CHICKEN: Mo Farah to run in slower group in London Marathon

And after he called out Bekele in the QOD yesterday for running Paris instead of London. Farah said he "does what champions do" and races the best competition and here he is not racing the best.

Don't get me wrong, Farah is still setting a fast pace and it's the smartest move if he wants to win. That said, I think it make him look like a bit of a hypocrite and a coward running in a second slower group hoping to win by beating everyone who blows up.

Especially after all that talk about "jumping in the deep end" by racing the best in the World. Don't call out Bekele and then dodge the competition in your very own race and lower expectations by talking about going for the British record.

I would call "chicken" on going out in 62:15 on a slower than ideal London course. That is still 2:04:30 pace and I am sure 2:04:30 will win the race.

Anyway, I believe this will be a non-story since all the favorites will run together in between the two quotes bands and go out ~62:00.

Still too fast.

This is why having rabbited races sucks. No rabbits and just let them go at it like in NYC. Would be way more exciting than watching six guys blow up and Mo Farah clean up the pieces.

Dodging competition?

Sounds more like Mo is mapping out his best chance to win with a smart race plan.

Horst Girth wrote:

Dodging competition?

Sounds more like Mo is mapping out his best chance to win with a smart race plan.

No, it sounds like Mo is lowering his lofty goal of winning, to run a very good debut time and just get through the race feeling as comfortable as possible. It's the Salazar way and it's okay.

If G Mutai is on his game, I think he'll destroy the field with a big surge from 30k - 40k the way he did in NYC in 2011 and this whole business about the pace to the half will turn out to be a moot point.

Quick reminder of what he did in NYC in 2011: 1:29:57 to 30k [no rabbits and no one is going to claim NYC is a fast course to 30k], then splits 30k - 40k in 28:57, wins in 2:05:06 and doesn't even look tired when he crosses the line. If he's in that kind of shape now, I don't think Mo stands a chance, and even though it's an amazing field, the only guy I could see possibly beating him would be Wilson Kipsang [in a scenario where they're both under 2:04.]

Is G Mutai actually in that kind of shape? No idea, but I sure hope so.

Not Cool Bro wrote:

And after he called out Bekele in the QOD yesterday for running Paris instead of London. Farah said he "does what champions do" and races the best competition and here he is not racing the best.

I can't believe he found a way to set up a sit and kick for himself and the race hasn't even begun yet... As the Britons say: BRILLIANT

This may not be a statement of effort, rather strategy. Mo's not going to go out with the fast pace on his first marathon, and I'm pretty sure we learnt last year in the London marathon, a WR is not to be taken lightly.

Tried to take it out at WR pace last year - winner finished in 2:06:04. Farah is making a smart move by not risking looking like an absolute fool and failing to finish after a huge blowout.

I told you already Mo does not have the big balls.

Still his plan sound smart and is his only change of winning.

That British record is gone.

Anyhow i worship more Kenny like big ball style running.

Again Mo is sitting in the back. like always.

Like this he can never lose.

But will never win the respect a runner like Kenny "the lion".

Who is likely to be in this "second group" ? Almost sounds like a group has already been hand picked, specifically to protect Farah. He seems pretty sure about the pace that the second group is going to run. God forbid that he should have the nerve or talent to race on his own merits. That will always seperate him from the Bekeles and Mutais. They aren't afraid to get the job done. The question hanging over Mo is what he is capable of doing when he is all alone with no one to chase and 10km still to run. He's never had to rely purely on himself in competition before and I think he needs to answer that question before he can be considered as being great on the roads.

this knuckleheaded view that so many people seem to have, that he somehow doesn't run on his own merits, is getting out of hand now. In Championship races, there is 1 sole aim - To win. He has an effective strategy, and it's a proven winner for him. And typically he's been taking up the running around 600m from the end. He's not the 'sit and kick' merchant everyone always makes him out to be. Leading for the last 600m of any championship requires a lot of talent and, yes, a lot of 'balls' too. Funny how he's the only one getting criticised for supposed sit & kick tactics, when the remainder of the field has been doing the exact same thing in all these races, just not as effectively.

