Birmingham 5000 Discussion Thread: Farah vs. Alamirew and Hagos

they dont need to change tactics at all.

Farah will sit and if he ends up boxed or out in lane 3 or even misses a break, even a few steps lost, he'll lose, especially with a tougher field. it could go down to who has the inside off the turn, that's how close these guys are on fitness level.

jfjnv wrote:

yeah becasue mo's totally not east african ...

I expected this comment. Is a white guy the only option for you?

Seymour G. wrote:

That camera work on the Diamond League feed was awesome. I always loved the rail camera shots that followed the runners on the home stretch, but it looked like they had a camera on a vehicle in the outside lanes for the whole last lap. It seems minor but, that shot, moving with the runners, does huge things for the viewers, especially casual viewers. No other shot shows how fast the runners are moving. You could see every gear change in the final 300m and the expressions and race awareness of the racers.

Agree, that was tremendous. And the camera on the inside of the field showing the replay of the sprints...brilliant.

Wait, I thought Gebrhiwet was supposed to be unbeatable at 5k? Gasp!

Charlie Chester Chaz McChesney wrote:You can beat him by going hard from a mile out

that's not going to work either

he can definitely go 3'30 for 1500 ( i woudn't be surprised at all if he went 3'29 or even dip into the 3'28s !!! )

a fast last mile ain't going to shake him unless your name is hicham of near-prime bernie

or by running an honest race from the gun

that may take 12'40

i can't see how he can get beat anyways up/down, sideways or inside-out

Who was the last guy to go 1:51 or faster for the last 800 in a 5000? I'm guessing Bekele?

The problem with the idea that going hard from the gun will beat Farah is: 1) this basically never happens in championship racing; 2) Farah prepares for this. It's not as if he only prepares for his sprint; 3) even highly trained world class runners are not computers. You can't say on this day if I run 26:30 pace Farah will crack and I will win. Running that pace could mean THEY will crack and Farah could win even easier by running sensibly. Even running a fast pace, races are still usually decided by a last lap pickup where the medals are decided. Nobody wants to lay their last card on the table before the inevitable kick, no matter what the pace, so nobody's willing to bust it from the gun or blast a fast mile in the middle -- that's very risky and could destroy their own chances.

If you were a potential medalist would you throw down early and possibly not medal at all or wait till the end and give it your best shot against Farah and likely medal? I think most people would do the latter. If Farah's better, he's better. Running's a simple sport. You can't run plays and trick people, and I don't see the Ethiopians trying boxing/tripping Farah on the last lap -- they have to much respect for the sport.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

rvp wrote:

Remember 2 years ago Farah ran 12.53 with a 53/54 last lap to win in Monaco. I don't buy into the assumption that the Ethiopians can run the kick out of him.

Alamirew actually gave him a good run for his money today.

Nobody is ASSUMING they can. Maybe they can't beat him in a 12:50 race. The point is, THAT at least is unknown

no

it is not unknown

go watch that 12'53 race

they went an execrable 2'38 or 2'39 in the 4th km & mo kicked in a 53 in last lap

he couda gone 12'45 that day at even-pace

he's almost certainly better than that now, so they better look nearer 12'40 to "break him" if they can

( the top 2 ethiopians can do that at their best but 1 got beat today ( & looked progressively worse since his 1st coupla outdoor races ) & the other one hasn't looked good this year until that 26'51 last week & is lock for 10k but shoud be allowed to double up - you can't throw away a 12'46 guy who finished with a 54 finish, running in 3rd lane in stretch ! )

Ventolin - has it ever occurred to you that people slow down becuase they are not fit enough to run 8 seconds faster. They havea fear of breaking. When will you stop claiming that people could have run 6-8 seconds faster than their bests?

Now you are saying that there are 2-3 12:40 guys, which is basically world record fitness.

Thanks for posting the recap. That last bit with the heavyweights throwing haymakers was f'n sweet. Farah can kick like he's being chased by the devil himself.

Yup yup wrote:

Ventolin - has it ever occurred to you that people slow down becuase they are not fit enough to run 8 seconds faster. They havea fear of breaking. When will you stop claiming that people could have run 6-8 seconds faster than their bests?

Now you are saying that there are 2-3 12:40 guys, which is basically world record fitness.

I always wonder where the posts are claiming that the world record performances could have been faster; I mean who's to say El G couldn't have run 3:39 in the mile, or Bekele 12:29 in the 5000?

eh ???

go watch the race

it was usual "slow-go" mo in 4th km, not taking any lead of note in 4th km but the pace had been better than usual rubbish they've proferred him in past 2y

they jogged the 4th km ( impress me & work out the 4th km ) & he blasted a 53.11 finish for a 12'53-flat

that was hugely below 12'50 at even pace

yeah

i kept saying that for long time when most here were saying 12'50 is virtually impossible barrier for these heavily-tested guys

seems no one told them here :

winner previous race was already in 12'40 shape

no one, i repeat no one including kennster/geb/komen couda run a 54 finish in a 12'46

Consider This wrote:I always wonder where the posts are claiming that the world record performances could have been faster; I mean who's to say El G couldn't have run 3:39 in the mile, or Bekele 12:29 in the 5000?

i saw on satellite his rieti 3'26.89 in rieti when he was aiming not just to break his 3'26.00wr, meaning 3'25+, but into 3'24s off his incredible 2'44.75 compared to 2'46.34 in the 3'26wr !!!

that was day of days for him, but he faded in stretch complaining after that he'd been left alone too far out & lost concentration

i did expect to see a low-3'25 that day seeing how crushing he'd looked upto 1200

( maybe within 7m of a ryun '67 )

& slowing to a 3'26.89 was a big shock

only vid other than that i'd wished i'd taped was wilson's

1'42.77 in monaco '97 off a total jog

52.3/50.4 !!!

he mighta come up within 5m of a ryun '67 in that run...

ventolin^3 wrote:

i can't see how he can get beat anyways up/down, sideways or inside-out

C'mon , that silly. Gebremeskel would have beaten him last year if he had simply not given Geb 15 m with a lap to go and had to weave past 7 guys on that last lap. If Gebremeskel had simply taken it from 800 out, or been right on Mo's shoulder with 400 to go, he would have won.

Mo is of course incredibly fit, but his tactical and mental game is why he has been winning all the big races. He's beatable (barely) if someone doesn't let him completely dictate the race.

Don't no wrote:

Don't know if I can watch these slow sit and kick races all the time. Killin the sport for me.

I find it ignorant that this is the general attitude. This time had not been eclipsed until 9-20-72. That means Lasse Viren, who is very widely rumored to have been blood doping, never ran faster than these guys did today. Yet today's race was slow?! 13:14 is slow. You guys are high.

The same people that want to constantly see blazing fast times seem to be the ones that are concurrently adamant that doping ruins the sport. These guys are racing against one another. If you want to see time trials, then maybe you should get some sort of petition going so that they do individual time trials as seen in cycling.

Either that or this needs to be made into a legitimate team sport so every man is not running for himself.

cpaiglesias wrote:

[quote]Charlie Chester Chaz McChesney wrote:

You can beat him by going hard from a mile out, or by running an honest race from the gun.

then why has he only been beaten once? and that was at a time he even claimed he wasnt in good health. In 2011 and 2012 hes won off of hot paces. hes going to be almost untouchable for at least another year

Just remember that we still haven't seen the most inform Ethiopian so far in the DL races. Behold, Mikhtar Edriss on Thursday....