Official 2014 Continental Cup - Marrakech, Morocco 9/13-14 - Discussion Thread

Bumby had a rough time out there, he was with the leaders for maybe 3k and then dropped hard. He sucked it up and finished though, it wasn't obvious if he hurt himself but he was suffering. Koech handled the last 500m like he was supposed to win

Sub 50 in the W400 was very impressive

Sum was top dog over he last 150m in the W800, no challenge. Ajee was clearly the best of the rest

Someone said it already but the seeing the 1500 close like that was unreal, they are too fast. Willis was hopeful for the 3k in a brief chat afterwards

Merritt won the 400 easily, he races a lot and is always on.

The HJ was unspectacular but still fun to watch the studs compete

W3k was a decent battle at the end with dibaba clearly demonstrating her ability but it wasn't a total blowout like her indoor races

It was a major downer having the stadium so empty. There are signs and ads all over town but few locals have known much about it. The Moroccans at the meet seen to be lifetime athletics fans. Entry ended up being free which makes sense due to low attendance and lack of public transport. The stadium is nice at least and anyone can get front row seats. The announcing was decent, but the acoustics are bad

Admission ended up being free and in a city of roughly a million people yet this meet couldn't turn out a thousand people??? WTF - help me understand. [I had been thinking that maybe part of the problem was inflated ticket prices.]

OK, obviously part of the problem is how poorly this meet is set up - end of long season [as the BBC guys felt obliged to remind us every 5 minutes], screwy selection process, no appearance fees [I presume] - but that doesn't seem like sufficient explanation for why a few thousand people wouldn't want to match a fair number of top tier T&F athletes if they didn't have to pay anything at all to attend.

p.s. Is that facility dedicated to T&F or can it be reconfigured for soccer? [association football - you know what i mean.] Either way, I believe it has a greater seating capacity than any facility in the US with a modern track.

Real-er answer wrote:

This sub JV level meet is a non interesting embarrassment.

Really, the top two from every continent is a JV level meet? (With only a few qualified runners opting not to go)

The only thing JV about it is the Americans' performances. The rest of the world is running a varsity race. Manzano and Bumbalough, just wow.

Ole Boy There wrote:

Real-er answer wrote:

This sub JV level meet is a non interesting embarrassment.

Really, the top two from every continent is a JV level meet? (With only a few qualified runners opting not to go)

The only thing JV about it is the Americans' performances. The rest of the world is running a varsity race. Manzano and Bumbalough, just wow.

Manzano was about a second back. Sure maybe he could have done better. But he definitely didn't completely poop his pants like usual.

Ole Boy There wrote:

Real-er answer wrote:

This sub JV level meet is a non interesting embarrassment.

Really, the top two from every continent is a JV level meet? (With only a few qualified runners opting not to go)

The only thing JV about it is the Americans' performances. The rest of the world is running a varsity race. Manzano and Bumbalough, just wow.

I could make long list of "top twos" that do not appear to be present.

And many of those that are present are loafing like its a fun run.

Real-er answer wrote:

Ole Boy There wrote:

Really, the top two from every continent is a JV level meet? (With only a few qualified runners opting not to go)

The only thing JV about it is the Americans' performances. The rest of the world is running a varsity race. Manzano and Bumbalough, just wow.

I could make long list of "top twos" that do not appear to be present.

And many of those that are present are loafing like its a fun run.

Agreed that a lot of top athletes were missing [some by choice, some because of the selection process], but I can't say I noticed top athletes loafing [despite the pitiful attendance.]

Among the top athletes, who did you see loafing?

Meet starts in a few minutes. Hopefully the word has gotten out to the locals that there is no admission fee & there are a few more butts in the seats.

Day 2 underway.

Steeple is out slow.

stream?

Ran a smart race put pressure on at the last hurdle and won in a romp.

Nice win for Coburn.

Pace was slow Alayew leading on the final lap but Coburn came back on her after final water barrier. They hit the final barrier together and then Ayalew stumbled going over it and Coburn got the win and $30.000.

Even without the stumble by Ayalew, it was the first time Coburn has come back on Ayalew the final 150m.

Real-er answer wrote:

This sub JV level meet is a non interesting embarrassment.

I'll give Merritt some credit for putting forth an effort but the rest? Yeesh. 14:51?, 3:50?

Please cancel future versions.

Birech is easily the best steeplechaser in the world this year.

But OK.

Great start for Americans in Day 2 with the wins by Colburn and Harper, and the silvers by Jager and Bingson! Athletes stepping up today.

M3000 72.7 at 400m!

Ndiku had the best kick for the win in the 3k.

I thought athletes could only run one event but Nick Willis was in the 1500 and the 3000.

Women's high jump is on!

ANNA SIMIC!

wejo wrote:

I thought athletes could only run one event but Nick Willis was in the 1500 and the 3000.

Athletes could not run in both the 3000 and 5000. I'm not aware of similar restrictions in other races. Also, there seemed to be no restrictions on doubling back for relays.

Restricting each individual event to no more than one competitor per country (as well as two competitors per "area") eliminated a lot of top athletes and added a number who were way over their heads. Fortunately, Ukraine has not yet been swallowed by Russia, so Bondarenko and Ukhov were both able to compete with Barshim in the high jump, which has become a surprisingly entertaining event this year. I've especially enjoyed Barshim, who is as skinny as a marathoner but has a bit of a sprinter's attitude.

That 5000 did not make good TV.

14 SEP 2014 20:00

POS BIB ATHLETE TEAM COUNTRY MARK POINTS

Details 1 176 Almaz AYANA Africa ETH 15:33.32 8

Details 2 209 Joyce CHEPKIRUI Africa KEN 15:58.31 PB 7

Details 3 194 Joanne PAVEY Europe GBR 15:58.67 6

Details 4 140 Eloise WELLINGS Asia-Pacific AUS 16:00.14 5

Details 5 189 Clémence CALVIN Europe FRA 16:03.31 4

Details 6 218 Brenda FLORES Americas MEX 16:19.07 3

Details 7 146 Tejitu DABA Asia-Pacific BRN 16:37.62 2

Details 8 252 Katie MACKEY Americas USA 17:06.25