Should Kerr do the 1500/5k double in Paris?

Peach Pit · 2024-05-25T19:36:28-04:00

Jakob has shown us that a strength based 1500m guy is almost(?) unbeatable in a championship 5k. Katir, a 3:28 (doper) guy came 2nd last year in the 5k after not even making the 1500 final. Mo Farah dominated the 5k/10k and he was a 3:28 guy. Kerr's 3:45 is worth a 3:28. He's the 2-mile WR holder indoors, so I think he's got the strength to chill at a slow pace. Even if someone does try to run the last 2k super fast, Fisher tried to do that in the 2-mile, and Kerr was perfectly happy sitting on him, running 60s laps until the end, then blowing his doors off. Kerr definitely has a shot at beating Jakob in the 1500, and if he's the best 1500 guy in the world, then at the very [i]least, [/i]he has a chance to beat Jakob in the 5k.I think Jakob has already attained legendary status, regardless of what he does in the future. Olympic gold at age 20, then 2 WC golds and 2 WC silvers, and 3 WRs by age 22. Kerr isn't particularly close to legendary status yet. If Jakob is El G, Kerr is Noah Ngeny. A great athlete by any measure, but a step below the true legends of the sport (El G, Bekele, Geb, Farah, Komen). However you feel about Jakob, he's certainly putting his name into that mix, and he's got at least 2 Olympics left in him.If Kerr 'only' wants to be the best miler in the world, then he should focus on the 1500m. If he wants to say he's truly a better runner than Jakob, then he needs to win double gold. Otherwise he'll go down like Ngeny and Tergat: A footnote that old people mention when talking about the goats; Someone doesn't get the respect they deserve because their peak coincided with one of the greatest ever. When was the last time you heard Ngeny brought up, and it was completely unrelated to El G losing his first race in 4 years in the Olympic final, or how he pushed El G to the line in the mile WR? Right now, Kerr is on his way to being remembered as one of the guys who kept Jakob from winning 1500m gold after he won the Olympics at age 20, and before Jakob broke more WRs and won a ton of 5k (and probably 10k) golds/medals. I already know that 15 years from now, I'm gonna be arguing how Jakob is the goat, and some kid who doesn't know anything is gonna be saying he's not even that good because he lost to Kerr and Wightman, and in my old age (30s ew), I'll have to explain how Kerr was incredible and unbeatable in 2024 and to have some respect, like JWH does for me every time that I say Bekele is overrated. Unless, of course, Kerr pulls off the 1500/5k double, which I think only Lagat has done, and probably saved him from being in the Noah Ngeny camp (plus he kept going as one of the best in the world for like 10 years after that).This isn't a dig at Kerr at all. I wouldn't be asking this if I didn't think he had it in him. I've said for most of the time since he won gold that Jakob was right, and Kerr was just the next guy. I started changing my mind after his 2-mile WR/3k gold indoors, but his 3:45 win today cemented the idea that he's a lot more than just the next guy. He's been on fire and this will be his peak Olympics. His confidence, his strength, and his confidence in his strength are at an all-time high, as evidenced by him pounding a 3:43 guy, a 7:24/12:53 guy, and a 7:25/12:43 guy into submission off a hot pace at indoor Worlds in the 3k, with a crazy 25.1 last 200.

Pro News/Info/Results

Reply New New Thread

Moderation Moderation Information Moderation Information & Rules

Page 3 of 3

1 2 3

Next Last

2 years ago 05/27/2024 1:09am EDT

re: triplethreshold

triplethreshold wrote:
Would be fun to see the Kenyans and Ethiopians actually try to drop Jakob with a ridiculous pace in Paris. I really don’t think they can drop him even if they try though and that’s the issue for them. He’s so strong that I think he will eventually hold the WR in the 5000 basically whenever he wants it. How do you beat the strongest AND the fastest?

I would love for them to try, but they never seem to try to. Although I agree that they probably couldn't, and that's probably why no one tries. If they try to solo a 12:45, then the half dozen other sub-12:45 guys are just gonna sit on them and outkick them at the end (if they even make it that far, 12:45 in summer heat is nuts), and Jakob will outkick them. If they just jog, then Jakob outkicks them at the end, but they don't run the risk of tiring themselves out, and they can outkick the other 5k guys. That's actually the line of thinking that made me think Kerr should give it a shot, because if the 5k guys recognize they can't beat the best miler in the world, maybe other milers should give it a shot (a la Katir). They obviously need the strength, but since Kerr is running half marathons in the off season (and 2 mile WRs), he's not a bad candidate at all, he just needs to get that 5k time down a bit.

2 years ago 05/27/2024 1:12am EDT

re: THOUGHTSLEADER

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:
You’ve definitely been proven right on Kerr in the 3k! The 5k is different and it’s worth noting that Kerr as you’ve said is a very balanced miler. He doesn’t have the distance pedigree of many of the guys who’ve moved up who were 5k studs as juniors (Jakob, El G) or NCAA (Lagat). I think Kerr would definitely break 13, but I don’t know about 12:55. If you are not in 12:50 shape you are not sniffing a medal. 12:45 more realistically unless the Ethiopians bungle it bringing Luis and others into the mix again.

