London marathon elite fields- it’s crazy!!

Rockstar Games wrote:

No one is comparing from what I've seen. One is clearly more consistent for sure, but the world record is held by Kimetto.

I must admit that it's one of the weirdest world records. I never even heard of the guy the 2 years prior to the wr. He was terrible in the subsequent world championship marathons (DNF I think) and I don't recall much more success in the Major Marathon Circuit after the wr.

The guy must have earned the equivalent of 10 million us dollars or more in sponsorships and prize with the 2:02:57 so I guess it makes sense. He's like the Daniel Komen of the road, with the difference the the 3000m world record will likely stand another 20 years.

Kamworor will break the Marathon WR if Eliud doesn't do it soon. It's inevitable..

I agree. From half to Full Marathon it's a big step, but his win over Kipsang in New York was amazing. When he gets full maturity at the distance he win dominate the event for many years. He already has the heart, legs and mindset.

Rockstar Games wrote:

I agree. From half to Full Marathon it's a big step, but his win over Kipsang in New York was amazing. When he gets full maturity at the distance he win dominate the event for many years. He already has the heart, legs and mindset.

Not to mention he already ran 3 Berlin Marathons in 2:06 each, while being 19-21 years old and focusing solely on the track. That's consistency and raw talent.

Banana Bread wrote:

I look forward to seeing Bekele get the world record. I'm willing to bet anyone here any amount of money they want. If I lose, I'll pay you, and retire from letsrun forever.

Bekele will only have a shot for a WR as long as he doesn't call for a pace or predict the winning time because every time he does that he seems to drop out with an excuse of injury/fitness as soon as he drops off the pace. I have no idea why he keeps calling for a specific pace if he's not fit/healthy enough to achieve it.

smd wrote:

This was an interesting listing. U.S. went 1-2 in NYC!

Allison Kieffer, USA

Age: 30 | Marathon PB: 2:29:39

2017 New York Marathon 2nd place

she got 2nd in her age group maybe? lol

inthepdx wrote:

Banana Bread wrote:

I look forward to seeing Bekele get the world record. I'm willing to bet anyone here any amount of money they want. If I lose, I'll pay you, and retire from letsrun forever.

I have no idea why he keeps calling for a specific pace if he's not fit/healthy enough to achieve it.

I'd blame his agent/managers or even the race organizers, not Bekele.

These hyped events have a habit of disappointing. The only race that will live up to expectations is Mary Keitany vs Tirunesh Dibaba.

El Keniano wrote:

These hyped events have a habit of disappointing. The only race that will live up to expectations is Mary Keitany vs Tirunesh Dibaba.

I've yet to see a kipchoge race that was "disappointing."

, a blazing 10000m runner ( 26:52). If he is there with 10k to go in the marathon, no one will have the speed to stay with him[/quote]

So, 26:52 is “blazing”? Interesting, remind me what Rupp’s PR is? In another thread you used “slow arse” to describe Rupp. However, when it is convenient for you, you claim someone is “blazing” despite being slower.

Olympic silver + Olympic bronze = “fast arse”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

couldn’t help but notice wrote:

, a blazing 10000m runner ( 26:52). If he is there with 10k to go in the marathon, no one will have the speed to stay with him

So, 26:52 is “blazing”? Interesting, remind me what Rupp’s PR is? In another thread you used “slow arse” to describe Rupp. However, when it is convenient for you, you claim someone is “blazing” despite being slower.

Olympic silver + Olympic bronze = “fast arse”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...[/quote]

Half marathon:

Rupp : 59:47 ( point to point ...lol)

Karoki: 58:32 - 2nd best half marathoner in the world , back to back RAK wins

Marathon:

Rupp: 2:09

Karoki : 2:07 ( debut marathon, and has only run 1 marathon)

so yes, rupp's slow arse.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

couldn’t help but notice wrote:

, a blazing 10000m runner ( 26:52). If he is there with 10k to go in the marathon, no one will have the speed to stay with him

So, 26:52 is “blazing”? Interesting, remind me what Rupp’s PR is? In another thread you used “slow arse” to describe Rupp. However, when it is convenient for you, you claim someone is “blazing” despite being slower.

Olympic silver + Olympic bronze = “fast arse”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Half marathon:

Rupp : 59:47 ( point to point ...lol)

Karoki: 58:32 - 2nd best half marathoner in the world , back to back RAK wins

Marathon:

Rupp: 2:09

Karoki : 2:07 ( debut marathon, and has only run 1 marathon)

so yes, rupp's slow arse.[/quote]

No, you specifically referred to his 26:52.

You lose. Silver and bronze... silver and bronze... Wow! Someone must be FAST to win TWO Olympic medals. Fast!

Ha ha ha!

26:44 is faster than 26:52. THAT was your first example.

For the record, Karoki's best is his recent 58:42 at RAK.

He's fourth all-time behind Tadesse (who has the top two fastest performances), Wanjiru (58:33) and Cheroben (58:40).

