The Week That Was In Running - October 25 - October 31, 2010

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By LetsRun.com
November 3, 2010

Our weekly recap is very short this week as we try to get ready for the 2010 ING New York City Marathon. But below we give you some stats on the newest member of the 2:04 marathon club. We also present to you the big news stories of last week in case you missed them.

Last week the sub-2:05:00 marathon club inducted its eighth member in Wilson Kipsang (he also used the last name of Kiprotich). Kipsang ran 2:04:57 to get the win in Frankfurt - in his second career marathon.

Many people probably had no idea who Kipsang was, as his marathon debut was "only" a 2:07:13 in Paris in April. However, no one should really be totally surprised that Kipsang is now a 2:04 guy.

Kipsang was certainly no slouch heading into Frankfurt. He had a half marathon PR of 58:59 and was fourth at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships.

But the 58:59 is the telling statistic. In history, only six men have broken 59 minutes in the half. Three of those men have run 2:04 in the marathon.

Another one of the sub-59 men is the greatest marathoner on the planet in Sammy Wanjiru. So that's four total studs. A fifth is 2010 World Half Marathon bronze medallist Sammy Kitwara, who is just 23 and has never run a marathon. The only remaining member of the sub-59 club is the world half marathon world record holder in Zerseny Tadese. Tadese has only finished one marathon - his 2:12 in London this spring. So if you've broken 59 minutes in the half, the odds are highly stacked in your favor that you are going to be a complete marathon stud.

Below we present some stats on the eight members of the 2:04 club. Kipsang at age 28 evens the score in terms in age. Four men have ran sub-2:05 over the age of 30 and four have no done so under the age of 30.

1 2:03:59 WR Haile Gebrselassie ETH 18 Apr 73 164/53 1 Real Berlin 28 Sep 2008 - 35 years old/58:55 half marathon pb
2 2:04:27 NR Duncan Kibet KEN 25 Apr 78 173/62 1 Fortis Rotterdam 5 Apr 2009 - 30 years old/60:21 half marathon pb
3 2:04:27 NR James Kwambai KEN 28 Feb 83 162/52 2 Fortis Rotterdam 5 Apr 2009 - 26 years old/59:09 half marathon pb
4 2:04:48 Patrick Makau KEN 2 Mar 85 1 Fortis Rotterdam 11 Apr 2010 - 25 years old/58:52 half marathon pb
5 2:04:55 Paul Tergat KEN 17 Jun 69 183/61 1 Real Berlin 28 Sep 2003 - 34 years old/59:06 half marathon pb
6 2:04:55 Geoffrey Mutai KEN 7 Oct 81 2 Fortis Rotterdam 11 Apr 2010 - 28 years old/59:30 half marathon pb
7 2:04:56 Sammy Korir KEN 12 Dec 71 160/61 2 Real Berlin 28 Sep 2003 - 31 years old/60:15 half marathon pb
8 2:04:57 Wilson Kipsang (Kiprotich) KEN 15 March 82 182/58 1 Commerzbank Frankfurt 31 Oct 2010 - 28 years old/58:59 half marathon pb

To learn more about Kipsang, we highly recommend Pat Butcher's piece on him here: Meet The World's Newest 2:04 Guy In William Kipsang.

The piece reveals how Kipsang has gone from being a travelling salseman in 2003 to a 2:04 marathoner in 2010. It also reveals how Kipsang apparently is a student of the sport just like we are at LRC. He too was aware of the great success that the sub-59 half marathon men had enjoyed at the full marathon distance, as he said prior to Frankurt the following, which we present to you as our Quote Of The Week #1 (That Wan't Quote Of The Day):

"When I look at others who have similar half marathon times to me and have run much faster than I have so far in the marathon, I think, why not me for the world record?"

We like the confidence.

More: The Marathon Welcomes Another Guy To The 2:04 Club / Fast Times Across The Board (2:04:57/2:23:25) In ideal weather, Wilson Kipsang defeated Tadese Tola with a superb 2:04:57 (#8 all-time) and Caroline Kilel (2:23:25) took home the women's title over several notables in an event where the top 8 women and 8 of the top 9 men set PRs (two 2:09 debuts). For Kipsang, it was just his 2nd marathon after a 2:07:10 debut in Paris. *LRC MB: FRANKFURT MARATHON 2:04:57 !!!!!!!!!!! *Meet The World's Newest 2:04 Guy In William Kipsang


Stat Of The Week
Think the lottery for ING New York City marathon is popular? That lottery attracts roughly 40,000 people for 6,000 spots according to this post. Well, in Tokyo, their marathon had 335,000 applicants. Yes, 335,000.

Thus a foolproof way to make big bucks apparently is to start a marathon in Japan.
More: AIMS President And Tokyo Marathon President Hiraoki Chosa Gets IAAF Order Of Merit The big news is buried in the article and is that the Tokyo Marathon had 335,000 applicants for its lottery for the marathon. The Japanese are mad about the marathon.


