Haile Gebrselassie: isn't retired, He Will Compete Again!

Cmon Man wrote:

What about just competing to your best on that day even if it is NOT your best ever? What about guts and courage? He absolutely did not "HAVE TO" drop out. He made a choice to drop out. And he needs to deal with whatever emotional baggage that holds for him. He would gain the respect of many if he chose to fight on and compete even when he is not at his best.

He made the right choice. Obviously his knee hurt too much and he reasonably was worried about causing permanent damage. This isn't about dropping out on a bad day, it's about not being a moron and running 26.2 miles on a bad knee.

It might not be the fastest or easiest, but it sure isn't a hard course. There is a reason why Kara gouchers PR their is a min faster than on a non Down hill course.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

He just ran sub 60 in the Great North Run. I've run that course and it's not the fastest or easiest

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I'm not so sure he'll be back competing again. Unlike a lot of people on LetsRun, Haile has quite a lot of other options outside of running.

For example, Ethiopian Presidential Elections are held every 6 years, the last being in 2007.

Dude had Achilles tendon surgery. I would say that qualifies as a real big injury if he had to have surgery for it.

asdfasdfasdasdfasdfasdfa wrote:

There is a reason why Kara gouchers PR their is a min faster than on a non Down hill course.

You can't comment, if you can't spell there right.

Cmon Man wrote:

What about just competing to your best on that day even if it is NOT your best ever? What about guts and courage? He absolutely did not "HAVE TO" drop out. He made a choice to drop out. And he needs to deal with whatever emotional baggage that holds for him. He would gain the respect of many if he chose to fight on and compete even when he is not at his best.

Dropping out of a marathon is not a big deal, if he was injured hobbling another 10 miles could do some serious damage. It has nothing to do with guts or courage, it has to do with being smart.

His other options has nothing to do with him retiring. The single most important factor is if his desire to compete again is greater than his emotional letdowns and physical injuries. I say he will compete again probably within six months and have a solid performance sub 2:06- he may skip his Toyko commitment but he will run a flat and fast spring marathon!

the african lover

Isn't he African or part African?

runinfinity.com had an article last week saying he was signed for the tokyo marathon on february 27th 2011, well see.

Who do you think is more disappointed about Geb's having to drop? The person who has trained for MONTHS, putting so much into workouts and investing so much mentally and spiritually into the ONE day that you hope everything will go right, or some hack sitting at a keyboard that can't run one mile at the pace this man does workouts in preparation for a 26 mile race?

The ignorance on this board continues to astound me. It seems that everyone on here has world class training advice, but I rarely see anyone that even has national class times.

Probably because the REAL runners are out there training instead of posting such crap!

Geb having to drop is more about saving what's left of his career. I'm pretty certain that he's not really desperate for the money. He's out there training for records and for times. If this man drops, he doesn't start the race with the intention of dropping, but HE has to decide if continuing on will jeapordize his future. HE has to live with the disappointment of having to drop for another race.

I totally understand where he's coming from. Having to drop after putting in SO much time, effort, and emotional prep is just draining.

I for one hopes that he takes time to re-evaluate his MRI and the rehab that it will take to heal, and THEN make a more unemotional decision. I doubt 2012 is a viable option, but put him back on the "track" marathons like Berlin or Dubai, in the ideal pacing setting, and we could see one more glimmer of the one we like to call The GREATEST.

Even Mary Whittenburg knew Haile was speaking to quickly and emotionally as she stated we're not accepting resignations. It maybe news because he announced it but honestly how many people think this was Haile's last race?

In my mind Geb is like Michael Jordan he has earned the right to do whatever he wants whether that is to retire or keep running long after he should. I will still root for him either way. I wish him good luck.

I believe he really will retire, and he probably thought about this a lot during the week before.

Am I the only person who thinks that he would have easily won today if the knee was good?

First of all I totally agree.

Secondly, Geb is living in lulu land if he thinks you get stronger at 37, 38, 39. I ran some PR's at those ages but overall I was deteriorating. I could no longer do the training I had been doing in my early and mid 30's. By 40 I really began to slow down.

It's nice that he feels like he's "20" but the clock says otherwise.

Realistically he can go after the 40 plus marathon record if he keeps training. But in the end youth and talent win out over age and talent.

VIPAM wrote:

After his New York Marathon DNF it's reported that Haile G. has retired; however, I think the difficult course and huge self-disappointment is affecting him right now.

So no way do I think he is retired as his emotions has the best of him after such a disappointment!

In other words, after you said you'd retire from this board and reneged on it, now you're hoping Geb is as disingenuous and an attention seeking whore like you are? Give me a break.

Will you go somewhere with your tired game. Your little one side love obsession with VIPAM is old- grow up JERK!

Geb is the greatest of all time no question. I am not sure if all of you are old enough to have watched him win the 1500 at WC and all his 5000s. He has also run numerous races where he had to fight to win. I get tired of hearing these idiots saying he was only a time trialer. He has run so many awesome races he is the greatest.

"time trialer" referred to his marathons only, and it all started with his debut where both Tergat and Kannouchi beat him, and then he seemed to avoid those big head to head matchups in the marathon.