Ben True 1 second behind Bekele

Ken Martin ran pretty fast at NYC. True would have been further back than one second.

WinnytheBish wrote:

Bekele is the real winner with the appearance fee he likely got.

This, obviously. No-one seems to realize Bekele is permanently on the downslope. Smartly he strings along the dumb media and public by claiming he can get back up there if (list excuse here). He is correctly just cashing in. As for True, this run shows he won't be. marathon phenom. He should learn from Bekele and grab that cash where he can.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

cramister wrote:

Therefore Ben True can run 2:06 at Berlin

Okay probably not but this is a promising first Marathon result

I know he's "too old" to have made a successful jump but I think this was a very good debut.

A lot of elite track runners have done well in their debuts. True is at the top of his game and if he has world class aspirations, it was a disappointing performance.

In 1983 Rudy Chapa ran his debut marathon---and only marathon that I'm aware of--- in 2:11:13 for 7th place. The weather was a very light rain and I believe around 50 degrees.

SanDiegorunner wrote:

Ben True is just getting started… he’s gonna be rolling low 2:10s… possibly sub 2:10 who knows! On the right course and say anything is possible. Bekele is done IMO. Hate to see it.

im sorry, but this is the MF problem with american running. what exactly does a 2:10 thon get you these days?

Out-of-Wedlock-Danny wrote:

SanDiegorunner wrote:

Ben True is just getting started… he’s gonna be rolling low 2:10s… possibly sub 2:10 who knows! On the right course and say anything is possible. Bekele is done IMO. Hate to see it.

im sorry, but this is the MF problem with american running. what exactly does a 2:10 thon get you these days?

Oh I don’t know… pretty high up there on the all time list of clean performances?

what would salazar have run on a course like Berlin.

40 years ago?!!

high school xc coach wrote:

what would salazar have run on a course like Berlin.

40 years ago?!!

He might have gone out too hard and hit the wall.

4th again wrote:

Am I right that if True had beaten Bekele, then he would have been 3rd in for the Worlds team? The top two were locked in, but if True were 6th in 2:12:52 instead of 7th he would be third I think. The guy can't catch a break as far as making teams. Granted, I don't know if he would even want to run worlds or get an appearance fee at a fall marathon so maybe it's whatever to him.

Rupp - 8th Olympics

Kibet - 4th NYC

Mickow - 6th Chicago in 2:13:31

Bennie - 7th Boston in 2:11:26

True - 7th NYC in 2:12:52

He is not 4th again. He is 5th behind Bennie.

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

4th again wrote:

Am I right that if True had beaten Bekele, then he would have been 3rd in for the Worlds team? The top two were locked in, but if True were 6th in 2:12:52 instead of 7th he would be third I think. The guy can't catch a break as far as making teams. Granted, I don't know if he would even want to run worlds or get an appearance fee at a fall marathon so maybe it's whatever to him.

Rupp - 8th Olympics

Kibet - 4th NYC

Mickow - 6th Chicago in 2:13:31

Bennie - 7th Boston in 2:11:26

True - 7th NYC in 2:12:52

He is not 4th again. He is 5th behind Bennie.

Our third runner in big championship marathons is always an embarrassment. Abdi ran 2:18 for 41st in Tokyo. Meb 2:16 for 33rd in Rio. Abdi and Ryan DNF in London. Didn't even bother searching Worlds because it's worse.

Adri wrote:

It's time for Bekele to retire in my opinion. With a good preparation, he can still do a great last race to finish with the honors.

Oh, the SHAME! The EMBARRASSMENT! Not setting a course or world record! Not finishing first, only 6th! He just...plain...sucks as an old, worn-out 39-year-old. Yeah, he should retire, because he can't run a 2:01 in 2021! And because Adri has decided that a running great who isn't 25 any longer should retire and deny himself the multitude of benefits running has brought him.

Nope, I don't really think Bekele should retire! More power to him. Let him run on, even if he's not who he once was. I'll celebrate his greatness, knowing that every great one ages. And maybe he'll wow me again in his next race, even as an old man of 39, or beyond.

