Five Thoughts On The 2014 NYC Half Marathon
March 17, 2014
Mo Farah To Headline 2014 NYC Half Marathon March 16th
February 26, 2014
He's an endurance based mid-distance guy who has benefitted from the trend of top talented distance runners moving to the marathon earlier in their careers.
If more of the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals at world level.
Somlier wrote:
He's an endurance based mid-distance guy who has benefitted from the trend of top talented distance runners moving to the marathon earlier in their careers.
He's only run one good 1500m. Albeit in a great time. In slower mile races he would be outkicked. His best distances are 5km and 10km
If more of the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals at world level.
Any medals! The Kenyans have lost the bottle to front run. plenty of the Kenyans who race Mo at world's and OG could have set a better pace but they are not winners like Geb or KB. I don't see any of the marathon guys being as good as them. Mo would still dominate with maybe a couple getting in the mix for medals or winning the odd championship
Why do you say middle distance but not long distance in America?
Somlier wrote:
He's an endurance based mid-distance guy who has benefitted from the trend of top talented distance runners moving to the marathon earlier in their careers.
If more of the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals at world level.
Totally agree that he's an endurance based middle-distance guy and that his best distance is probably somewhere around 3k in a flat-out time trial.
Think you're barking up the wrong tree if you think that if the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals. El G made mincemeat of Bekele in '04 and Lagat still seems to be pretty hand over 5k.
I'm not sure why more MD athletes don't realise this. Your best championship distance is likely to be one greater than your best time-trial distance.
Speaker wrote:
Think you're barking up the wrong tree if you think that if the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals. El G made mincemeat of Bekele in '04 and Lagat still seems to be pretty hand over 5k.
I'm not sure why more MD athletes don't realise this. Your best championship distance is likely to be one greater than your best time-trial distance.
Mincemeat is an exaggeration. It came down to the line almost and the race played out to El G's strength - speed. Had the race been in the 12:40s, I think Bekele wins.
Your Lagat point makes no sense. Lagat has always been a distance-trained runner. Especially now that he is actually focused on the 5k. You make it sound like he's still training for the 1500.
What you're missing is that the top marathon guys aren't afraid to push the pace. That's the difference between them and the guys still around. Mo's intimidation tactics wouldn't work on them. His kick would be nonexistent by the end of the race.
mank hoody wrote:
Speaker wrote:Think you're barking up the wrong tree if you think that if the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals. El G made mincemeat of Bekele in '04 and Lagat still seems to be pretty hand over 5k.
I'm not sure why more MD athletes don't realise this. Your best championship distance is likely to be one greater than your best time-trial distance.
Mincemeat is an exaggeration. It came down to the line almost and the race played out to El G's strength - speed. Had the race been in the 12:40s, I think Bekele wins.
Your Lagat point makes no sense. Lagat has always been a distance-trained runner. Especially now that he is actually focused on the 5k. You make it sound like he's still training for the 1500.
What you're missing is that the top marathon guys aren't afraid to push the pace. That's the difference between them and the guys still around. Mo's intimidation tactics wouldn't work on them. His kick would be nonexistent by the end of the race.
Have you ever actually watched a championship race in your life?
He is certainly a drama queen.
I would say that any guy who can run 3:28 is never going to be a candidate for best marathoner in the world. 2:05 maybe, on a good day, but the very thing that lets him run 3:28 will prevent him from being an absolute top end marathoner.
Maybe Mo could be a truly great marathoner if he did marathon training for 5+ years...at which point he would certainly not be a 3:28 guy any more.
mank hoody wrote:
Mincemeat is an exaggeration. It came down to the line almost and the race played out to El G's strength - speed. Had the race been in the 12:40s, I think Bekele wins.
Your Lagat point makes no sense. Lagat has always been a distance-trained runner. Especially now that he is actually focused on the 5k. You make it sound like he's still training for the 1500.
What you're missing is that the top marathon guys aren't afraid to push the pace. That's the difference between them and the guys still around. Mo's intimidation tactics wouldn't work on them. His kick would be nonexistent by the end of the race.
