Could Eliud Kipchoge run a sub 57 half-marathon if he trained for it?

No he absolutely could not run 26:55 10K pace for a half marathon. Terrible post.

2:10 MILES?

no

I did mean half marathon in the title. Anyway, you don't think so. 57:50 then? 58:30? I think he's to be able to go sub 58 at least.

No. 10K success is more closely correlated to HM, then HM is to Marathon. He could probably run something like 59:00 give or take 15 seconds in each direction.

Drugs can only help so much but if i were to guess he could go under 59 in a half and possibly, possibly 58:30. Not going to go much faster than that. In the 10000 he would not be able to go under 26:55. I would think at the moment he may have Jack Rayner-type speed for the 10.

Kipchoge can clock a sub 58. HE is better than we think.

He trains at 27:30 10k pace for his 15x1k workouts (2:45) at altitude. He is very much unpushed through the half marathon at sub-60. So, he could easily go a lot faster. I do think that low 58 is probable and I would not rule out a world best. However, he may be capped by the fact that he was limited in his speedwork prior to heading to the roads and does not now train for a mid 26 10k, unlike Kiplimo. I calculate Kiplimo's 57:31 as 27:16 10k pace. That being comparable with Kipchoge's standard 15x1k workout pace, adjusted for altitude's effect on him, I actually have to rethink this and give him a solid shot at it in Valencia or Copenhagen.

based on his 5k and marathon it seems he didn’t even approach his 10k/hm potential throughout his career.

but could he run that fast now? most likely no

I think if he trained specifically for the distance, he could run 57low.

Kipchoge is an alien from outer space, it's completely obvious by now. He could go as fast as the mother ship can make its speed ray go.

Remember that old photo with his weird quad? He's a robot with an alien inside driving it.

But he won't run a sub 57 marathon, nobody would believe it.

What's his VO2max?

71 ml/kg/min

He is at least in 26:3x and 57:mid shape when peaked and tapered.

Anyone who thinks he can go out with erratic pacing (dropping 5-10k in 14:09!) in 59:51, hold on completely alone to a 2:01:09 and not go at least sub 58 for a tapered HM is completely unrealistic.

I think one "problem" road racing has is that the top runners rarely get together to race each other and if they do no one takes the pace and it ends to being a tactical race.

Imagine the top guys in one race going out fast?

im not sure about that. i think it might be that being perfectly prepared for a marathon turns you into a 1 pace runner.

There's no such thing.

I understand what you mean, but 57:30 is to a 59:51 roughly like a 65 to a 67:30 half (I ran between 2:15 and 2:20 for some years). It just is not possible in my world, to run this kind of performance, when you max out at 58 or 58:30 or even slower.

I really think EK could challenge the world record for the half and perhaps destroy it, he is just head and shoulders above every other marathoner.