Please understand that running 2:10 or under it but close (2:09) is no longer even remotely impressive in international world class elite standards. That's a mile and a half behind the best in the world.

Bekele wasn't trying to run a fast time. When interviewed before he didn't say he was going for any records. He just wanted to be in a racing environment and use hills as training and probably ran the race as a training run for 2022. I don't think he cares about beating others in this race since we will never see the winners doing anything significent again in there careers. The only noteworthy person competing against Bekele was Kandie who literally lost his Kane in this race. Once Bekele saw Kandie drop off, who cares about winning in 2:08. He already beat Kandie anyway. I'm just laughing at all those who said he would DNF. It has been a hard year with covid and he has businesses and family to protect from a civil war erupting around him. He did well considering. 2022 will be a good year and he should get the WR, now we know he is healthy and running.

Maybe? True didn't past Bekele out of respect??? I wouldn't be surprised if that was his motive? 6th or 7th place is not the same as a top 3 medalist. (Some may say the money?) just saying

I love Ben True and hope this is just the start of a great marathoning career.

But I also wish he would have jumped into marathons like eight years ago. It's so odd that we have developed such depth on the track in the past 15 years or so while simultaneously really sucking at the marathon.

Maybe it's time for Grant Fisher to move up to the marathon! And don't do NYC, where you're likely to run a time that turns no heads. Do Chicago, or CIM, or London, or Berlin. Run some fast times. It's crazy how most of the top Americans are, like, 9 minutes behind a whole slew of Kenyans, Ethiopians, Japanese, etc.

I honestly don't know why all these 5,000 and 10,000 specialists in the U.S. stay on the track for so many years without moving up to an event that has a lot more money and prestige while also being an even that we, aside from Rupp, totally suck at right now.

Banana Bread wrote:

Bekele wasn't trying to run a fast time. ….. 2022 will be a good year and he should get the WR, now we know he is healthy and running.

This is why many of us are annoyed with LetsRun fanboys of Bekele .

No, it's not time for Fisher to move up to the marathon. Does the event really have more money and prestige? With all the Kenyans, he would be looking at top 5 finishes in the U.S. marathon and the world majors are too fast. If he wanted to, there's no difference in training so he could run 1-2 per year without leaving the track.

AP5000 wrote:

Please understand that running 2:10 or under it but close (2:09) is no longer even remotely impressive in international world class elite standards. That's a mile and a half behind the best in the world.

Unless you run 2:09:54 and 2:10:05 in the 2016 Rio Olympic marathon. Then you’re within a minute and a half of the very best marathoner best ever.

Supralapsarian wrote:

[quote]Banana Bread wrote:

Bekele wasn't trying to run a fast time. ….. 2022 will be a good year and he should get the WR, now we know he is healthy and running.

Oh Lord, so now we also have to suffer through 2022 with more of this Bekele WR bs??????? Please, say it isn't so!

We seem to have moved back to the era where you were either a track runner or a marathon runner but not both simultaneously. We got away from that in the '70's and early 80's and guys like Shorter, Moore, Bacheler, Virgin, Young, i.e., our best track guys, raced on the track and in marathons. Now our marathoners are either guys who never quite got to the top on the track or are seemingly past their primes on the track. Yeah, I think our marathoning performance would be much better if guys like True moved to the event at 25 rather than 35. In Japan the best runners run the marathon as soon as they can.

But I don't know that there would be a lot more money and prestige in the marathon for a western runner than there is on the track or in shorter road races.. Honestly, the prize money is pathetically small even for the podium folks at major marathons, it is even more pathetic below that, and isn't nearly deep enough. If you're from a country where the average annual salary is under $3,000 even tenth place money puts you in good shape for a while. But if you manage to get tenth place money at Boston, for example, you could have won less than three months' rent, come one place lower and you come up empty, and you probably won't be able to go to road races and pick up a few hundred dollars for several weeks while you recover.