Not to derail things, but i'll also point out a certain Geoffrey Kamworor beat Cheroben by twenty seconds recently, all of which came in the last 6k of the race... when is he gonna challenge the WR?

Karoki #4 all-time wrote:

For the record, Karoki's best is his recent 58:42 at RAK.

He's fourth all-time behind Tadesse (who has the top two fastest performances), Wanjiru (58:33) and Cheroben (58:40).

Not to derail things, but i'll also point out a certain Geoffrey Kamworor beat Cheroben by twenty seconds recently, all of which came in the last 6k of the race... when is he gonna challenge the WR?

He should do it this autumn or maybe next spring. He definitely has an eye on it and knows he can break it easily in ideal conditions. Rumours have him running the London Marathon this April, but i don't know what to say..

I gotta throw my $0.02 in.

For the women, Dibaba will upset Keitany. Keitany is the most ruthless marathoner of all time, but Dibaba has really matured at the marathon and I think she might very well be realizing she can match Keitany. Watch for her to go with the pace and then hold on longer than Keitany. However, I don't think Dibaba has the pure grit needed for that men's paced WR.

For the men, it's still Kipchoge. He's the most intelligent, talented, and consistent marathoner in history. And he's still only 33. Unless you want to win big, your money should be on him, hands down. Remember, he has only lost once at the marathon, and it took a WR to beat him (and that was in 2013). Guy Adola is very talented, but this will only be his second marathon and does not know the course. Also, you have to remember how terribly inconsistent most big marathoners are. Expecting lightning to strike the same place twice (but this time it be a win) is a big ask (I feel anyway). Bekele will, of course, be a huge threat if he has to have a good day, something that has been really rare in his marathoning career. He will always be a wildcard. Just remember though that as he ages he will have far fewer good days of running.

Bottom line:

Men: Eliude Kipchogea in a new WR (2:02:25-2:02:30?)

Women: Tirunesh Dibaba (2:16?)

Those are my predictions/thoughts.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

I'm rolling with Adola or Karoki this year. Both are well educated in the marathon now, and can blaze out of their minds.

Bekele will DNF. Dude should have done some half marathons or something as a tune up race. That is his main problem he never does any tune-up races to see where his form his.

I agree that Bekele rarely does any tune up racing. I disagree that the reasoning behind doing tune up races is to see where the form is at. Any good runner has a pretty darn good sense of where they are at based on the training they are doing, and doesn't need a race to confirm it.

That said, there are other benefits to racing that certainly make tune-ups worthwhile for the vast majority of athletes. I don't think that's Bekele's major problem though. For him, it's just injury issues. Also probably why he doesn't do tune-up races often. More stress and risk. Hard to perform at the top elite level when you're routinely missing 2-3 months for injury, and rarely getting more than a month or two of consistent training in at a time.

I don't necessarily agree with everything you write, but it is mostly reasonable. However:

Stopcecil! wrote:

I don't think Dibaba has the pure grit needed for that men's paced WR.

Breaking that record might not be a question of grit or anything. It's close to unbreakable. It will take new, powerful PEDs.

For the men, it's still Kipchoge. He's the most intelligent, talented, and consistent marathoner in history. And he's still only 33.

*Cough, cough*

Guy Adola is very talented, but this will only be his second marathon and does not know the course.

I don't think that matters a lot. But if he runs slowly now that he must be on the radar, I fear it will get me thinking. If he performs, great.

Bekele (...) Just remember though that as he ages he will have far fewer good days of running.

Sure, but he's younger than Kipchoge.

Not happening. All you have to do is look at last year's RAK half marathon, as well as this year's half marathon. Mary can simply blaze from beginning to end. She came in second in both of them, and would have broken her own record last year if it wasn't Pres Jipchirchir"s death run. In this year's RAK, she dropped the half marathon record holder, Jepkosgei.

Dibaba cannot blaze like that, and is not willing to go out fast. That has never, ever been her strategy. She is a second half runner, so she has the ability to hunt runners down like she did on the track with her amazing kick. In last year's RAK race, she got dropped by the 8th mile. The pace was too, too hot for her. Even doped up Jepto got dropped.

Mary will only lose if she blows up. That's it. Everyone knows what Mary is going to do, everyone. She goes out fast, hard and strong. She is not a conservative runner. And as great as Dibaba is, she does not have that ability to blaze from beginning to end like mary. I mean she went out hard in chicago, and ran 2:18, but that would be close to a tempo run for Mary.

After watching Mary blaze RAK again this year, that women is still in incredible form ......Only Mary can beat Mary. Greatest female half and full marathoner runner of all time.

Also, Mary PR'd in the half marathon this year, running 1:04:55. After turning 36, she is actually faster than she was when she was younger.

Kipchoge's dominance will come to an end soon enough as there's definitely a shelf life. But he's obviously one of the most physically gifted AND mentally prepared and strong runners to come along in quite awhile. He's obviously quite familiar with the course and how to race it. I don't see anyone talking him down. Wildcard is of course Bekele b/c of what he's capable of but I don't see him beating EK.