Area Man wrote:
We're you around to watch Tergat, geb, komen, bekele? Those guys blasted 5ks. Nowadays, not so much.
Yes I was and it's ridiculous how much people act "nostalgic" for those days as if guys were churning out sub 12:50s at every meet. The overall depth of times (i.e. top 10, 20, 30) is still the same as it always was, a couple outliers like Geb, DK, and Bekele only pop up once in a while and will probably pop up again in the future. Not sure why you mention Tergat as he was not that good at 5K.[/quote]
I remember these good old days as well. As I recal, Tergat was in some of the races that helped Komen and/ or Geb set WR's. His 5000 marks would still stand out today, despite being a more dominant XC and 10000m man:
Yearly best marks:
2000 12:55.18 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 30 JUN
1999 12:55.37 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 07 JUL
1998 12:58.74 Zürich 12 AUG
1997 12:49.87 Zürich 13 AUG
1996 12:54.72 Zürich 14 AUG
Back then a guy like Tergat could be way off the lead with these marks. He was getting crushed by Geb/Komen running 12:49 and 12:54. Geb beat Tergat by 8 seconds when Tergat ran 12:49. The depth of 12:50-13:00 guys may be good now, but we are not seeing near the depth of 12:37-12:49 guys are we?
All time best
Rank
Mark
Competitor
DOB
Nat
Pos
Venue
Date
1 12:37.35 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Hengelo 31 MAY 2004
2 12:39.36 Haile Gebrselassie 18 APR 1973 ETH ETH 1 Helsinki 13 JUN 1998
3 12:39.74 Daniel Komen 17 MAY 1976 KEN KEN 1 Bruxelles 22 AUG 1997
12:40.18 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Paris Saint-Denis 01 JUL 2005
12:41.86 Haile Gebrselassie 18 APR 1973 ETH ETH 1 Zürich 13 AUG 1997
12:44.39 Haile Gebrselassie 18 APR 1973 ETH ETH 1 Zürich 16 AUG 1995
12:44.90 Daniel Komen 17 MAY 1976 KEN KEN 2 Zürich 13 AUG 1997
12:45.09 Daniel Komen 17 MAY 1976 KEN KEN 1 Zürich 14 AUG 1996
4 12:46.53 Eliud Kipchoge 5 NOV 1984 KEN KEN 1 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 02 JUL 2004
5 12:46.81 Dejen Gebremeskel 24 NOV 1989 ETH ETH 1 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
6 12:47.04 Sileshi Sihine 9 MAY 1983 ETH ETH 2 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 02 JUL 2004
7 12:47.53 Hagos Gebrhiwet 11 MAY 1994 ETH ETH 2 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
12:48.09 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Bruxelles 25 AUG 2006
12:48.25 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Zürich 18 AUG 2006
8 12:48.64 Isiah Kiplangat Koech 19 DEC 1993 KEN KEN 3 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
9 12:48.66 Isaac Kiprono Songok 25 APR 1984 KEN KEN 2 Zürich 18 AUG 2006
10 12:48.77 Yenew Alamirew 27 MAY 1990 ETH ETH 4 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
11 12:48.81 Saif Saaeed Shaheen 15 OCT 1982 KEN KEN 1 Ostrava 12 JUN 2003
12:48.98 Daniel Komen 17 MAY 1976 KEN KEN 1 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 05 JUN 1997
12 12:49.04 Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa 14 JAN 1982 KEN KEN 5 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
13 12:49.28 Brahim Lahlafi 15 APR 1968 MAR MAR 1 Bruxelles 25 AUG 2000
14 12:49.50 John Kipkoech 29 DEC 1991 KEN KEN 6 Paris Saint-Denis 06 JUL 2012
12:49.53 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Zaragoza 28 JUL 2007
12:49.64 Haile Gebrselassie 18 APR 1973 ETH ETH 1 Zürich 11 AUG 1999
15 12:49.71 Mohammed Mourhit 10 OCT 1970 BEL BEL 2 Bruxelles 25 AUG 2000
16 12:49.87 Paul Tergat 17 JUN 1969 KEN KEN 3 Zürich 13 AUG 1997
12:50.16 Sileshi Sihine 9 MAY 1983 ETH ETH 1 Bruxelles 14 SEP 2007
12:50.18 Kenenisa Bekele 13 JUN 1982 ETH ETH 1 Zürich 29 AUG 2008
12:50.22 Eliud Kipchoge 5 NOV 1984 KEN KEN 1 Bruxelles 26 AUG 2005
17 12:50.24 Hicham El Guerrouj 14 SEP 1974 MAR MAR 2 Ostrava 12 JUN 2003
18 12:50.25 Abderrahim Goumri 21 MAY 1976 MAR MAR 2 Bruxelles 26 AUG 2005
12:50.38 Eliud Kipchoge 5 NOV 1984 KEN KEN 2 Bruxelles 14 SEP 2007
19 12:50.55 Moses Ndiema Masai 1 JUN 1986 KEN KEN 1 Berlin 01 JUN 2008
20 12:50.72 Moses Ndiema Kipsiro 2 SEP 1986 UGA UGA 3 Bruxelles 14 SEP 2007
21 12:50.80 Salah Hissou 16 JAN 1972 MAR MAR 1 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 05 JUN 1996
22 12:50.86 Ali Saïdi-Sief 15 MAR 1978 ALG ALG 1 Roma (Stadio Olimpico) 30 JUN 2000
23 12:51.00 Joseph Ebuya 20 JUN 1987 KEN KEN 4 Bruxelles 14 SEP 2007
After 2006, what do you have under 12:51.00? Paris 2012, that's it. A single race. Look back at the Zurich venue alone in 1995,1996,1997. Every year under