Mickeyoo wrote:
high school xc coach wrote:
The 2 mile record seems to be a bit weaker than 3000 record. maybe 3 or 4 seconds for a strength oriented runner.
It is probably worth 7:23 but none of these guys have shown they can do that either. However, you are correct that they would have a better shot at it than 7:20. I just don’t see any of them being in that shape. Barega probably the closest in maybe 7:25 shape and of course other current runners who could likely run close to 8:00 would be Jakob and Kejelcha.
I think Barega has both shown they have 7:23-4 potential. Barega would have run 7:24 indoors with Wale had he not had that tangle with Girma on the last lap. I'm inclined to think Cheptegei also has that potential given what he has done at 5000 and in this race in the past. We'll have to see. But I think in addition to the guys that John Wesley Harding suggested, Wale would have a shot at 7:58 and a few of the guys in the group just behind those elite 4 would have an outside shot if they focused on it for a bit: Girma, Katir, Kejelcha, Kiplimo.
People put a lot into the records, but 3000 and 2-mile just aren't focused on all that often because the 3000 isn't a DL or Olympic event. The 5000 record is better than the 3000 record already, but Komen focused on that between distance. The dudes that are well-suited to do it (El G, Lagat, etc.) just don't run it all that often, and if they did there would be a lot more times in the 7:18-7:23 range. And no, El G and Bekele each taking 1 shot at it on a whim does not count as them earnestly going after that record.