Bekele cheapening his legacy

Even the greatest have off days. Let this be a lesson for all you jv hobby joggers out there.

fat kenny wrote:

Pay back the appearance fee, and call it good.

Have you run 2:01? Can you run 2:12 in NY 6 weeks after running a 2:06?

I think it was alright. He should take a break and just gear up for MAYBE. One more really good marathon. He is older now so we should be reasonable

westsouthrunner wrote:

fat kenny wrote:

Pay back the appearance fee, and call it good.

Have you run 2:01? Can you run 2:12 in NY 6 weeks after running a 2:06?

I think it was alright. He should take a break and just gear up for MAYBE. One more really good marathon. He is older now so we should be reasonable

What does it matter what I’ve run (2:16:xx)? If you didn’t play in the nfl or champion’s league, that means you can’t be critical?

The guy craters and dnf’s way more than normal or what is acceptable. I don’t think you can refute that. Totally cheapening his legacy. I hope it’s just because he can’t let go instead of an outright money grab.

westsouthrunner wrote:

fat kenny wrote:

Pay back the appearance fee, and call it good.

Have you run 2:01? Can you run 2:12 in NY 6 weeks after running a 2:06?

I think it was alright. He should take a break and just gear up for MAYBE. One more really good marathon. He is older now so we should be reasonable

Wow, let’s just close down these boards. You mean the only person who is allowed to post a critical comment about KB is Kipchoge? No wait, Kipchoge can’t post either because he’s never run NY. Nobody on earth is allowed to say a negative thing about Kenny.

fat kenny wrote:

westsouthrunner wrote:

Have you run 2:01? Can you run 2:12 in NY 6 weeks after running a 2:06?

I think it was alright. He should take a break and just gear up for MAYBE. One more really good marathon. He is older now so we should be reasonable

What does it matter what I’ve run (2:16:xx)? If you didn’t play in the nfl or champion’s league, that means you can’t be critical?

The guy craters and dnf’s way more than normal or what is acceptable. I don’t think you can refute that. Totally cheapening his legacy. I hope it’s just because he can’t let go instead of an outright money grab.

He doesn't owe anything to you lmao. Crazy how entitled you sound ...

I'd rather see him continue to train and hopefully hit a great time rather than just quit now.

Bekele is a professional runner. Of course he wants the money. That's ridiculous. He's getting paid and you're not.

With your logic, Jay Cutler should have received a check for many 5 games in his career because he showed up and rarely delivered.

Bekele has earned the right to show up when and where he wants and do how he wants.

Everyone welcomed an older, heavier Henry Rono back with his mid 17 5k

Why not just respect the career of Bekele and regard these races as cameos.

I only woke up early for him, so he earned it.

Screw that, I 100% supporters runners actually getting out there. Better than hiding in a cave all year and only coming out for 2 hours once or twice a year.

Still the GOAT

I like that he got out and finished. I would love to see this guy line up for 5 more years even if it meant he ran a bunch of 2:10 plus races. He is old, the times he has run the past couple years are very impressive. He is one of the goats. Kipchoge gets marathon goat but Bekele is the all time goat. His resume is crazy, I could care less if he ran a bunch of 2:30 marathons. Doesn’t erase what he did in the past. Same for Kipchoge if he started running a bunch of slow marathons he would still be marathon Goat. Not sure why athletes have to hang it up to hold onto a legacy. Would be amazing to see one of these guys keep at it for another 5 plus years.

fat kenny wrote:

westsouthrunner wrote:

Have you run 2:01? Can you run 2:12 in NY 6 weeks after running a 2:06?

I think it was alright. He should take a break and just gear up for MAYBE. One more really good marathon. He is older now so we should be reasonable

What does it matter what I’ve run (2:16:xx)? If you didn’t play in the nfl or champion’s league, that means you can’t be critical?

The guy craters and dnf’s way more than normal or what is acceptable. I don’t think you can refute that. Totally cheapening his legacy. I hope it’s just because he can’t let go instead of an outright money grab.

How does one cheapen their legacy? If you were to go back in time, would you be less impressed with Bekele's WR's and gold medals had you known that he would run some crappy races 15 years later? With his 2:01 marathon, he cemented himself as by far the greatest long distance runner to have ever lived. No amount of 2:11 marathons will take that away from him.

college 1500 runner wrote:

fat kenny wrote:

What does it matter what I’ve run (2:16:xx)? If you didn’t play in the nfl or champion’s league, that means you can’t be critical?

The guy craters and dnf’s way more than normal or what is acceptable. I don’t think you can refute that. Totally cheapening his legacy. I hope it’s just because he can’t let go instead of an outright money grab.

He doesn't owe anything to you lmao. Crazy how entitled you sound ...

I'd rather see him continue to train and hopefully hit a great time rather than just quit now.

I don’t think entitled means what you think it means.

The Smarter America wrote:

Bekele is a professional runner. Of course he wants the money. That's ridiculous. He's getting paid and you're not.

With your logic, Jay Cutler should have received a check for many 5 games in his career because he showed up and rarely delivered.

Bekele has earned the right to show up when and where he wants and do how he wants.

Everyone welcomed an older, heavier Henry Rono back with his mid 17 5k

Why not just respect the career of Bekele and regard these races as cameos.

Correct with Jay Cutler. That was basically stealing.

Showing up to marathons and dnf’ing or going out the back door after hype by himself and his management is a bad look. That’s not a “cameo” appearance. There’s a huge difference than just showing up and hoping for the best because you love the sport.

fat kenny wrote:

Pay back the appearance fee, and call it good.

By the way , I realised the same thing today.......for the first time.

Bekele is not just chubby. HE is fat. I hope I know the difference.

He looked overweight and seemed like he was struggling.

He still has it but I htink he has a lot of work to do but in my opinion he is done.

He finished 3rd and 6th at two of the six marathon majors only six weeks apart. Why should he even consider retiring? Honestly, I think it's a good sign he finished two high level marathons that close together, even if both didn't go quite according to plan, given his history of dropping out of races. He should just focus on winning races and forget about running for time. I think he still has a few marathon major wins ahead of him if he plays his cards right, and I also think the 2024 Olympics are a possibility, but he probably needs to move off trying for the world record. As far as getting 6th today, he likely is right there for the win if he hadn't run a 2:06, after faltering off faster than world record pace, only a few weeks ago.

He still may be TGOAT male runner so whatever he accomplishes now and going forward is only icing on the cake. If he is able to hang around for another year or two--he may well his some masters records.

Fair enough.

Where I will agree your point is based on the fact that by showing up and not giving it a go, it will make people talk more about what Kenenisa didn't do than what Albert did do.

Yeah, that isn't right.

KB was not in NY on some sort of goodwill tour, ambassador of the sport, meet and greet a living legend sort of thing. According to him and his team he was in NY to win and he still professes a goal of going under 2:01. In that context today’s run was an epic fail. It was downright embarrassing. He beat True by 1 sec. That’s pathetic, I’m sorry.

And yes, when you are the goat, run with the stated intention of winning and only manage to beat True by 1 sec, it absolutely tarnishes your legacy. It might not be fair, but it’s a fact. The 2nd half of KB’s career has been marked by rare flashes of brilliance and mostly disappointment.