The top marathon guys legs would also be trashed at 26:40 pace...farah has shown he can run at that pace and still kick
The top marathoner are the best at just that, the marathon...the track is a different game and theres nothing to suggest anyone on the roads would be able to step down and scare farah (and vice versa)
Also watch that 04 race again...whether or not it "came down to the line" look at el g's face, he could have eaten a bag of potato chips down the stretch and still easily pulled away from bekele
Speaker wrote:
Somlier wrote:He's an endurance based mid-distance guy who has benefitted from the trend of top talented distance runners moving to the marathon earlier in their careers.
If more of the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals at world level.
Totally agree that he's an endurance based middle-distance guy and that his best distance is probably somewhere around 3k in a flat-out time trial.
Think you're barking up the wrong tree if you think that if the marathon guys had stayed focused on the track he wouldn't have won any distance medals. El G made mincemeat of Bekele in '04 and Lagat still seems to be pretty hand over 5k.
I'm not sure why more MD athletes don't realise this. Your best championship distance is likely to be one greater than your best time-trial distance.
Of course that Moroccan doper made mincemeat of Bekele
mank hoody wrote:
Mincemeat is an exaggeration. It came down to the line almost and the race played out to El G's strength - speed. Had the race been in the 12:40s, I think Bekele wins.
Especially since El Gs PB was 12,50 in a race where he was out kicked by Shaheen.
If ventolin is accurate Mo's 800 ability is only ~1:46 (and this was the same fit in which he predicted 3:28). So no I would say he was a great 5k runner who can range down to 1500 or up to 10,000 given the right opportunity.
Speaker wrote:
Have you ever actually watched a championship race in your life?
Yes plenty. What is your point?
hmmmmmmmmm wrote:
The top marathon guys legs would also be trashed at 26:40 pace...farah has shown he can run at that pace and still kick
The top marathoner are the best at just that, the marathon...the track is a different game and theres nothing to suggest anyone on the roads would be able to step down and scare farah (and vice versa)
Except that in reality, Farah has never actually run a 26:40 10k. And no, the top marathon guys' legs would not be thrashed at 26:40 pace. Nor is there nothing to suggest that a top marathoner could come down and beat Farah. Are you forgetting about a guy named Wanjiru who ran like 26:40 as a junior in a positive split race? He ran that as a junior. Mature Wanjiru and his race tactics would make Farah nervous.
Mo is the 15th fastest 10k runner of all time. And this is without the benefit of the numerous WR time trial races that Bekele and Geb had set up for them over the years. I would hardly say that Mo is just some meh middle distance guy who wins medals because all the competition moved to the marathon.
Read Canova's posts if you want to know why the transition from track to marathon is not easy. It is an entirely different fueling system in the marathon. It took Geb a few tries to adjust. Paul Tergat did not win a marathon (and set the world record) until after losing five in a row.
It is too early to count Farrah in or out. Zersenay Tadese has been a dud in the marathon despite being the best in half the distance.
No
mank hoody wrote:
Except that in reality, Farah has never actually run a 26:40 10k. And no, the top marathon guys' legs would not be thrashed at 26:40 pace.
Unsubstantiated speculation. You realize no one runs 10K time trials anymore. There is very little interest.
Ironic how you won't admit Mo Farah could run 26:40 unless he actually does it, but you have no problem asserting all top marathoners can run 26:40 even though many have PRs north of 27:30.
hear me out bro wrote:
Of course that Moroccan doper made mincemeat of Bekele
bekele didn't bother with epo
he didn't need it
he was that good
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Didn't he just run a 61 min half marathon after falling down?
HardLoper wrote:
mank hoody wrote:Except that in reality, Farah has never actually run a 26:40 10k. And no, the top marathon guys' legs would not be thrashed at 26:40 pace.
Unsubstantiated speculation. You realize no one runs 10K time trials anymore. There is very little interest.
Ironic how you won't admit Mo Farah could run 26:40 unless he actually does it, but you have no problem asserting all top marathoners can run 26:40 even though many have PRs north of 27:30.
Hardloper, you are the dumbest poster on this board. My post was not unsubstantiated speculation. When has Farah run a 26:40 10k? He hasn't. That is what you call the exact opposite of unsubstantiated speculation.
And nowhere did I assert that all top marathoners can run 26:40. I gave an example of a top marathoner who could do this (Wanjiru), but you conveniently chopped off that part of my post. Also nowhere did I say that Farah could not run 26:40.
Is your reading comprehension really that bad or are you a troll?