Copenhagen: Mengesha 58:58, Walelelegn 59:05, Kipkoech 59:07, Wanders 1:03:47 (?)

I wonder if the jealous guy will reply anonymously.

I’m sorry but I don’t think I follow you - may I know which jealous guy you are referring to?

Thank you.

Lobalu at 59:12....makes me want to see Fisher run a sub 59

Time to stop the Wanders hype.

He was/is a fraud.

tbh it's kinda weird for that caliber of person to run 63

15 guys sub 60 wow! There can't be many races where that many men ran sub 60 in one race!

Wanders: He is absolutely not a fraud - he just happened to be at his peak when he was 23 years young training very well in Kenya and not suffering any injuries. Since then, he’s had different injuries and I believe he’s also had a bout with COVID-19 among other things. We are all hoping for him to get back and the paradox is that he seems to train very well in Kenya keeping up with all the best runners but then when it comes to races in Europe it is disappointment after disappointment. Can someone explain what is going on with this guy, Wanders? In his defense, at least he finished the race because a lot of other guys would’ve pulled out but this guy just hates to pull out. He is gutsy to the end even when he’s racing poorly.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cib6WC0oyfI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Here, for example, is an example of Wanders training in Kenya recently and pushing Bonny Kibiwott, to the limit in this training run and in the race today Bonny finished with 60:00, which Julien should’ve been capable of doing today. 63:47 is absolutely not indicative of his fitness.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cib6WC0oyfI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

In the reel also you can see this other Swiss athlete, Tadesse Abraham, The 40 year old who ran under 60 minutes and Wanders appears to be easily keeping up with him.

Julien Wanders almost always is and will be overtrained. His workouts are great in Kenya because he's a workout warrior who burns all his matches by the time he gets to a start line.

He's even been very open in the past about doing much more than his coach(es) prescribed. It's the same problem every single time and it's pure talent being constantly wasted.

Until he parks his ego in training, he's continue to bonk his way through major races. And I'm saying this as a huge fan of him.

I still maintain something was not right. 2019 was Julien’s big year when he ran all his tremendous pbs. After that it’s been up and down. 2021 was is the worst year for Julien when he could only manage 28:59/1:02:42. In early 2022 back in the full winter, Julien started to show promise in getting back to his former level with a very decent 28:14 in Valencia on 9 January 2022, and then an even more promising 1:00:28 in Napoli on February 27, 2022. I was thinking Julien is now getting back to his former best (27:13/59:13) but since then confirmation of his tremendous potential has not come about. He is indeed a mystery man but perhaps some underlying injury is preventing him from getting to that ultimate level which he deserves to show the world.

On another subject, France lost to Spain in the European basketball championships last night by around 10 points. Despite having many NBA basketball stars, France was not able to withstand the superior fundamental skills displayed by the Spaniards in this championship which is a stark reminder that fundamentals in basketball often trump outlandish skills and bling bling on the basketball court. I was very relieved to see Spain win because in my opinion many or most of those French players are very arrogant and do not respect their opponents. The French were actually lucky to get to the final because they were very close to being eliminated by the Turks and the Italians in the lead up to the final.

What I could see from yesterdays race, Wanders was in the front group the first 5-8km isch until the string was cut. After that he ran as usual through the race @90% effort. Sometimes I'm wondering why he starts the races so aggressive? Do he really think, despite all injury and sickness he has suffered from last year, that he is capable for sub 60? But then again, he does not upploaed any activities on Strava anymore (my first thought was he did suffer from another injury) so it's difficult to draw any conclusions despite his "real fitness" today.

I think he did the race for Swiss for the national competition..

Wanders ran 60:28 back in February 2022 which is not that long ago and so logically he should be in close to sub 60 shape now if not faster nine months later. I’m thinking he appears to have some kind of chronic problem with one of his legs which may contribute to his problems in intensive races.

True, but remember that Wanders got a sacral stress fracture after his debut at Paris Marathon april 2022. That's a pretty nasty injury that takes many weeks to heal from.

Will Mengesha run sub 2?

French teams seem to rub certain people the wrong way. See this one with his "bling bling" references. I await your commentary later this year when France defends its world cup title.

Another profiled North American in the race: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiplZjYrmDk/
"Cheers to better days!
Tough day in Copenhagen (64:28), but we are only 4 weeks from @towaterfront42k and training has been going well. Excited to put the finishing touches on this block!"

Glad to read, he's keeping positive.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CicISdBItc9/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Wanders training with fellow Swiss runner, Tadesse Abraham - 40 years young who ducked under 60 minutes in this race. Also in the reel, Bonny Kibiwott (60:00), a Wanders home boy friend in Iten. The irony is that Wanders is often the strongest guy in training but when it comes to racing he’s behind most of these guys.