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

Hardloper

That's exactly what AthleticsIllustrated said 2 pages ago .. and I even quoted it for you later.

You're suggesting I no longer exist? Or did you mean that sarcasm is the last vestige of the argument? Or, more probably, that "sarcasm is the last refuge of a man …… "?

I've agreed with the point about Haile not doing a good job since the thread began. What I don't agree with, and haven't at all, is your silly argument about some conspiracy and, even more so, your silly comment that Haile gapped the people he was supposed to be pacing.

HardLoper wrote:

wtfunny wrote:

Sports Scientists also agree Haile did a poor job.

Are you still denying what I wrote about the wind? Do you believe that every single pack just so happened to make the exact same mistake of going out too fast, as have many in past years, and that it was not due to wind and downhills? Please clarify. Sports Scientists aren't any kind of authority.

I'm saying Haile did a poor job .. and, like most in this thread, I wonder why.

What pace was Farah's group supposed to hit 5km in?

Okay. This is my final bit participating in this. I get this sense that I am sitting here laughing and you are sternly, with furrowed brow keeping me in line....

You hang onto that comment about "gapping" for as long as you can okay?

I already did my acquiescing and things and have moved on from the original argument.

You know it's like drinking a big dark coffee with a person who is on prozac.

G'night.

You're ridiculous.

You said that, if you remember correctly, Haille, was gaping everyone.

I said no.

You then posted rojo's post showing splits and asked me to explain, then, those splits.

I pointed out the times showed exactly the opposite that Haile didn't gap anyone.

You then snarkedly replied that 'you can read .. perhaps then I can explain …"

Next you tell me YOU acquiesced?

Where are you from?

wtfunny wrote:

I'm saying Haile did a poor job .. and, like most in this thread, I wonder why.

Do you believe the wind and hill was the reason the first split was too fast? Or do you believe each and every the group hit the 5k way faster than the rest of the splits independently by freak chance? Or did he only do a poor job because he only made it 15k? Which is it?

What pace was Farah's group supposed to hit 5km in?

If they wanted 62:15 they should have run it in about 14:35. But their split was about right for running 63:00 which was more sensible with the headwind.

Farah's group hit 5k a little BEHIND pace . 14:48. You said the 1st 5k was a tailwind, and downhill .. they should've been faster, not slower, than their designated time.

Part of the point here is that your premise that each and every group went out too fast is incorrect .. the 2nd group went out a little too slowly. And then slowed further when the wind and gradient changed.

I think Haile's pacing was a little erratic (given conditions, a little, not a lot), and overly fast at the start. Considering he only ran 15k, I'd suggest this is probably correct. Considering he was visibly motioning the group to slow down after 5k, I'd say for sure they went out too fast.

And, for whatever it's worth, this is partly because it's Haile we're talking about .. I'd have higher expectations for a guy of his caliber (whatever that might mean) :) than I would someone else. And it's not the end of the world .. Kipsang broke the CR, as you pointed out .. the question is, as I saw the thread, has anyone heard anything about why he did a poor job. not so much what part of his job was poor.

The arguments surround what "remotely close" can mean.Clearly 15K is half of 30K. No way to argue against that.But the arguments help explain, in significant part:- Why the first 5K was fast (descent, tailwind)- Why the second 10K was slow (tailwind turned to headwind)We can still blame Geb, but he doesn't deserve 100% of the blame he's getting.

Certainly Not Skuj wrote:

I'm still absolutely amazed that some in this thread are arguing that Geb did a fine job. Unfknbelieveable. I love the guy, but he fkd up. He did nothing remotely close to the pre race plan. Not pace wise, not distance wise. How the fk can we even be arguing about this?

wtfunny wrote:

Farah's group hit 5k a little BEHIND pace . 14:48. You said the 1st 5k was a tailwind, and downhill .. they should've been faster, not slower, than their designated time.

Part of the point here is that your premise that each and every group went out too fast is incorrect .. the 2nd group went out a little too slowly. And then slowed further when the wind and gradient changed.

They should have been faster than 62:15 pace, but they were right on 62:15 pace, and as a result they were much slower. So they ran a positive split just like everyone else. Every group went out faster in the first 5k than the next three. Farah's group only slowed down by 4s/km, the rest of them 6s/km, so they were only a tiny bit different.

Even if Farah's group DIDN'T run a positive split, that would still make them the exception, not the norm. When you take everyone's average slowdown from 5k to 10k into account, EVERYONE's pacing was within 1s/km of each other, and no one's was that bad. It couldn't have been worse than 1s/km here and there, which is nothing in the early miles of a marathon and as good as you can reasonably expect from anybody. I don't know why Haile only made it 15 km, but he showed up as a pacer not a competitor so it's not a big deal.

I may have missed the references in this thread but what about the women's pacing on Sunday? Pacer 3 left her designated pace group to join Pacers 1 and 2 at the front. Paula Radcliffe commented on it. How can a pacer decide to leave her group to help others?

I don't know about Pacer 3. I did see Pacers 1 and 2 run ahead at first, then eventually slow back down to pace the women. Seems like they did a good job after that.