Gidey 14:08

Worth 14:20 in regular shoes. Great performance!

But she's usually a nonfactor at the end of championship races.

Faith is living in Gidey's head rent-free now. I was rooting for her to get the record back. Hopefully NYC goes well for her.

She got 5th last year and won the 10000 and got 2nd in the 10000 this year and in Doha and got Bronze in Tokyo. How is she a non-factor?

This is why the women's distance races are so exciting these days. There's such a cast of characters right now:

Kipyegon: The inevitability. Might be the GOAT, and just had the greatest season of all time. Almost unbeatable in either a time-trial or a kick. Beloved by fans and competitors alike. Absolutely rock solid in both her tactics and performances.

Hassan: The wild card. Definitely the GROAT, and possibly the GOAT too. Opposite stylistically to Kipyegon; she's always willing to go outside her comfort zone and put on a show. When she's in the race, don't expect things to be easy, for Hassan or for anyone else.

Gidey: The robot. In my opinion, there's no one in the world who can churn out fast laps the way Gidey can. If all races were run as cycling style time-trials, I'd bet on Gidey to win the 5k/10k double. And neither is even her best distance.

Then you have Tsegay, Chebet, and all the incredible marathoners. But even just focusing on the triumvirate above, it's a golden age in women's distance running.

Beautiful Runner, stride mechanics are so smooth

Here are the top 10 women all time with super shoe conversions factored in for the races run since 2020:

1. Tirunesh Dibaba, 14:11
2. Almaz Ayana, 14:12
3. Meseret Defar, 14:12
4. Genzebe Dibaba, 14:15
5. Faith Kipyegon, 14:17
6. Helen Obiri, 14:18
7. Letesenbet Gidey, 14:18
8. Gudaf Tsegay, 14:20
9. Agnes Tirop, 14:20
10. Vivian Cheryiyot, 14:20

Me when people run fast :)

You when people run fast :(

Me when I see fair comparisons :)

You when you see fair comparisons :(

Didn't Mo Farah run 26:50 at Worlds 2015? According to you, with super shoes he would have been 26:25 in a championship race, closing in 55. Not to mention, his two 3:28 1500m runs would have been 3:25s. Of course, El Guerrouj would have run 3:22 low, so no comparison there, I guess. Andrew Wheating would have about the same PR as Jakob does.

If the shoes affect elite athletes anywhere near the way you think they do, we are at a remarkably weak time for men's distance running.

Got Farah's race wrong. It was 26:49 at Worlds 2017, closing in 55, so "would have been" 26:24, closing in 54, and with a final 5k of 13:01, final 1600 of 4:01.

I love her stride...

Super shoes conversion? You pulled those numbers from you know where.

Now do conversion from heavy leather shoes with heavy steel spikes to lighter weight nylon shoes.

Do conversion from cinder tracks to synthetic surface tracks.

That is the downside of better drug testing. How many elite Kenyans have we lost over the past 3 years?

What is a GROAT? Greatest runner? racer?

I’ve seen people say the effect is smaller at faster paces. So for men’s 5K the benefit might only be half-second per lap. For women’s 5K it’s 1 second per lap.

greatest range: 800m (1.56) to marathon (London winner in debut after stopping to stretch)