Procrastinator wrote:
Did anyone watch the race? Looking at the splits, seems Gharib threw down the gauntlet between 15-20 and then it was all over. Was Gharib running comfortably?
It wasn't Gharib's idea, it was an unexpected surge by the pacemaker, Eliud Kiptanui (2:05 PR). Read the race summary on Brett Larner's blog, Japan Running News.
Brett concludes that Kiptanui must have been trying to run away from the field for the win, despite having been engaged as a pacemaker only. (I believe he ran the Berlin marathon in September.)
By 30K Gharib had caught him - nevertheless, Kiptanui was apparently forcibly removed from the course by a race official. I wonder if he was contractually barred from taking the win (and didn't realize it himself?), or if the Fukuoka organizers were just angry with him for blowing the pacing assignment and then blowing up.