No, but he was the second best 5k runner of the 2000s decade IMO, which is “pretty good.”
I was kinda thinking about that in response to douglas burke’s assumption that since Barega and Fisher have similar track PRs, they have the same marathon potential: a number of guys will wind up with track PRs similar to Kipchoge (7:27 - 12:46 - 26:49) and not many of them will run 2:01:09 and dominate the marathon for years.
His track career certainly gets a bit underrated - 12:46 guy with good closing speed was nothing to sniff at back then. I do wonder why he never gave the 10,000 any serious tries in his prime, but I guess he didn't want to double and thought his 5000 was a better chance at beating Bekele.
He didn't make the Kenyan team when he tried to move up to the 10000 then he moved to the roads shortly after. There weren't many opportunities at that distance tbh and those old spikes really beat up your body.
Yeah solid run, really evident when he hit the wall. 14:20 splits to 15:40.
Jogging in at the end, looking cooked.
That's the marathon!, why a fast time from Kiplimo isn't a guarantee
Agree. Some of the predictions about Kiplimo running sub-2 seem to ignore the history of the sport. Still, this is a solid debut for Barega. Quicker than Cheptegei and Farah on their debuts
Wife and I are in Seville for several weeks and watched the race this morning. We saw them first at about 1.5 km then a half hour later or so when they looped by us at 13 km. There was a pretty solid lead group of maybe 20 at 13 km and they were moving. Weather was very good for marathon running, at least for the elites (getting pretty warm in the sun at 3.5 hours at noon), and the course is dead flat except, i think, for small rises onto two bridges across the river.
One thing that struck me in comparison with most other big races I’ve seen or participated is, this was an athletic competition, not a mass participation event. I didn't see anybody walk-running (not that I’m bothered by it, just observing), and really only one walker that i saw. Most participants looked pretty fit. The “pace bunnies” carried big helium balloons. The first one we saw was for 2:45. By the time that passed us, i thought I’d seen maybe a thousand runners, which i thought couldn't be right. But when i looked at last years results, roughly 710 of 9500 finishers beat 2:45, or about 8%. I cant imagine ever seeing that at a big city marathon stateside.
Tanzania's Gabriel Geay won the men's elite race with Meseret Belete of Ethiopia taking the women's event in the Republic of Korea. Find out the results here.
2:05 at best. He's too antsy. In track 10,000s he can't just chill out. That's fine there and in a sub-60 half, but won't work in the marathon unless he's learned to stay steady until 30K.
One thing that struck me in comparison with most other big races I’ve seen or participated is, this was an athletic competition, not a mass participation event. I didn't see anybody walk-running (not that I’m bothered by it, just observing), and really only one walker that i saw. Most participants looked pretty fit. The “pace bunnies” carried big helium balloons. The first one we saw was for 2:45. By the time that passed us, i thought I’d seen maybe a thousand runners, which i thought couldn't be right. But when i looked at last years results, roughly 710 of 9500 finishers beat 2:45, or about 8%. I cant imagine ever seeing that at a big city marathon stateside.
This year 572 runners sub 2:45. Out of 10,000 finishers.
1650 sub3, that's like 16,5 % of finishers !
When I ran Amsterdam in 2024, there were like 1000 sub3 runners and 16,000 finishers, so only 6-7% sub3.
Super solid. Just don't get the early pacing sometimes. It's clear he wasn't ready for the WR but was ready for something faster than 2:05. Left 2:02-2:03 on the table. If he was an even 1:01:30 through halfway I think he runs 2:02-high. Even an even 1:01:45, which he split, gets him under 2:04 imo.
good result for someone who still probably has one foot on the track. shows very good potential for whenever he commits to the roads full time. Even he has mentally committed to a full time move to the roads, a full year of specific training should go a long way.