2023 NYC Men: Could King Ches or Cam Levins really win a major?

If Meb could do it, I don't see why not Levins or Ches couldn't.

Tola seems like the guy to beat but Ches/Levins are both threats to win or land on the podium. They're both good XC runners. They'll be fine with the course. I completely missed that Ches ran 59-low in September. He's had sort of a similar pro trajectory to Levins. Kind of a tough go of things right away, could find success on the roads later into his career.

As I think Levinr is more likely to win

Some unknown dude will take Levins when they go through the dusty stretch near the end. 2:07 high

yes win more experience for sure

If Ches was a king on the pro circuit, there would be no question about his ability to win. The mere fact you need to ask proves his crown expired the day he finished college.

Queen Lokedi and King Ches for the Ws

Not sure. This will be the marathon debut for Levinr.

levins is a proven winner in the marathon distance. ches. not so much.

The kenyan cat/Oregon stud has been training (and presumably doping) in Kenya. Probably him or one of the other Africans winning it with the Canadian cat second. Some good creds to their names haven't shown premium form lately such as Nageeye and Kitata but perhaps they were not fully saucing at that instance. Giants are on the road and the Jets play Monday night.

This is the chance to do it. Very weak field. This type of course should really be an advantage to a strength based runner like Levins. Ches is obviously very talented. It'll be cool to see how he handles the marathon. Either could definitely pull it off.

It was a smart move by him to run this race. With all the PR time chasers running in flat course races that nobody cares about, Cam has a lot of the spotlight to himself in a race that actually gets some mainstream attention.

Cam WOULD HAVE BETTER chance winning the PAn American Games , but Not sure. Guy ran 2'11 in hot humidity conditions. Medal for sure

Neither one qualifies to clean Mebs running shoes.

King Ches will drop out or 2'12

I'm rooting for Cam to get his day like Shalane did but I've got to ask if Cheserek is still running in Skechers and if he did that 59 last month in Skechers?

Because Skechers still uses EVA, so a 59 in Skechers is almost like using old-school shoes, that's amazing (hyperburst is just EVA, in fact it's LESS energy return than if you used plain EVA because it's LESS foam)

I dunno why people debut at the hardest marathon major but I guess it's not always about the PR, he'd be a few minutes faster almost anywhere else.

On paper Cheserek should be good for a sub 2:05 anywhere but NYC but since it's not a real super-shoe and given the course difficulty he's going to have a heck of time after mile 22

If Cam is relying on super-shoes to get a 2:05 and Edward can do 59 half without, well there's your answer.

A king doesn’t finish over 6 minutes behind the winner either. Still calling Cheserek a king at this point is like Al Bundy talking about his 4 touchdowns in one high school football game.