Official 2014 Chicago Marathon Live Race Discussion Thread

Update... just heard it is still quite at the one mile of the course.

Thought I saw Bekele just walked across the finish line. Either gave up the race or totally tired.

Hello... this is where the action was 2 hours ago...

coach b... wrote:

Kapcherop wrote:

It is unfortunate Kipchoge's great shape was ignored by the organizers' obsession with setting this race for Bekele. Kipchoge was at worst in 2:03:30 shape but the pacing which wasn't set to target that kind of time killed his ambitions. Anyway, I hope he will be emboldened by the fact that Bekele could not handle even such a slow pace.

Looks that way

Kipchoge's great shape was flagged up here recently

He could have gone much quicker today

Remember Kipchoge trains with Emmanuel Mutai who just ran 2:03:13 in Berlin. From a credible source, I learned that he is stronger than Mutai in training. So he definitely was fired up to possibly run a faster time than what Mutai ran in Berlin. The problem is, the pacers were picked by Bekele and his coaching team, and pacing tailored to Bekele's liking. That is where the problem was. My earlier prediction still stands, that if the pacing was right, Bekele would not have broken Haile's Ethiopian record and that Kipchoge would have given him a good whipping! Bekele is a 2:04 -2:05 marathoner just like Ayele and if the pace is set up for that, he is most likely to win because of his kick. I had expected him to DNF before 25K and the course record would have been possible to break.

It was like the Onion covered the race.

Road open at mile 1!

coach b... wrote:

Kapcherop wrote:

It is unfortunate Kipchoge's great shape was ignored by the organizers' obsession with setting this race for Bekele. Kipchoge was at worst in 2:03:30 shape but the pacing which wasn't set to target that kind of time killed his ambitions. Anyway, I hope he will be emboldened by the fact that Bekele could not handle even such a slow pace.

Looks that way

Kipchoge's great shape was flagged up here recently

He could have gone much quicker today

Remember Kipchoge trains with Emmanuel Mutai who just ran 2:03:13 in Berlin. From a credible source, I learned that he is stronger than Mutai in training. So he definitely was fired up to possibly run a faster time than what Mutai ran in Berlin. The problem is, the pacers were picked by Bekele and his coaching team, and pacing tailored to Bekele's liking. That is where the problem was. My earlier prediction still stands, that if the pacing was right, Bekele would not have broken Haile's Ethiopian record and that Kipchoge would have given him a good whipping! Bekele is a 2:04 -2:05 marathoner just like Ayele and if the pace is set up for that, he is most likely to win because of his kick. I had expected him to DNF before 25K and the course record would have been possible to break.

He was 4th. You mis-saw

I don't think I ever want to hear another weather report again in my life.

Kevin52 wrote:

Hello... this is where the action was 2 hours ago...

She is a little over a mile from the finish. Why didn't she walk that mile.

Dewey_Runner wrote:

Yikes, Matt Llano 2:17:43, so much for that American debut record.

A new world record for a gay athlete. ;)

-Rojo

PS. We have so many other categories it's only a matter of time before that's one as well.

If I happen upon a situation where a football game is being shown on TV -- I know nothing about current football stars -- I would not want to hear from the families in the stands at the 20 yard line, or the weather report at each end of the field. I'd want to be informed about how the game is going, what play is going on right now and who's performing well or poorly today.

And you know, that's probably the news that I would get, generally.

To treat running the same way is to treat it as a sport. It is not too much to ask. They don't have to geek out about every split, but to cover the race, as the race is happening is not an unreasonable expectation.

rojo wrote:

Kipchoge: "I am to be the winner of Chicago althogh I missed my target (time).

All in all I an say I'm happy to be the winner."

What a stud.

Bobby Curtis is first American with a big PR. Previous pb of 2:13:24.

Pos. Name (CTZ) Age Overall Pace Time

1 Kipchoge, Eliud (KEN) 29 4:45 2:04:11

2 Kitwara, Sammy (KEN) 27 4:45 2:04:28

3 Chumba, Dickson (KEN) 27 4:45 2:04:32

4 Bekele, Kenenisa (ETH) 32 4:48 2:05:51

5 Koech, Bernard (KEN) 26 4:54 2:08:30

6 Ghebreslassie, Ghirmay (ERI) 18 4:56 2:09:08

7 Rutto, Lani (KEN) 25 5:00 2:10:42

8 Korir, Wesley (KEN) 31 5:01 2:11:09

9 Curtis, Bobby (USA) 29 5:01 2:11:20

10 Kobayashi, Koji (JPN) 25 5:02 2:11:43

Bobby 1-1/4 miles behind the winner

Bekele had a bad day but still ran the about the same time as Khannounci used to run on that course. Pretty impressive.

anybody wrote:

If I happen upon a situation where a football game is being shown on TV -- I know nothing about current football stars -- I would not want to hear from the families in the stands at the 20 yard line, or the weather report at each end of the field. I'd want to be informed about how the game is going, what play is going on right now and who's performing well or poorly today.

And you know, that's probably the news that I would get, generally.

To treat running the same way is to treat it as a sport. It is not too much to ask. They don't have to geek out about every split, but to cover the race, as the race is happening is not an unreasonable expectation.

+1

Just in case anyone missed weather conditions in Chicago.

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Chicago+IL+USIL0225

They said he was frequently wiping his nose so he might have had a cold

thanks man, I wondered how they were changing from 30 seconds ago

well,. wrote:

cpaiglesias wrote:

While I also hated the coverage, you have to understand who their target audience is. It is not Lets' Run die hard hardcore fans. 99% of the people watching this today have no idea who Kipchoge or Bekele is. And that 99% is the people who pay the bills watching the commercials from the sponsors and NBC.

The coverage was pretty much spot on for the needs and taste of 99% of the TV audience, and that sucks for us the 1%.

Are you saying that people sit down in front of the TV just to watch commercials?

If they didn't, it would all be Pay per view.