Was Bekele impressive at the London Marathon?

Impressive in the sense that pride and talent got him third and a time close to his PR. But his body is failing him. It can't handle prolonged training without breaking down. With his injury cycle leading to fewer and fewer races, it doesn't seem like he can continue much longer. If he's not named to the Ethiopian marathon team he should really call it quits. He's the GOAT he has nothing to prove or be ashamed of.

doot doot wrote:

Metric Miler wrote:

He kept up with an insane pace for 30km, literally 2:00 pace. Then his lack of training showed and he blew up but still held on for 2:07 when other great marathoners in that race blew up much much worse.

It was a very impressive performance and shows he is probably capable of ~ 2:04 off a more sensible pace.

Absolutely insane composure to blow up and maintain what he did.

Like the guy above said, maybe he will get faster. Maybe not. It'll be fun to see. But the GOAT's performance on Sunday was very encouraging. Fantastic, entertaining RACING all around.

Hey doot doot.

I just found out today that Kenenisa Bekele got married to a beautiful actress, Danawit Gebregziabher in 2007 and they have 3 children. Look at this wedding photo and 2 others I found:

Oh my. I think Kenenisa Bekele is doing just fine.

Bob Kennedy

2:06:36 doesn't even crack the top 200 all-time marathon performances. It's #224. If Bekele ran a 27:13 (#224 all-time) 10000m, would anyone describe it as impressive? Especially if the winner ran 26:25 missing the WR by only 8 seconds?

color me unimpressed wrote:

2:06:36 doesn't even crack the top 200 all-time marathon performances. It's #224. If Bekele ran a 27:13 (#224 all-time) 10000m, would anyone describe it as impressive? Especially if the winner ran 26:25 missing the WR by only 8 seconds?

If KB had:

- Almost no training behind him the last year because of injury

- Went with world record pace in 7100m

- Got dropped, and fought back

- Didn't blow up like several other top runners

Just over a week before the race I started a post with the heading "can Bekele go top three in London?". The responses were overwhelmingly mocking of the very suggestion that this was possible. People posted one joke after another. I started even to question it myself and I am a long term fan of KB. The Vegas odds on a podium finish from KB (if they existed) would have been like 10:1 that he finishes at all and 50:1 that he lands on the podium. He did it! Despite all his bad luck over the past years. He is the greatest most competitive racer I have ever seen. Congratulations KB! I hope it was enough to make the olympic team selection. If he gets to the starting line Hoathly with a solid preparation, he will come home with the gold. You heard it here first!

KB is worshipped around here , its part of the reason so many hate on Mo Farah

i;m even surprised no one has mentioned Mo this far lol

tony the tiger wrote:

KB is worshipped around here , its part of the reason so many hate on Mo Farah

i;m even surprised no one has mentioned Mo this far lol

Why are you so bitter?

stop the bs wrote:

tl;dr

Kennster is ALWAYS impressive. He is the DEFINITION of impressive.

Now, go fvck yourself.

Yes.

rjm33 wrote:

Double gold in the 10k and marathon may still be possible for Bekele.

I am a huge Bekele fan but there is NO WAY he wins the 10k and marathon in Rio. His only shot is the marathon.

Still haven't seen anything that makes KB's London Marathon "impressive." Good? Yes. Solid? Yes. Showing potential towards a truly impressive marathon in the future? Yes. But this one "impressive"? No.

If anyone else ran 2:06:36, no one would notice. People hardly notice Biwott running 2:03:51, and he's the reigning NY champ and has a sub-59 half to his credit.

Sub-2:05 is the new norm in elite marathoning. It's already happened 50 times. Hitting the half in 61 or low 62 is the new norm.

A thread about KB and you have to start talking about Mo the victim?

You are the people complain about.

rjm33 wrote:

doot doot wrote:

Absolutely insane composure to blow up and maintain what he did.

Like the guy above said, maybe he will get faster. Maybe not. It'll be fun to see. But the GOAT's performance on Sunday was very encouraging. Fantastic, entertaining RACING all around.

Hey doot doot.

I just found out today that Kenenisa Bekele got married to a beautiful actress, Danawit Gebregziabher in 2007 and they have 3 children. Look at this wedding photo and 2 others I found:

http://ethiograph.com/album/albums/userpics/10133/Bekele_Brautpaar.jpghttp://www.ethiopiantube.com/uploads/thumbs/8e483ed37-1.jpghttp://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000mFLaOVgxhRQ/s/650/650/Kenenisa-Bekele-Danawit-Gebregziabher-his-wife.jpg

Oh my. I think Kenenisa Bekele is doing just fine.

Not doing it for me :/

He's way too good for her.

Bekele's wife is still hotter than Mo's. GOAT on all counts.

He looked pretty happy to me. There is a special light in his eyes.Although, the look in his eyes in the wedding picture is the only time I can remember seeing Kenenisa Bekele look scared!

doot doot wrote:

Bekele's wife is still hotter than Mo's. GOAT on all counts.

Kenenisa Bekele ran a 2:05:04 marathon with a cramping hamstring and was by himself for the last 10 miles in his marathon debut at Paris in 2014... which was the fastest debut marathon by a person over the age of 30 so far in the history of people over age 30 on planet earth.

It was also a faster debut marathon than Paul Tergat or Haile Gebrselassie, or Mo Farah or Galen Rupp.

Stanley Biwott used to train with coach Claudio Berardelli, who was the coach of Rita Jeptoo when she tested positive for EPO.

Mo Farah can't even hear his doorbell ring when the drug testers are ringing it for his doping test while Galen Rupp's coach has admitted rubbing testosterone gel on his son and then doing lab tests to see if "possible sabotage" could cause a positive doping test result for testosterone.

Yeah he ran a good debut and ran slower on Sunday. So it was not impressive. He might have had the capability to run under 2:02 about 8-10 years ago. Now it is too late.

I may be overly optimistic and severely delusional but I think you have an attitude that is kind of a downer.

coach deez nuts wrote:

rjm33 wrote:

Double gold in the 10k and marathon may still be possible for Bekele.

I am a huge Bekele fan but there is NO WAY he wins the 10k and marathon in Rio. His only shot is the marathon.

Why can't Bekele win the 10K in Rio?

I think he has a better chance in the 10K. Olympic marathon is to much of a crap-shoot.