Did Geb explain why he was so useless at London 2014?

I just read the awful commentary by the letsrun office idiots.

The first 5k wasn't too fast, it drops 40m not 30 as they claim and that is worth about 13 seconds. They claim (according to JK's wrong formulae) that a 30m drop is worth 6 seconds, when it is actuall worth 10. Go out and try it sometime guys.

Also, the mile markers in London are not accurate, so the first mile split of 4.36 is not reliable.

HardLoper wrote:

As usual on LetsRun several in this thread did not watch the race but feel totally qualified to offer their opinion anyways.

So, let me get this straight:

-30k at WR pace was promised in all lead up news. (Was that story wrong?)

-the first 5k was 2:01-ish pace.

-by 10k it had slowed to 2:04-ish pace.

-Geb was gone shortly after 15k.

Did I miss anything?

If they really want a particular pace, the could do away with pretense and simply use a GPS radio controlled vehicle with the image of the runner of their choice. Better yet, do away with pacing and let them race!

Yes you missed two things.

Certainly Not Skuj wrote:

HardLoper wrote:

As usual on LetsRun several in this thread did not watch the race but feel totally qualified to offer their opinion anyways.

So, let me get this straight:

-30k at WR pace was promised in all lead up news. (Was that story wrong?)

-the first 5k was 2:01-ish pace.

-by 10k it had slowed to 2:04-ish pace.

-Geb was gone shortly after 15k.

Did I miss anything?

And those two things are.....

And Hails wins the Jimmy Robinson worst pacer of the year award

- ~14:30/5k pace was promised

- 14:23 first 5k into a tailwind, perfect if not slightly conservative when downhill was taken into account

- turnaround at mile 3.5 into a headwind

- 29:10 10k split, 2:03 low pace

- At this point, the author of the article this topic is based on writes, "Mo is winning this thing!!!" in the thread

- Headwind continues til 9, and again from 10-12.5

- Kipsang goes onto break course record despite overall net headwind

troof be told wrote:

Very curious to see what Geb can do against Lel and Kawauchi in Hamburg in 3 weeks now, assuming Lel starts.

Lel has already withdrawn from Hamburg two weeks ago.

17 seconds under WR pace over 3.1 miles is about 5 seconds off per mile. Is your pacing sense at the beginning of a marathon, with a downhill start, to within 5 seconds? 14:21 was certainly recoverable for anyone with real designs on 14:38 pace.

Whatever in the end the course record was run so it couldn't have been that bad. Who are the racers saying Geb killed them in the first 5K and it was all his fault? He should have lasted longer though if there is a gripe.

Haile had assured everyone that kebede would win, the plan was to go crazy fast like last year and kill the Kenyans leaving kebede to grind it out at end. This plan did not work, Haile was left with a bitter broken soul that his men did not win.

The job description of a pacer is to run a given pace for a given amount of time. The rest of the field wants to actually turn this into a race and surge and go faster and not just draft behind a human metronome? F*ck em, a good pacer hangs back and does their job. Looks ridiculous but when the field blows up it sure as hell wasn't the pacers fault.

Geb is a great racer, I can completely understand why he would be a sh*tty pacer. This also helps to illustrate how f*cking stupid pacers are in marathons.

Sounds like what I was saying....sounds like a disaster in the making.

My immediate thought is, three or four of those runners know a ruse in pace when they see one. Haile may or may not have been running with tailwinds and downhills etc, but he was gapping the others and quit at 15k.

Quacks like a duck.

Even a 2:30 marathoner know when he is going too fast. Heck even a 3:00 marathoner knows when he/she is going too fast. I think these guys are intimate with their detail. We are talking the cream of the crop, best of the best in history. Doesn't get any better.

Ruse.

Certainly Not Skuj wrote:

And those two things are.....

Hmmm...

So, in retrospect, Geb did a great job then. Thanks all. End thread.

I would lay out 100 meter marks for the first mile just to make sure the pacers are not starting too fast. Then from 2K on make very to the pacers what their last 1K split was. It shouldn't be too hard. I know London has very strict standards as to whether or not pacers get their $$$ or not. The fact that the pacers were off by 45 seconds means they did not get paid for their work. They just got a free trip to London with meals thrown in.

It's not a very compelling ruse. The leaders were 17 seconds fast after 5K with a downhill (6-8 second advantage) and a tailwind.Don't give us your immediate thoughts, but think it through and then come back with something better.

Athleticsillustrated wrote:

Sounds like what I was saying....sounds like a disaster in the making.

My immediate thought is, three or four of those runners know a ruse in pace when they see one. Haile may or may not have been running with tailwinds and downhills etc, but he was gapping the others and quit at 15k.

Quacks like a duck.

Even a 2:30 marathoner know when he is going too fast. Heck even a 3:00 marathoner knows when he/she is going too fast. I think these guys are intimate with their detail. We are talking the cream of the crop, best of the best in history. Doesn't get any better.

Ruse.

You forgot the part where Geb bailed halfway thru the distance he was supposed to run.

Seems Geb's DNF record in the marathon is holding form even as a pacer.

In retrospect, I don't argue that Geb wasn't "useless". After all he only lasted about 15K rather than the expected 30K.I only express my personal doubt that the first 5K was suicidal (given the downhill and tailwind), and clearly EVERYONE slowed down between 5K-20K (with American pacemaker Cabada tweeting about a strong headwind between 3-12 miles).Blame Geb for not fulfilling his contract, but don't blame him for the bad times.

Certainly Not Skuj wrote:

Hmmm...

So, in retrospect, Geb did a great job then. Thanks all. End thread.