The Ethiopians seem to just have the most incredible knack for bungling it and letting others into the mix though. I agree that 12:50 would be a reach for Kerr, but he's just gotta stay in contact until the last 600 to really have a shot, and if it's anything like last year's final, he definitely could still be in contact.

2 years ago 05/27/2024 7:27am EDT

re: TheRunningHistorian

TheRunningHistorian wrote:
ndxc02 wrote:
Nuguse and Hocker should run both but they won’t. In a slow race, they have the speed to medal in the 5K.
the Africans won’t take it because it requires a team effort across countries to do it. Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia are all looking out for themselves. And no one runner is better than the rest to take it to the field.
Jakob will win the 5K with ease unless he gets injured again before the Olympics
Exactly, when I watched JI run earlier. The first thing I noticed was the obvious, he needs some races. The other conclusion was that if he can run a 3:45 mile out of shape, given that he is endurance trained, he will be extremely difficult to beat over a tactical 5,000m

You are a true gullible fanboy if you think he ran out of shape.

2 years ago 05/27/2024 9:52am EDT

re: Peach Pit

Peach Pit wrote:
The Ethiopians seem to just have the most incredible knack for bungling it and letting others into the mix though. I agree that 12:50 would be a reach for Kerr, but he's just gotta stay in contact until the last 600 to really have a shot, and if it's anything like last year's final, he definitely could still be in contact.

Yeah it’s just a lot of IFs. It’s hard to overstate how awfully the Ethiopians raced last year. Could they really not play to their strengths 3 years in a row? I guess we’ll see, but if you’re the Federation I think you demand that from 5-6 laps, they work as a team dropping 60s laps. If it’s that sort of race Kerr has no shot.

This post was edited 38 seconds after it was posted.

2 years ago 05/27/2024 10:36am EDT

re: Peach Pit

Kerr is more like Ovett. Ovett beat the great Henry Rono in a 2 mile race and made that victory look easy, but it never translated to a world class 5k or cross country. Coe neither, not like for instance David Moorcroft who wasn't as fast in the 1500m as Coe and Ovett but had greater distance range.

Kerr to me is another Steve Ovett, very similar runners. Jakob's pedigree is unlimited. The longer the distance the greater he is as a racer. He has the potential to break the world record from every distance 1500m to 10,000m and still run a world class marathon someday.

He is just a freak of nature.

2 years ago 05/27/2024 5:02pm EDT

re: RunintheMudandRain

Kerr is nothing like ovett. Ovett was a good to great cross country runner even as a 400 runner. Ovett won the inter counties and regularly beat guys who were top 10 in world cross. Kerr finished like what. 50th or 60th in the conference cross in Reno.

1 year ago 01/28/2025 2:23am EST

re: No medal in the 5000m for Kerr

No medal in the 5000m for Kerr wrote:
Peach Pit wrote:
Like 6 guys ran between 12:40 and 12:42 last year, but they all lost (or DNS) to Jakob and Katir last year. The pace was slow for over 4200m last year, with the last two laps being the only ones even close to under 60, being 58/52. Kerr has a shot in that kind of race, because it's just a mile with a warmup. I don't think he has a very good shot if a 12:40 guy starts blasting from 2k out, but after last year I stopped assuming that would ever happen.
There’s one thread predicted the East-Africans will run some scorching pace, to drop Ingebrigtsen, but you’re prediction is that they will gift the Gold and Silver to the 1500m guys, by setting a dawdling pace?

lol

Page 3 of 3

1 2 3

Next Last

What People Are Talking About On LetsRun

No top threads at the moment. Check back soon.

Reply Replying to

Username

Password

Leave the password field blank to post anonymously.

Post Preview

By posting you acknowledge that you have read and abide by our Terms and Conditions.

Remember me on this device.

Real Runners, Real Reviews

Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt. Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.

What shoe are you reviewing?

Rate your shoe

Overall Rating

Appearance

Comfort

Cushioning

Durability

Value

I would buy this shoe again

Yes No

Would you buy this shoe again?

One-line review. Optional. Your written review provides information to readers that numbers can't.

Email Optional. Required for t-shirt drawing.

Real runner reviews • Community-powered rankings

Should Kerr do the 1500/5k double in Paris?

This thread has already been deleted.

You have been subscribed.

Should Kerr do the 1500/5k double in Paris?

Follow Peach Pit

Block Peach Pit

Follow Peach Pit

Block Peach Pit

Follow Trollminator

Block Trollminator

Follow THOUGHTSLEADER

Block THOUGHTSLEADER

Follow RunintheMudandRain

Block RunintheMudandRain

Follow FatSlowOldGuy

Block FatSlowOldGuy

This thread has already been deleted.

Reply Replying to

You have been subscribed.

Real Runners, Real Reviews