Stacked Zurich DL 5k!!

categorically wrote:

I'm just really perplexed why Farah isn't running in Zurich. He's in a three way tie with Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet for the DL lead. Isiah Koech is one point back. Those three are in the race. Whoever wins will win the DL title and $40,000.

...

I understand he might want to stay at home with his newborn kids. Is that really worth 40k?

Do you really think that the DL title or $40K mean jack sh!t to Farah right now.

He can't run every race, and even if he could why would he want to? Sitting at home with twin babies and twin Olympic gold medals seems well worth any lost money.

categorically wrote:

How much were the tickets? How is this economically tenable? No wonder they couldn't afford to put together a decent field for that 2-mile.

Something called sponsorship. By companies like this one called Samsung. As in this series called the "Samsung Diamond League."

Thinking about the immediate aftermath of arrival of my two kids. Can't quite imagine going out to run a race in the midst of that --

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Thought it was pretty obvious, between the context of the comment I was ridiculing (butthole) and my DIRECTLY REFERRING TO THAT COMMENT. Sorry it was lost on you. Now STFU and make a post that mentions running.

Oh, the irony...

categorically wrote:

The article says Bolt is getting 300k per race. I'll take a guess and say that Zurich also offered Farah that much since he's a popular european athlete with two gold medals.

Then Birmingham would have to offer him 350k to make it worth it. That's $28 for every one of the 12,500 people in the crowd! Even if he only get's half the offer of Bolt - 150k - Birmingham would have to give him 200k or $16 per fan.

How much were the tickets? How is this economically tenable? No wonder they couldn't afford to put together a decent field for that 2-mile.

Your point is based on the premise that Zurich would offer Farah that same amount that they offered Bolt. That's a fairly laughable premise if you ask me. There is no way that Farah (or anyone else) would get as much as Bolt.

true

bolt brings wrs to the table as well as possibilty of wrs

mo doesn't

~ $100k/race woud seem fair for mo

categorically wrote:

How much were the tickets? How is this economically tenable? No wonder they couldn't afford to put together a decent field for that 2-mile.

Tickets were GBP 20.12, or about $32. I doubt they wanted to have a decent field in the 2 mile - it was a show set up for Farah, or as some commentator put it, 8 laps of honour. Nobody was interested in a fast race, and that's ok.

Zurich will be a different game altogether. Here, it's not about celebrating the Olympic champion, but about redemption for everyone who missed out. It obviously depends on the pace making and conditions, but there are a good number of runners in the field who want to make a statement.

As always, I am particularly interested in what Arne Gabius can do - his 13:13 from Oslo this year is the slowest PB of the entire field. In his last few races, he often seemed to go with the leaders, lost contact with a few laps to go, and maybe gained back a few places with a strong final 200m.

If the field goes out at 12:45 pace, that could be too fast for Gabius - will there be a second pack and will he be happy to not run near the front, or will he have to run on his own? Or could this really be the race where he breaks 13 minutes? For some reason, I hope it won't be (prior to 2012, Gabius has been a consistent 13:30 runner, PB of 13:26 from 2008), but it will be interesting to watch.

From a US perspective, I guess Lopez Lomong (PB of 13:11, second slowest but probably not reflecting true potential) will be just as exciting.

the result

1 - Gebremeskel

2 - Merga

3 - Gebrehiwot

sub 12:40?

I really hope these guys get good pacemakers and stay in contact with them. I do not want to see this race turn into a sit and kick. I want to see Galen and Lagat battling for the American record, Koech, Gebremeskel, Gebriwhat, and whoever else going for sub 12:45, and that fun stuff. It's gonna be tough finding a decent feed on my iPhone, though.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Cartoon runner wrote:

I also note that Imane Merga is in the race. He's been under 13:00 this year. He has to be hungry, yes? I bet he's filing his elbows to points. Against my better judgement, I've become something of a Merga fan.

Any race with him brings guaranteed entertainment. Gotta love a guy that just tackles a guy 40 pounds heavier than him.

Insane Merga is a competitor all right. I love to see that guy run when he's on. Still he's always doing something not a little but a lot stupid.

Despite his entertainment value, they have to ban the guy next time he red cards.

Looking at the startlist for 5k in the Diamond League in Zurish this Thursday.

Looks like a very good field with all sub 12:50 guys from the Paris race. Gebremeskel, Gebrhiwot, Koech and co. Also 14 sub 13 guys including the americans Rupp and Lagat.

If the pace is good this will be a very good race. What do you say?

startlists:

http://www.diamondleague-zurich.com/en/Results/Overview/5000m/

I can't imagine competing with bronchitis. Of course the two times I had it I probably didn't get antibiotics early enough. It's possible Rupp could have finished his cycle of antibiotics and be well rested and peaked, we'll see. Would love to see both him and Lagat break 12:50 and compete for the record.

Another theory is if Rupp isn't healthy he's entered just to knock Merga off the track for payback for last year.*

*Joke

oh yes wrote:

Looking at the startlist for 5k in the Diamond League in Zurish this Thursday.

What?!? I don't see Bumbi on that list! How can they justify inviting Rupp to compete in the 5000m, but exclude the man who defeated him at the Olympic Trials with such a dominant performance?

Querfeldein wrote:

From a US perspective, I guess Lopez Lomong (PB of 13:11, second slowest but probably not reflecting true potential) will be just as exciting.

Definitely a great subplot. We still don't know what Lomong is capable of in a fast 5000 and this should be a great night to find out.

Fastnbulbous wrote:

Another theory is if Rupp isn't healthy he's entered just to knock Merga off the track for payback for last year.*

*Joke

LOL. Merga tackling Solinsky with all his body weight led the headcase Solinsky into serious self-doubt. Rupp should be paying big Merga some big money.

I think it was not Merga who bumped Solinsky, it was someone else.

I think they have Gideon Gathimba and Vincent Kiprop pacing. Pretty good athletes in their own right.