Did Geb explain why he was so useless at London 2014?

Why don't marathon pacers wear some kind of GPS unit to gauge how they're doing as pacers instead of just going by feel? Seems like they could do a much better job that way.

I haven't read anything .. he dropped out almost immediately they hit 15k …he didn't even run halfway .. pretty lame .. given his Bupa Half last fall he should've at least hit halfway.

My assumption is that he chatted with his fellow Ethiopians and offered to go nuts, to see if the Kenyans would go with him too and destroy the field, while the Ethiopians laid back. The Kenyans didn't bite, but that is what it sorta looks like.

How else can you explain a man of his experience going out at 2:01 pace at his age.

Wasn't he getting paid to do a job though? I think the organizers should sue him. :)

Less than useless, I'd say.

Was Haile in control of the pace? No.

Did he lead every step of the way? No, not even close. There were two other pacers and 8 other athletes pushing the pace. When the athletes want to run faster (and this happens often in London), the pacer can't do anything but keep running. When the runners are going around you, you stay in front of them because that's what pacers do.

As usual on LetsRun several in this thread did not watch the race but feel totally qualified to offer their opinion anyways.

I am only guessing.

The first question I had was, why would he run like a rusty age-grouper, out of control, when he has run 26-mid, 12-mid, 58:55, 2:03/4 - all under control - especially the marathons had to be....well under control, to get it right.

The only thing that I can come up with is, that he tried to draw out the Kenyans into a pace they could not sustain.

Sneaky idea, but if he would have gone out at 2:02:45 pace, rather than 2:01, like he did, they may have had bit. At his age he is only good for 15k at that pace....it looks like - being an armchair coach here - an epic failure.

Again, I can't think of any other logical reason for him to run like that.

Athleticsillustrated wrote:

Again, I can't think of any other logical reason for him to run like that.

Because he didn't want to be dragging behind the group he was supposed to be pacing?

2:01 pace.

So no.

AthleticsIllustrated, Haile can't do anything to slow the pace down. The pace is controlled by whoever is faster, the pacers, or (in this case) the pack. This happens all the time in marathons, especially London.

I'm not convinced Geb deserves all the blame he's getting. It ignores two things:

1) A big descent in the first 5K

2) The wind

There is a notable descent in the first 5K, which ventolin calculated is worth about 8 seconds.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=5735953&thread=5735808

Even Brojos values it at six seconds in their "7 thoughts".

And "According to Fernando Cabada's twitter there was a good

headwind from mile 3 to 12."

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5736706&page=21

For comparison, Look at Mo's splits:

http://results-2014.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/2014/?content=detail&fpid=search&pid=search&idp=9999990F5ECC8300001455D8&lang=EN_CAP&event=ELIT

Mo's pacemakers were supposed to bring him to the half in 62:15. Yet the leaders hit the half in 62:30. Why didn't Mo catch up to the slowing lead group before the half? Because he was slowing down too:

Mo was targeting 14:45 for each 5K. Here are Mo's 5K splits:

5K - 14:48

10K - 15:08

15K - 14:54

20K - 15:05

25K - 14:52

Cabada and Vail show similar slowdowns of about 20 seconds per 5K, after 5K.

Then part of the discussion involves the pacer's job description .. if others run faster than his/her designated pace, what's the pacer supposed to do? Stay on target or lead the group?

Most of what I saw with Geb running had him leading the field .. and he certainly was the most experienced of the pacers so I can't imagine the responsibility belonged to the other 2 pacers.

He knows the course, and he knows the downhill .. so that's not excuse.

My guess is the 2nd group of runs simply sat behind the first group, and paced themselves (largely) off that group.

Like dojo says in the article, if the organizers make such a big deal of the designated pace in the build up to the race, they should put in some kind of markers that help yield that … what they had this year (and last year) was just a shambles.

Very curious to see what Geb can do against Lel and Kawauchi in Hamburg in 3 weeks now, assuming Lel starts.

After Sunday, assuming Geb starts.

rekrunner wrote:

I'm not convinced Geb deserves all the blame he's getting. It ignores two things:

1) A big descent in the first 5K

2) The wind

This was the opening split for 2008, in which Ryan Hall ran his PR: 14:22, 29:11, 44:01, 58:58, 1:02:13

Yesterday: 14:22, 29:12, 44:07 (Haile out), 59:17, 1:02:31

Pretty windy both years. The only "problem" I see from this year is that it slowed down too much when Haile dropped. It seems this is the natural way to run the course with "even effort," at least with that wind.

wtfunny wrote:

Most of what I saw with Geb running had him leading the field .. and he certainly was the most experienced of the pacers so I can't imagine the responsibility belonged to the other 2 pacers. He knows the course, and he knows the downhill .. so that's not excuse.

He knows the course? He's the most experienced pacer? Are you sure about either of those things?

Excellent analysis. The criticism that Geb has gotten is getting pretty ridiculous and over the top.

HardLoper wrote:

Was Haile in control of the pace? No.

Did he lead every step of the way? No, not even close. There were two other pacers and 8 other athletes pushing the pace. When the athletes want to run faster (and this happens often in London), the pacer can't do anything but keep running. When the runners are going around you, you stay in front of them because that's what pacers do.

As usual on LetsRun several in this thread did not watch the race but feel totally qualified to offer their opinion anyways.

Interesting.

I guess I wonder: Wouldn't this happen with crazy frequency at many marathons, given the volatility of controlling a bunch of pacers and a lead pack?

and would race organizers learn anything from past undesirable pacing outcomes and give stricter instructions and deploy various strategies to correct in future editions of particular marathons?

I'm surprised that, given how this logically seems like an issue fast, competitive marathons with complex courses, are prone to, why there isn't more discussion and awareness about this.

HardLoper wrote:

When the runners are going around you, you stay in front of them because that's what pacers do.

I'd even go so far as to say that's what champions do.