Gebremariam to move to marathon, because of lack of finishing speed?

i was hoping gebremariam as the tallest ethiopian would run a steeple with 1252 for 5k and 2652 for 10k onthe track, i think he could break 8 minutes for the steeple and with shaheen/cherono not running worlds due to injury, gebremariam might even win, same with berhane adere who is the tallest elite ethiopian female, more importantly if gebremariam won the steeple it might open the floodgates of many great ethiopian steeplers, speaking of gebremariam i think his wife is can break radcliffes marathon record, i saw her run 3019 for 10k at stanford and she was not even breathing hard right after the race. but where is his wife werknesh kidane? she had a baby boy with gebremariam in may 2006 (imagine the genes for running that kid has) and she has not raced since. back to gebremariam yes i think he will become a marathoner and a 206-207 for a debut is very possible.

It sounds crazy, since a 12:52/26:52 runner would be by far the greatest in American history, but I agree. Gebremariam has "only" run 7:39 for 3K so he doesn't have the underdistance speed of Sihine who himself is a notch below Bekele in finishing ability. If he sticks with the 10K, he has a real chance at the bronze in Osaka or Beijing but so does Tadesse, Kiprop, Mosop, etc., whereas he has the potential to dominate the marathon. He'd bring credentials as good as anyone short of Geb or Tergat and I think he'd be a mortal lock for 2:05-2:06 but you really never know over 26.2.

If I were Gebremariam or his coach, this wouldn't be an easy decision, though. Weighing a good shot at a medal vs. a good shot at dominating an event, although with a reasonable risk of spectacular failure.

Be So Bold wrote: He'd bring credentials as good as anyone short of Geb or Tergat and I think he'd be a mortal lock for 2:05-2:06 but you really never know over 26.2.

The difference between him & Geb/Tergat of course would be that he would be in the midst of his prime vs past it.

Do you guys think Gebremariam is really only 23 years?

He medalled in the World Junior Champs. in 2002, but he already looked old then.

Now, he looks closer to 30 or older.

I think there may be something about the Ethiopian calendar which can reduce ages between Ethiopia and Western countries.

In Korea, where I now live and teach, when a Korean is born it is already 'given' one year old, because they count age from the time the human is conceived as a placenta in the womans' body. Sometimes, Koreans are given 2 years at birth!

Ghost in Korea

coach:

christophe_moulton@yahoo.ca

Ghost

I tend to agree with you. Gebremariam may move to longer distances. But what can he do in the the marathon it remains unknown. I remember you that not all good 5000m-10000m or 10k-cross runners had been major success while move to 26miles. Do you remember Mariano Haro or Tony Simmons ? Early on I would advise Gebremariam to run HM more frequently and later on he would try the marathon.

The kind of success to move to the marathon for those runners like Gebremariam it depends of the training done as well as his motivation and willing to participate in the marathon distance.

Ritz should take note.

I don't think he should move up yet. He's put down PRs in recent years, and can still improve upon them. He's #17 AT in the 5k (#3 Ethiopian), while he's a little further back in the 10k at #24 AT (#6 in Ethiopia).

Maybe he just needs to work on his shorter speed for a period of time, but I think he'd be better suited at trying some more 5 and 10ks, maybe a half-marathon before moving up.

This is off-topic, but if anyone were to try to run a fast half-marathon or any race above 5k it should be Micah Kogo. He's yet to break 13 minutes in the 5k, yet has a 26:35 10k time. If things don't start working for him in the 5k, after this season he should move up. I'm guessing his going after the 10k at Osaska?

Commen Cense wrote:

He's #17 AT in the 5k (#3 Ethiopian)

#4 Ethiopian