree on Beijing 2008 as best marathon, but otherwise think Kipchoge would win.

Fact is Wanjiru led a lifestyle that was not conducive to getting the most out of himself. The record back then was 2:03:59 and he tried a couple of times with really fast starts to get it, and managed 2:05:10(?) after paying the price late in the race (including Beijing). He was definitely as mentally tough as Kipchoge though.

He didn't get the record, but he never lost a major marathon....

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

If Wanjiru's Beijing was worth 2:02:56, then Jaouad Gharib's race was worth 2:03:40. Are we really going to keep going there?...

Plus, the OP may have been talking about Daniel Wanjiru, not Sammy. Should have been Wanjiru vs Wanjiru: now that would be a battle!

once again... wrote:

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

If Wanjiru's Beijing was worth 2:02:56, then Jaouad Gharib's race was worth 2:03:40. Are we really going to keep going there?...

Plus, the OP may have been talking about Daniel Wanjiru, not Sammy. Should have been Wanjiru vs Wanjiru: now that would be a battle!

I meant Sammy Wanjiru. Times are not everything..

Oregon ped wrote:

once again... wrote:

If Wanjiru's Beijing was worth 2:02:56, then Jaouad Gharib's race was worth 2:03:40. Are we really going to keep going there?...

Plus, the OP may have been talking about Daniel Wanjiru, not Sammy. Should have been Wanjiru vs Wanjiru: now that would be a battle!

I meant Sammy Wanjiru. Times are not everything..

Of course they're not. Which is why winning the Olympic marathon by 70 seconds in a somewhat tactical race is way more impressive than winning by 44 seconds in a positive-split race in tough conditions (where the gaps tend to be bigger.

Sammy Wanjiru was an amazing runner, perhaps on par with Stanley Biwott or Abel Kirui, who are also fantastic runners.

itai1974 wrote:

oh please wrote:

Agree on Beijing 2008 as best marathon, but otherwise think Kipchoge would win.

Fact is Wanjiru led a lifestyle that was not conducive to getting the most out of himself. The record back then was 2:03:59 and he tried a couple of times with really fast starts to get it, and managed 2:05:10(?) after paying the price late in the race (including Beijing). He was definitely as mentally tough as Kipchoge though.

He didn't get the record, but he never lost a major marathon....

This is incorrect.

1. 2008 London Marathon, 2nd to Lel in 2:05:24

2. 2010 London Marathon, DNF around half way.

oh please wrote:

itai1974 wrote:

He didn't get the record, but he never lost a major marathon....

This is incorrect.

1. 2008 London Marathon, 2nd to Lel in 2:05:24

2. 2010 London Marathon, DNF around half way.

Please don't let facts get in the way. Don't you know where you're at? This is absolute ground zero for people talking out of their @$$, and expecting it to be taken without question as fact.

Kipchoge 100%. Wanjiru's ability will be exaggerated as time goes on like Prefontaine.

Wanjiru was a 2:05 marathoner before people were even speaking about a 2:05 on a regular basis.

He died before he was 25.

There is absolutely no way to exaggerate Wanjiru's ability much like there really is no way to exaggerate Prefontaine's.

100 years from now, Wanjiru's 2:05 in the marathon and Prefontaines low 13s in 5K will still be the stuff of great legends, especially since the fastest actual marathon record in a full event is less than 3 minutes from Wanjiru's best and the fastest track 5K is only about 30 seconds faster than Prefontaine's best.

I stick with my original point:

Kipchoge wins on flats

Wanjiru on hills.

itai1974 wrote:

Wanjiru lost to bekele when bekele broke the WR. wanjiru ran that day 26:43 (18 years old).

Beijing Olympic marathon was THE best performance of all time.

In a non-pace making race I would be on Wanjiru and otherwise tough call

It was actually 26:41, which is 8 seconds faster than Kipchoge ever ran. Plus his half marathon PR is ridiculously good (58:33). Tough hypothetical, plus the fact that Wanjiru did all of this before turning 25 while Kipchoge has had a vey long career. Although Kipchoge has 3:33/7:27/12:46 speed.

It's been years since I've watched that Wanjiru Olympic win. What a fantastic race. I recently re-watched the last few miles of Chicago where he took down Kebede and that's freakin great as well.

Wanjiru was amazing (and he is surely above biwott)