Julien Wanders, 29:29, beats Clayton Young, 29:31, in Paris 10km, finishing 16th. Winner, Mekonnen 27:43, Kipkoech 27:44,

Will Julien ever get back to previous level, 27:13, 59:17? That is the question. Not sure why the stagnation continues. A few months ago he seemed to be progressing nicely. We wish him luck, nevertheless. The former monster still has ambitions.

Wanders easily beat Colombian marathoner, Suarez, longtime leader in the O.G. marathon 2021. Suarez has a 2:10:51 PB, pre super shoes. Suarez finished in 31:47 here. Wanders wasn't far behind German monster Richard Ringer (Euro marathon champion), 28:59.

Course seemed perfectly fast for the women. 2 women under 30 (big PBs), and Ngaya at 14:41. Of course they get more pacing help. As for Wanders, the struggles continue. He is fewer than 30 seconds faster than B-level Ethiopian/Kenyan women.

Isn’t 29:30 a bad tempo run for young? Even assuming training through and some travel lag. Maybe there was some appearance money/opportunity to see the Paris course but that just looks bad

Correct me if wrong but hasn't Young used short races as marathon tuneups in the past?

He ran slow in NYC Half too (65:35). Likely not training seriously yet, but real marathon training to begin soon. For the other serious marathoners good runs for Levins (28:11) and Yimer of course.

Winner, Mekonnen is a bona fide stud with 26:54.39 and 58:33 creds.

Kipkoech has a 28:40 from Nairobi (altitude) and 59:22 as well as a 13:20 from Goteborg in 2021, famous Coach Wizard's home turf.

Thanks for sharing. My athlete ran 6th in women's 5k and did say it was rather slippery on the corners.

WHY ARE YOU SO HUNG UP ON JULIEN WANDERS

Does he get some special prize for beating Clayton Young? No?

It’s very sad to see. I worry that in instances like this, one of the potential answers in the differential might be that someone has ceased utilizing something that might have got them there to begin with. I would surely hope not. It could just simply be that he fried his body while burning extremely bright for 2 years.

Wanders ran 28:38 in Castellon, Spain on February 25, 2024, 6 weeks ago. Just behind Sondre Norstadt Moen. I was expecting low 28:10 -28:20, at this stage. Somewhat disappointing. Hope he gets there. Not sure what the issues are. Lingering injuries, possibly, chronic biomechanical problem due to previous injuries? Could Professor Canova update his situation as they're good friends, even though Julien has gone back to his old Swiss coach, from Stade Genève.

Because in 2019 he was running phenomenal times like 13:13, 27-17, 59:13 etc and then his form disappeared. We're hoping he gets back to his previous level soon.

It was 4 loops with at least one tight turn.

Cobblestones in one section and it was wet and a little slippery.

It was a race not a time trial.

It's available to watch on YouTube.

Are you talking about the women's youth race?

That was a good race. Definitely not a fast course.

Clayton isn't even training right now, just running like 50mpw and no workouts. Starting a 14 week build to Olympics soon, wonder if Eyestone cut him after Mantz' injury

Elite women

Not saying it was the world’s fastest course, but it was flat and 2 second tier Kenyans/Ethiopian women went sub-30. It’s gotta be pretty fast…

Goodness. 29.30 is just Scottish club level running on the roads. Higher end of it, but a very ordinary time for supposed elite level runners who devote their entire lives to it.

Maybe Wanders should train in Scotland, to toughen him up a bit? He could hold down a full time job at the same time. Doing track sessions in the snow into a howling wind is bound to have some beneficial training effect if he's not responding well to altitude and warm weather.