gabe jennings 219

so my 2:19 on a good day prediction on the other 'how fast will gabe run' thread is looking pretty smart this morning.

i dont recall the exact data but folks seem to forget that scarcely 100 people in history have run a sub 4 mile and a sub 2:20 marathon which puts Gabe's run into some perspective.

he is going to have a pretty good base to build on now for next summer if he can stay focused

maybe he should've butchered his hair... you know...get that "warrior spirit"...

staying power wrote:

i dont recall the exact data but folks seem to forget that scarcely 100 people in history have run a sub 4 mile and a sub 2:20 marathon which puts Gabe's run into some perspective.

It's a pretty good debut time. Be nice to see him try again and really take it down. I, for one, am rooting for this 'odd bird'.

While that is completely true, you are leaving out the fact that in no other event is finishing the race an issue. Surviving a debut marathon with a decent, not spectacular, time in a debut by a runner that has not raced significantly over 1500m is a good sign for Jennings potential comeback.

A 2:19 is not an equivilant performace with a 4:10 1500m even if it is relatively the same time in comparison to women's world records.

Gabe seems to be a real nice, albeit "quirky" guy. Saw him being interviewed on local television after the race. He said he wants to concentrate on one marathon a year. Personally, I would like to see him run Boston in April.

If someone has it, please post a link to the post race interview.

Jennings is by far the best US comedian since Rodney Dangerfield.

SACTown wrote:

He said he wants to concentrate on one marathon a year.

Alright, I'm confused. Is Gabe looking to be a marathoner or is he just getting strong for the track?

If he's a marathoner, then I take back earlier statements and say 2:19 is not promising, even for a debut. But if he's looking to get strong for the 1500m or any track distance, then I say it's a great indicator of a successful base period. Only problem is most marathons require immediate downtime following, negating some of the strength gained.

in reality wrote:

For the life of me, I can't figure out why all of the best American runners right now think they are accomplishing anything on the track. If I had 13:20 something 5k speed, I would be all over the marathon. I would think the money is better on the roads for these guys anyway.

Perhaps they enjoy running track? I'm pretty sure they're allowed to lead their own lives. I wish I was fast, since racing 1500's is a lot of fun to race.

"While that is completely true, you are leaving out the fact that in no other event is finishing the race an issue. Surviving a debut marathon with a decent, not spectacular, time in a debut by a runner that has not raced significantly over 1500m is a good sign for Jennings potential comeback.

A 2:19 is not an equivilant performace with a 4:10 1500m even if it is relatively the same time in comparison to women's world records."

You are right, of course. His 2:19 in a debut marathon, especially since he ran alone and on 2:15 pace for quite a while) is better than a 4:00 1500, but there is a lot of room between a 4:00 1500 and, say a 3:42 1500 which would still leave him in competitive never-never land compared to his NCAA/US titles and Olympic team at a young age. For Gabe, unfortunately and fortunately the standards are pretty high due to his past success (which is the key difference between Dederian's story on Bill and implications for Gabe).

in reality wrote:

Well, if he is smart, he realizes the marathon is the only event where he can actually have a small chance at winning an olympic medal. He is talented, but he is NEVER doing to be an international caliber track runner. The marathon is where it should be at for 99% of American runners right now, they just don't see it. For the life of me, I can't figure out why all of the best American runners right now think they are accomplishing anything on the track. If I had 13:20 something 5k speed, I would be all over the marathon. I would think the money is better on the roads for these guys anyway.

Please - get a clue. The marathon is not for everyone. Just because you can run a 13:20 doesn't mean you will be a good marathoner. There are physical and mental aspects of racing for 26.2 miles that most people don't have, even when they are national class at the 5k distance. Bob Kennedy has been sub 13 for 5k and dropped out of his only marathon attempt. The marathon is a tough gruelling race, especially at the world class level. You don't just decide to move up and wait for all the money to come rolling in. Your comments above show an amazing lack of respect for the race.

This is sad, we are talking here about a guy who had run 1:46-3:35-7:58 at the age of 21.Now people get crazy cause he ran a 2:19 Marathon...oh what happend to that talent...

I watched the painfully bad local TV coverage too. They seemed more interested in interviewing relay runners than covering the race...between that and the 10 minute commercial breaks to promote the station it was pretty bad.

If the commentators were correct (which is very probable) Gabe went out at about 2:14 pace and held that at least thru mile 18. When the camera eventually cut back to him around mile 24 it was clear he was laboring pretty badly...but the announcers kept telling uh how well he was running and that he was leading by "miles"....oops where did that Russian dudde come from? Gabe looked a bit shocked too when the guy blew by him.

