Holy crap. Yuki Kawauchi had 1 plan for Boston - To break Galen Rupp. That's why he went out in 4:37!!

gdfgsdfgdfgsdfg wrote:

Rojo this is dumb.

I love that Yuki won. LOVE IT.

But that his early surge had anything to do with the athletes behind him tanking is baseless.

What about all the elites in the women's race that had a similar experience as Rupp? Did Yuki's mile surge also take out Molly Huddle?

Rupp wasn't prepared for the conditions. As many werent. Had nothing to do with the first mile.

Last thought, if the leader with 5 miles to go hadn't been wearing a parachute in hurricane like conditions he would have won not Yuki.

Dude, don't get mad at me. Get met at Yuki.

Whether it was the reason or not for victory, I found the plan to be fascinating. To be honest, I'm jaded the older I get. I look at someone like Yuki and think to myself, "Why does he even bother? He'll never win something big. He's not good enough." Well I think that more about the full-time runners than someone with a job.

Now I know why. He's dreaming of a win - no matter how remote. And guess what? He got it.

Rojo

PS. Plus you can't prove to me it had nothing to do with the first mile. But please don't get mad at me.It was me that pointed out that the women's race went slow and everyone still bonked

great piece, gripping, and frankly fairly convincing that it happened the way he said it happened.

Salazar may have gone out in 4:31 one year, but this was straight into fierce headwinds and rain on that downhill first mile. That plus the surges is the formula for taking out a kicker, so long as you back off enough to not kill your chances the second mile or two. If they lay off the surges, then they don't harm them that much, which is how Farah often would survive those championship 5 and 10k's, but last year pushing the pace in the 10 set him up for the loss in the 5.

[quote]rojo wrote:

You must read this pace by Brett Larner who is Kawauchi's agent and translator. Go and read every single word right now.

It gives you behind the scenes access and is the best piece I've read all year. Kawauchi's 4:37 all was part of a crazy elaborate plan.

[quote]

Agreed. That was my first thought: just a superb, concise, inspiring piece of writing.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Bullcrap.

He wasn't trying to break Rupp...

.... testing the pack to see if they had the strength to run fast under those conditions....

I think that’s called breaking. One man went home a fvcking hero and eternal legend and the other with a sore butt and no finish time, as if to try to escape the fact that ever even tied the line that day. Kawauchi broke the field and sent Rupp home crying. Rupp is such a weakling.

this right here.. wrote:

rojo wrote:

You must read this pace by Brett Larner who is Kawauchi's agent and translator. Go and read every single word right now.

It gives you behind the scenes access and is the best piece I've read all year. Kawauchi's 4:37 all was part of a crazy elaborate plan.

Read it now:

http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-it-happened.html

This is absolutely legendary. What a BAD MF'er..Seriously I am fan for life even if he never runs again. That's a cold hearted competitor.

In case anyone missed it - he deployed several suicidal surges when everyone else was having a hard time just being out there in that weather. He spent so much more energy doing what he did and then demolished the favorite at the end. It was pure balls, there is no other way to put it. This guy was just fvcking inspired like he just watched the Matrix for the first time.

Skeptical gfghjj wrote:

Sounds like revisionist history to me. Write the story now that the ending is here...

That was my first reaction, too.

But then I realized that this isn't hard news. Nor would I consider it revisionist history, because as far as I can tell, Brett's hasn't distorted any of the actual events. He's simply providing a narrative framework, telling a story from the perspective of an insider.

Kenny Moore did they same, which is what made his pieces so captivating. They used to call this the "new journalism."

Let's just recognize it for what it is and enjoy the read.

More effect on the elites?

1) Yuki's surges

2) Weather

Here's your answer: 2 mattered more than 1 but 1 still made a difference.

Trollminator wrote:

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Bullcrap.

He wasn't trying to break Rupp...

.... testing the pack to see if they had the strength to run fast under those conditions....

I think that’s called breaking. One man went home a fvcking hero and eternal legend and the other with a sore butt and no finish time, as if to try to escape the fact that ever even tied the line that day. Kawauchi broke the field and sent Rupp home crying. Rupp is such a weakling.

It just dawned on me that Rupp didn't even get his finisher medal. Wow.

Yuki's 2018 Boston will always be legendary, something hard to come by in this jaded era.

I watched the replay. The guy most pissed about Yuki's opening mile is the corral 1 amateur who tried to get on TV. He just couldn't catch Yuki. Remember that Altra guy a few years ago?

That was my first thought after reading it - felt like it was similar in style to all those Kenny Moore SI articles, which I absolutely enjoyed.

Taro wrote:

That was my first reaction, too.

But then I realized that this isn't hard news. Nor would I consider it revisionist history, because as far as I can tell, Brett's hasn't distorted any of the actual events. He's simply providing a narrative framework, telling a story from the perspective of an insider.

Kenny Moore did they same, which is what made his pieces so captivating. They used to call this the "new journalism."

Let's just recognize it for what it is and enjoy the read.

You mean to tell me that a runner ran fast as part of his strategy to win a race? Shocking!

Gotta run off some of that EPO!

It just dawned on me that Rupp didn't even get his finisher medal. Wow.

Hope he didn't buy one of those Boston jackets. Rupp didn't even earn the right to wear it.

Hobby joggers > Rupp

Legendo wrote:

Yuki's 2018 Boston will always be legendary, something hard to come by in this jaded era.

And we’ll never forget this. But to claim he was personally responsible for irritating Kirui into an early surge really is pushing it.

El Keniano wrote:

Legendo wrote:

Yuki's 2018 Boston will always be legendary, something hard to come by in this jaded era.

And we’ll never forget this. But to claim he was personally responsible for irritating Kirui into an early surge really is pushing it.

We may never know, because the men weren't being well covered at that point due to developments in the women's race. I definitely remember seeing Yuki lurking on Kirui's heels at a few points, drafting and maybe more.

El Keniano wrote:

Legendo wrote:

Yuki's 2018 Boston will always be legendary, something hard to come by in this jaded era.

And we’ll never forget this. But to claim he was personally responsible for irritating Kirui into an early surge really is pushing it.

Own up to it El Keniano. Your man was mentally weak. Dominated by the stronger mentality.