Other Happenings Of Note

The big news off the track was Eddy Hellebuyck Comes Clean!!! The former American road star wanted to clear his conscience and has admitted he used EPO back in 2004. An absolute must read as he talks about a pervasive drug culture and has specific doping allegations against Leonid Shvetsov (which aren't a surprise to the knowledgeable LetsRun.com viewer). Thumbs up to author John Brant for a tremendous piece. And we give a big thumbs up to Eddy for coming clean. People are quick to point out Eddy may not have altruistic reasons for coming clean, but that encourages cheats to maintain the code of silence. Every cheat could clear their conscience by coming clean but for whatever reason very few do. Yes it would be better if Eddy announced as well he was paying back the prize money he stole from deserving athletes. All we know is every day Eddy woke up he faced the same question every drug cheat faces, "Do I keep lying?" or "Do I come clean and help the sport?". When someone chooses the latter path they deserve some praise. Although some of you disagree: "Wejo Rojo why do you give thumbs up to Eddy H after 6 years of denial?"

*LRC MBoard: Eddie Hellebuyck "'Yeah,' he says, 'I did it.'"


Recommended Reads

*Meet The World's Newest 2:04 Guy In William Kipsang After HS, he was a traveling salesman for three years. Then he was inspired by reading of Paul Tergat's exploits and picked up running in 2003 at age 21. Now he's run 2:04. Ridiculous.
*NY Times Profile On Geb Running NY And Ducking Other Competitors In The Past Quotes from Alberto, Wanjiru, Cheruiyot, Ritz and many more.
*Ritz Dreaming Of Olympic Medals And WMM Wins But Knows Talk Is Cheap Ritz knows that despite his success at the shorter distances, he is still a 2:10 guy in the 'thon.
*Simon Bairu Blogs About His, Shalane Flanagan's And Tim Nelson's Plan To Take On The World In Their First Marathons In New York Bairu says American 2-mile record holder Matt Tegenkamp is the leader of their training group and American 10,000-meter record holder Chris Solinsky is like "the younger brother who always felt as if he had to prove himself."
*Bryan Green: What Does Ryan Hall Want? Green is a guy who in the past has wondered why more athletes didn't change coaches but he's now concerned Hall is going solo.
*An Interesting Look At The US's Last Female Champ in New York Now 75 years old, Miki Gorman won way back in 1977 and admits she doesn't keep up with the sport much anymore.
*David Torrence Decries: PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW PROFESSIONAL TRACK EXISTS


Quotes Of The Day From Last Week

Monday: "It was really slow and comfortable at the beginning. Alex (Kosinski) and I were just talking most of the way. She was kind of looking around and finally said, 'It kind of smells like fish.' I nodded and said, 'Yeah.'"
- Jordan Hasay, describing the PAC-10 cross-country race where she earned the individual title but her #2 ranked Oregon Ducks only finished in a tie for 3rd.


Saturday/Sunday: "Yeah, I did it (EPO)."

"(My son) Jordan deserves the truth. and he needs to hear it from me. But how can I tell Jordan the truth while I keep up the denial in public? What am I teaching my son then?"
- former Olympic marathoner Eddy Hellebuyck, pulling an anti-Marion Jones, admitting in a Runner's World exclusive that he did indeed abuse EPO in 2004. A big Thumbs Up to him for telling the truth after the fact. Meanwhile, people like Marion Jones will continue to lie and sell books on Oprah.


Friday: "I have a lot of respect for him, but he never faces anyone. He doesn't like to face other strong athletes. When he does, he has trouble."

- Federico Rosa, Sammy Wanjiru's manager, on Haile Gebrselassie in the marathon. Geb will be running NYC next Sunday in a non time-trial type of race.


Thursday: "My times before probably meant that I should be a 2:09 guy if I could figure it out. But now my times tell me that if I can get it right I can run 2:05. The numbers don't lie. It is easy to say you can do it, but until I do I am still a 2:10 guy. I hope to change that soon.'
- 12:56 (5,000, 60:00 (half marathon) but only 2:10:00 marathon man Dathan Ritzenhein talking in an article where gives out some ambitious goals for the rest of his marathon career (Olympic medal, major win). Ritz also says he expects the NYC course record to fall in 2010.


Wednesday: "How many national championships did Mark Wetmore win at Seton Hall?"
- LetsRun.com's Rojo in a piece where he defends Ryan Hall's decision to switch coaches. Rojo takes on what it means to be a coach and gives his excuse reason as to why he has not yet built a top 10 team at Cornell.


Tuesday: "I had the opportunity to run against him on the track, and most of the times he has lapped me (in the 10,000)."

- Defending ING New York City Marathon Meb Keflezighi champion talking about marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie.


Last Week's Homepages
*Mon (Nov. 1) *Sun (Oct. 31) *Sat (Oct. 30) *Fri (Oct. 29) *Thu (Oct. 28) *Wed (Oct. 27) *Tue (Oct. 26)

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