The women's coverage was woeful too. We first saw the women's leader at mile 24 and she too looked awful...and according to the commentators she too was leading by "miles" and looked great....oops where did that Russian girl come from?

Looked to me like Gabe went out to run a very fast time and it didn't happen for him. No shame in that.

The overall times seemed to be pretty slow which is strange because the conditions were as close to perfect as you could find.

Channel 3 made a good attempt. I think they had every person on their staff out there. Unfortunately they don't have ANYONE that knows how to cover a running event, no one that knew ANYTHING about a Marathon, I don't think they even know how to cover any type of sporting event. They would always cut away to some other point in the race when big things were happening up front. I watched the coverage last night and I was rolling when Diedra declared it impossible for anyone to pass the women's leader and then they panned out and the eventual winner was 25 yards back.

Personally I didn't find the conditions perfect as everyone is talking about. I froze my butt off. I wore my hat and gloves the entire race. There was a slight head wind at some points but it wasn't a big deal. It was in the low 30s at the start, reminded me of 1998.

they looked perfect on TV ;-)

I swear, a bunch of frigin' track know-at-alls posting on here! As if any of you have the right perspective on Gabe's run yesterday.

He ran very hard, he did the best he could. He was "bewildered" after the run, I imagine the same feeling many of you track runners would have after racing over four times the distance you can on the track. He made one comment I found interesting though - when I asked him how he liked the marathon, he replied "I'll tell you later (after he had recovered I assume)". Most debut marathoners reply "Never Again!" when they have crashed a bit at the end. My guess is that he will be back for more.

Some Facts (at least closer to the truth):

He did not run alone - he was accompanied by at least two others for a good portion of the race (he was in a small group for as long as I could see him in the first few miles). I was reminded because the spectators kept screaming at Miguel Nuci and I that we were in 4th & 5th through 14 miles. Then they were screaming at Dave Jackson and I that we were 4th & 5th through 22 miles.

He went through the half in 1:07-high (Fedotov went through in 1:08-low)?

He got beat in the last 2 miles by a very accomplished marathoner. Fedotov has a PR of 2:11, and I would guess he is a 2:14-2:16 marathon regularly now.

For some reason, the results yesterday did not reflect the good conditions. It was very cold (low 30s), but clear and not too windy. There were a few Kenyans that the press release suggested were more inexperienced, thus they may have been discouraged by the marathon pace and cold weather (we passed a couple of elites early and one later). The 2003 winner and 2:12 marathoner, Bartoszak from Poland, had some difficulty with loosening up a tight/injured hamstring (due to the cold partly), and had to stay behind with us on 2:18 pace. He dropped back at 10 miles and struggled to finish, which I found admirable since he is so accomplished (of course it is a pt-pt course).

To the one poster who thinks 2:19 is equal to a 4 min 1500m time. Yeah right! It takes an incredible amount of training to run 2:19, while talented HSers run 4 min 1500s off of 20-40 miles/week. To another poster, 2:19 is not base work for a successful 1500m next track season (as if every olympic middle distance guy can jump in and run a fast marathon). Gabe seemed to take this race quite seriously, and reported that he had trained specifically with longer distance runners for the marathon. I suppose that is why he would also run two 10ks and a half in preparation. I would guess his 29:50/1:05:50 times were a good indicator he was building to a good debut marathon, which he ran yesterday.

Ask the following track/road racing stars if 2:19 was a good debut yesterday:

From Vegas's elite field:

Assefa Mezgebu, Ethiopia - 11th, 2:25:24

Berhanu Adane, Ethiopia - 17th, 2:33:04

Mohammed Awol, Ethiopia - 10th, 2:21:37

Jonathan Kiptoo, Kenya - DNF

I'll let you all "Google" these guys to see if they have a similar or more impressive resume on the track.

The marathon is DIFFERENT, there are so many more variables leading to success. 2:19 was a great run yesterday, and I am sure that Gabe will be happy with his $5,000!

Sac Bee said there would be 10 Kenyans on the race. I only saw 2 and I passed them both so they were really struggling. I was surprised them up front for a while in the coverage since I ended up passing them fairly early. They crashed quickly. Gabe had his coach Mehon out there passing him through the half, according to his post race interview. He looked like he was alone in the coverage, but in reality he wasn't.

Thanks for a well informed perspective.

He's a miler/3000 guy running a marathon.

Go Gabe.

Open Mind wrote:

I don't believe he has ever run sub 3:35. The young crop is better now than he ever was, we just had some incredibly low standards back in 2000. Same in the marathon same in the 5k and 10k. The times they are a changin

Correction - Alan Webb is better now than he ever was. None of the other "young crop" are.