If Farah (and Salazar) thought he'd run a better overall time if he went through halfway in 61.45 then I'm sure that would be their strategy. As it is, they're (quite rightly) exercising some caution, emphasis on 'some' becuase 62.15 through halfway on your debut is still outrageously fast. I get it, a lot of people don't like him, but the criticism he's been getting here the last few days is just ludicrous. If you honestly think he's choosing a tactic that gives him (in his and his coach's opinion) less chance of winning, then you're badly mistaken

Surely any race is judged on finishing position!?

You do what ever you can to get to the finish ahead of the others in a race.

look at the 400m for instance with MJ, was capable fo going through the 200 way faster than anyone else but would go though pretty much even with the field and then switch it on... which is the best tactic to win that race and run it fast.

who says a different tactic for the marathon would yield better results in the case of Mo.....?

Personally im just looking forward to it and hope its a good race with plenty to talk about after

Bekele is the chicken, guy. He doesn't want to look bad, like if he was in London and 6 people beat him, which might very well happen to Mo if he doesn't DNF. But I'm rooting for Mo, because just running this race against these guys takes guts. If he wins this, I think it will be the most impressive feat of his career.

It's just funny that there has to be a legion of handlers to get Mo through the half at his special pace while there is already a distinct group of men that will actually be racing . You'll find the winner in that group, regardless of what happened last year when they all blew up after actually racing.

by "legion of handlers", presumably you mean the pacemakers that have been designated that particular band, as opposed to the pacers who are in the faster and slower pacing bands? Oh, and the others who are independently wanting to go through in 62.15 while running their own race too obviously. But it's all a ploy really, they're only there to help Farah.

Dave Bedford, race director:

"We ask the athletes what they want. We then come up with bands where we can put pacemakers. Mo is running 62.15min. None of the pacemakers have been asked for by Mo or put there by Mo,we have never done that. And in reality, the small gap between the two groups means they may come together. But nonetheless, that is what we have been asked to do."

Roller wrote:

by "legion of handlers", presumably you mean the pacemakers that have been designated that particular band, as opposed to the pacers who are in the faster and slower pacing bands? Oh, and the others who are independently wanting to go through in 62.15 while running their own race too obviously. But it's all a ploy really, they're only there to help Farah.

Dave Bedford, race director:

"We ask the athletes what they want. We then come up with bands where we can put pacemakers. Mo is running 62.15min. None of the pacemakers have been asked for by Mo or put there by Mo,we have never done that. And in reality, the small gap between the two groups means they may come together. But nonetheless, that is what we have been asked to do."

That statement is absolute BS. If Farah wanted a rabbit at 62:30 there would be a "pace band" at 62:30. I'm sure there are others who will join that slower group because it's the closest to what they would like, but don't for a second think that Farah/Slazar aren't a HUGE factor in what the pace of that second group is.

And that's not even the part that annoys me really. Matt Tegenkamp had Chris Solinsky pace him in his debut at Chicago, so what? (Although you could argue Teg was never in it for the win, so it didn't matter as much.)

My real problem is Farah making big bold statements about "jumping in the deep end" and "doing what champions do" and then taking himself out of the real race before it even starts. As it stands if he wins it won't be because he was the best, but because the best guys went for the WR and died.

If the entire field was going out in 62:15 I give Farah almost no chance of winning where as now with the best contenders going out at WR pace, I give him a decent chance since I'll bet most of the guys in the lead pack fade significantly. I don't think the WR is going down in London, but hopefully someone from that top group will hold on to run something in the high 2:03 or low 2:04 range. Honestly I'm not counting on that though ... I'd have to look more at weather conditions, but I'm not very confident the CR will even get broken.