What an amazing race 12:41.73 DEAD HEAT?! between Kejelcha and Kiplimo

Kejelcha gets the win! What a great, great race.

LAST 2k WAS IN 4:54, 4:54 BROOOOO

Yeah, unbelievable running.

Final 1600:
60.18, 60.09, 58.42,55.75 (3:54.44)

You gotta be happy for kejelcha. He’s been so close so many times and has fallen short. I hope that this little boost of confidence helps him build up to a global medal. His athletic body of work had been outstanding. They were 6 seconds outside world record pace… now kiplimo has to think about spitting someone the lead. He should take the lead and make someone come from behind. Kejelcha is in the shape of his life. Hopefully he can sustain his fitness.

Anyone care to guess what those two are capable of running in a differently paced race? The effect of leveling out splits can be overstated sometimes but surely they’re both capable of faster than Geb’s 12:39.36, and maybe something approaching the WR.

I think we have 3 guys who have demonstrated sub-12:40/near WR 5k shape this season + Katir who beat Kejelcha in Florence and Girma who’s obviously in monster shape.

Maybe add Kiplimo and Ingrebritsen to that list as well. Kiplimo with 12:41 and just losing and a 7:54 2 mile for Jakob. Means both are also near or at that level.

Also, while I’m sure the majority will disagree, I’m not sure Jakob would have run that race. I can imagine him running 3rd into the final straight and then not having the gear to get past them because he’d have to split 55.xx off such a fast constant pace, and settling for 3rd in 12:42-low.

We know he’s more likely to be able to dial up that kind of performance on demand than Kejelcha, though, which is important.

Yeah that’s exactly what I meant. 3 who have demonstrated that fitness (Jakob, Kiplimo, Kejelcha) plus Katir and Girma.

As I was watching the race and they started to pull away from Grijalva I thought Luis was going out the back door to 13:20’s final time.

I then started to understand the splits and realized Grijalva wasn’t going out the back door, they were crashing through the front door.

Those last five laps were something else, they deserve my Wow,MF, Wow.

I think they're closer to Bekele's 12:37 than Geb's 12:39. I think they went through the first k on 12:55 pace, and my math may be wrong, but did they close the last 2k faster than 12:30 pace? I think what probably helped them more than any 12:3x guy was having someone to race the last 800. Kiplimo isn't closing anywhere near that fast without Kejelcha to chase, and Kejelcha isn't closing anywhere near that fast without Kiplimo staying right on his shoulder.

Also, not to broach the shoe topic, but Kejelcha must be feeling like he got some great karma. He's the one that pushed the pace back in that 12:43 2018 race and came 3rd in 12:46. Today he got rewarded by winning the greatest 5k race ever.

Last 2k was 12:15 pace

Leader-to-leader the splits were 2:34.8 - 2:36.1 - 2:36.3 - 2:30.3 - 2:24.2

So in terms of 5k pace, 12:54.0 - 13:00.5 - 13:01.5 - 12:31.5 - 12:01.0 (heh)

Last 3k was 12:31.4 average pace.

At 2022 Worlds Jakob split 2:38.0 - 2:41.0 - 2:45.8 - 2:41.3 - 2:23.1 = 13:09.24

Amazingly close, and if there were a photo taken from the other side, not sure that they wouldn't have judged this as a true dead heat, as the leading part of Kiplimo's left shoulder is partly obscured in this image.

Kejelcha deserved that win. He’s been the pacemaker for some amazing races the past several years, so it was great to finally see him be rewarded for his efforts. When he ran 12:46 in 2018 (doing all the work and carrying Barega to 12:43), I knew he had low 12:40s in him, but after the last few years I didn’t think he was ever going to do it. I’m so glad he was able to find his form again.

Gold in Budapest will be tough, but he seems to have as good a chance as anyone after that performance. That final 2k was unreal. Props to Kiplimo too, of course. He made that race by dropping the hammer after the pacer stepped off.

Just a fantastic race. You could see the determination in his face on that final lap-- great win.

On a related note, I know the sport has some problems, to say the least, but there have been outstanding races lately. It's good to see some hints of appreciation through all the complaining on here. For those not watching, you're really missing out.

Kejelcha is single handedly responsible for like half of the all time top 15 list. 2018 Brussels as you mentioned he went crazy in the 4th K and dragged Barega to 12:43 and Gebrhiwet to 12:45. Rome 2022 he did all the work when the pacemakers dropped and led Krop to 12:46 and Kimeli to 12:46. Brussels 2022 he took the pace again and Krop went 12:45 and Fisher 12:46. And then here today with a blistering last 1,000 helping Kiplimo run 12:41.

All time list would look very different if not for Kejelcha, respect to him for never being afraid to get after it on the DL circuit. Would love to see him be more aggressive at World's this year, he has largely been a non-factor outside of 2019 in Doha.

Really hope that one or both of these guys are in top form and make a move like this at Worlds. Super gutsy, and probably the only type of race where Jakob gets beat. Kind of crazy to say this so soon after he crushed the 2 mile WR, but Jakob could very well have his hands full in the 5k at Worlds.

Yeah huge respect to Kejelcha for pushing the pace as per usual and this time coming out on top with an insane win. Worlds will be very interesting this year with so many people showing up in insane shape. Everyone would have learnt their lesson from lettign the pace sag with Jakob last year, so I'm thinking that the east africans would want to drop the hammer early and push from out in front. With aregawi, kejelcha and all of those other early pace pushers in the race could we see a sub 12:50 championship race? maybe threatening the WR? I might be getting ahead of myself like how everyone was getting ahead of themselves before the 2021 olympics, but if the weather cooperates and its a cool day for the 5k, we could see some insane stuff.

Even though he narrowly lost, I’d contend Kiplimo is probably in the best shape of all.

Did the grunt work today while Kejelcha drafted.

Also, it was his first track race since last summer. One hell of a rust buster.

I think Kiplimo can break the WR in his next race.